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ATHUALPA AND THE BOOK - Coggle Diagram
ATHUALPA AND THE BOOK
TITI CUSO - AN INCA ACCOUNT OF THE CONQUEST OF PERU
CONTENT
Describes the Spanish conquest from the Inca perspective—civil war between Huascar and Atahuallpa, Pizarro’s ambush at Cajamarca (1532), the ransom and execution of Atahuallpa, the installation and betrayal of Manco Inca, the Inca resistance, and eventual retreat to Vilcabamba.
CONTEXT
Author: Titu Cusi Yupanqui, Inca noble and son of Manco Inca, ruler of the neo-Inca state of Vilcabamba.
Told orally in Quechua, translated by missionary Fray Marcos García, transcribed by mestizo Martín de Pando (1570).
Structured as a legal/political appeal to King Philip II, blending oral Andean traditions with Spanish legal rhetoric.
1570-71 - written shortly before Titu Cusi's death
response to diplomatic overtures (introductions) from Spanish authorities ; part autobiography, part political justification, part legal petition
result of cultural hybridity; oral tradition transformed into a written Spanish document for a European monarch
To present a legal and moral case for Titu Cusi’s legitimacy and grievances under Spanish rule, and possibly to delay further military action.
SIGNIFICANCE?
Offers an anti-conquest narrative—unlike Spanish chronicles, this version portrays the conquistadors as morally corrupt and illegitimate rulers.
THEMES
1) Spanish treachery, greed, and violence.
2) Titu Cusi presents himself as the legitimate heir of Manco Inca.
3) Describes failed negotiations and the tactical use of Christianity and diplomacy.
4) Emphasises Inca cultural continuity and memory, even amid colonisation.
Power of language and writing - Highlights the symbolic and legal power of writing in colonial rule (e.g., the breviary at Cajamarca). Titu Cusi uses the Spanish legal genre of “relación” to gain legitimacy—writing becomes a tool of resistance as much as colonisation. Reflects on Indigenous use of European rhetoric, not as submission, but as strategy. Writing becomes a weapon of diplomacy, reflecting how colonised peoples reshaped colonial tools for their own agendas.
Legitimacy and History-Making - Inca oral traditions used to assert political legitimacy—e.g., Manco Inca’s succession, Titu Cusi’s “firstborn” status. Connects to wider debates in early modern empire over just vs unjust conquest (cf. Las Casas vs Sepúlveda). Shows how histories were shaped to assert political rights, not just to record facts.
intercultural negotiation—written by an Inca prince, mediated through a Spanish monk and a mestizo scribe. Andean and Spanish cultures were mutually entangled, even under conditions of violence and inequality. Titu Cusi blends Inca ceremonial memory with Spanish legal language to craft a hybrid political identity.
Guaman Poma de Ayala – The First New Chronicle and Good Government
CONTENT
CIVIL WAR CONTEXT - Inca Empire was already fractured due to a dynastic war between Wascar (legitimate) and Atahualpa (illegitimate), which the spanish exploited
Pizarro rejects diplomatic offers and deceives Atahualpa
Spaniards described as terrifying
Atahualpa is catpured during a massacre in cajamarca under the pretext of a religious insult (throwing the bible)
Mass looting of temples and treasures
Atahualpa offers a large ransom but is still executed unjustly
the conquest results in famine and leads to displaced indegineous servants
GUAMAM POMA critiques Spanish greed and pride, framing Atahualppa's death as a betrayal of justice and a missed opportunity for peaceful co-existance
CONTEXT
Guaman Poma is an Andean noble of Inca descent
Hybrid : indigenous oral tradition, and spanish legal - political format with Christian moralism
PURPOSE - Addressed to the Spanish king as a critique of colonial misrule; aims for reform, not revenge.
Audience: Spanish royal authorities, but also future generations—preserving Indigenous memory and morality.
SIGNIFICANCE?
reinforces idea of invasion disguised as diplomacy, reveals moral contradictions of Spanish conquest – claiming to spread Christianity but brutal violence
Symbolic moment: Atawalpa throws down the Bible, triggering mass slaughter. Critiques the weaponisation of religion by Fray Vicente and others. Suggests syncretism wasn’t immediate or complete—spiritual worlds were fundamentally different.
The cry of “Peru! Gold and silver!” across Spain signals the beginning of global extractive economies. Guaman Poma connects conquest to imperial capitalism, where even priests, merchants, and women rush for wealth.
Royal Commentaries of the Incas and General History of Peru
CONTENT
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Fray Vicente’s Speech: Presents the Requerimiento (papal-legal demand to submit), emphasizing religious and legal justifications for conquest: submit to the pope and Charles V or face “war, fire, and sword.”
Atahuallpa’s Reply: Why he should pay tribute to people he had never wronged
Events at Cajamarca: Describes Spanish greed and violence during Atahuallpa’s diplomatic meeting. Denounces false accounts blaming Atahuallpa for rejecting the Bible
Massacre: Over 5,000 Indigenous deaths reported; Garcilaso insists it was a tragedy rooted in misunderstanding and opportunism, not heresy or defiance.
Ransom: Atahuallpa offered to fill a room with gold as ransom; Garcilaso emphasizes his sincerity and strategic intelligence..
CONTEXT
Garcilaso de la Vega “El Inca” – son of a Spanish conquistador and an Inca noblewoman; writing in early 17th-century Spain.
written in exile—an attempt to reconcile Inca memory with Spanish historiography.:
SIGNIFICANCE?
• Exposes the legal-religious logic of conquest showing how conversion and submission were used to mask imperial violence
Reinforces Indigenous capacity for rational debate and diplomatic engagement.
Critiques the weaponisation of Christianity, especially through forced conversion.