Micaela Bastidas

This article describes a Peruvian revolutionary. For the village and the military base, see Micaela Bastidas (Pangoa) .

Micaela Bastidas

Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua (* around 1744 in Tamburco , Peru ; † May 18, 1781 in Cusco , Peru) was the wife of José Gabriel Condorcanqui in the leadership of an indigenous uprising in Peru against the Spaniards in 1780.

Life

According to tradition, Micaela Bastidas was born in Tamburco in the province of Abancay in 1745, according to some documents in Pampamarca as the daughter of the African-born Manuel Bastidas and the indigenous Josefa Puyucahua.

Micaela, who is portrayed as a very beautiful girl, married the then 22-year-old José Gabriel Condorcanqui , who later became Tupaq , on May 25, 1760 at the age of 16 in the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Purificación (Our Lady of the Purification) in Surimana Amaru II. The two had three sons together, Hipólito (1761), Mariano (1762) and Fernando (1768).

Micaela Bastidas took part in the uprising against the Spaniards with her husband in 1780, in which she played a leading role in organizing the supply and recruitment of the insurgents. She lived in the birthplace of her husband, Tinta ( Canchis Province , Cusco Region ). Occasionally she also took command of troops. Since she could not write, she dictated the necessary commands to clerks.

The rebellious Incas had control of nine provinces, eight parishes in Cusco and the city of Chucuito . Micaela, who had been excommunicated by the bishop, tried to maintain a good relationship with the local priests.

Other women who played an important military role alongside Micaela Bastidas were Cecilia Tupaq Amaru , the half-sister of José Gabriel Condorcanqui, Tomasa Titu Condemayta , Kazikin from Acos , Francisca Herrera from Combapata and Catalina de Zalas y Pachachutti , as well as María Esquivelas , who died in battle in late March 1781, and Marcela Castro Puyucahua , who also died in battle. According to Vega, thousands of indigenous women were directly involved in the fighting. With their slingshots and arrows, however, they could not beat the heavily armed Spaniards. On January 8, 1781, the attempt to cut off the main road from Cusco to Lima failed and heavy rain slowed the rebels. When they besieged Cusco, José Gabriel hesitated while Micaela advised an attack. After the rebels withdrew, the Spaniards attacked their headquarters in Tinta, from which both José Gabriel and Micaela fled with their two smaller sons. Almost all of the leaders of the uprising fell into the hands of the Spaniards in early 1781. A brother of Micaela and a brother of José Gabriel escaped.

Micaela pretended to be another woman in court, and her defense attorney tried unsuccessfully to prove her innocence. After being severely tortured, she was forced to confess.

Micaela Bastidas was executed before her husband in Cusco on May 18, 1781, at the age of 36, after seeing the execution of her eldest, 21-year-old son Hipólito. When the Garrote did not completely strangle her neck and she writhed in agony, they tried to strangle the executioners with a rope and eventually killed her. Her youngest son Fernando had to watch. Eventually, Tomasa Titu Condemayta suffered a similar death.

Quote

“I gave up everything for the freedom of my people. I will not see my children blossom ... "

literature

• Jerome R. Adams: Notable Latin American Women. Twenty-Nine Leaders, Rebels, Poets, Battlers and Spies . Mc Farland & Co, Jefferson, North Carolina 1995. The Revolt of the Incas. Micaela Bastidas , pp. 67-74.
• Juan José Vega: Micaela Bastidas y las heroinas tupamaristas . Ediciones Universidad Nacional de Educación, Lima 1971. 23 pages.
• Román Hernández Matos: Micaela Bastidas, la precursora . Libr. Atlas, Lima 1981. 214 pages.
• Rubén Chauca Arriarán: Micaela Bastidas . Editorial Universo, Lima 1980. 223 pages.

Web links

• Amautacuna de Historia (October 27, 2009): Micaela Bastidas
• Gualberto Valderrama C. (2005): Homenaje a Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua (Spanish)