An Inca Account of the Conquest of Peru Read Online Free

of the Audiencia of Charcas, Juán de Matienzo, in order to negotiate the terms under which Titu Cusi would receive a substantial repartimiento in exchange for giving up his refuge. Moreover, it was agreed that Titu Cusi’s son, Quispe Titu, would marry Saire Topa’s daughter, christened as Beatriz, who lived in Cuzco and was heir to a substantial estate. In order to negotiate the terms of this arrangement, gifts, promises, messages, and official letters were exchanged, including the present text. Ultimately, however, nothing came of these negotiations and Titu Cusi, unlike his brother Saire Topa, remained in Vilcabamba.
    Some historians have interpreted Titu Cusi’s conversion to Christianity as more of a diplomatic ploy than an action motivated by true religious conviction while others have seen it as generally sincere (see Kubler; Hemming, 336, respectively). Although it is impossible to know with certainty what motivated Titu Cusi to convert, it is significant that despite allowing Christian missionaries to erect a large cross and to preach at Vilcabamba, repeatedly shielding them against some of the outspoken enemies of Christianity among his followers and professing his own admiration for missionaries and their apostolic message (see p. 133), he never allowed Christian monotheism to supplant the Incas’practice of sun worship or of paying homage to their multitudinous huacas. It is also telling that his relationship with Marcos García sharply deteriorated when the Augustinian, who seems to have been somewhat rigid and inflexible, insisted on ending the ancient Inca custom of polygamy. Indeed, not long after the completion of Titu Cusi’s account, Marcos García was expelled from Vilcabamba, leaving behind his Augustinian brother Diego Ortiz. In the long run, his expulsion turned out to be lucky for Marcos García. When in 1571 Titu Cusi suddenly fell ill and died within a few days, the Vilcabamba Incas blamed Ortiz and demanded that he resuscitate their leader. He failed, however, to accomplish this feat, and so the enraged Andeans killed both Ortiz and Pando after subjecting the former to an extended and cruel martyrdom. 16 The missionary’s death was subsequently used to justify the invasion of Vilcabamba and the execution of Topa Amaru (see Ocampo 215–216).
    There is also a question about the sincerity of Titu Cusi’s negotiations with Spanish authorities regarding his departure from Vilcabamba. These overtures, like his conversion, may well have been a diplomatic delay tactic intended to keep the Spaniards at bay through demonstrations of goodwill while adroitly evading all real changes to the status quo. 17 Even though in his narrative Titu Cusi complained about “the hardships I suffer in these jungles as a result of His Majesty’s and His vassals’ having taken possession of this land” (p. 58), a return to Cuzco would have put him and his followers at the mercy of the Spaniards. 18 Previous experiences with the Spanish intruders could hardly have inspired him with confidence in this regard. Moreover, he may well have remembered the words of his father, who, as Titu Cusi relates, had exhorted him and his followers “never to deal with people like these, so you won’t end up like me” (p. 127) and to “pretend on the outside that you agree to their demands. . . . But never forget our own ceremonies” (p. 116). Even though Titu Cusi was generally tolerant of Spanish culture, he, unlike his unclePaullu and cousin Carlos, continued the traditional Inca ways of life. A contemporary Spaniard who had met him, Diego de Rodíguez de Figueroa, described him as wearing full ceremonial custom, including a “multicolored headdress, a diadem on his forehead and another one on his neck, a colored mask, a silver plate on his chest, garters of feathers, and carrying a golden lance, dagger, and shield” (see Hemming, 314). Unwilling to submit to