Túpac Amaru escaped the Spanish?

[Vinization]

Disclaimer, I'm talking about this guy, not the 18th century rebel leader.

Túpac Amaru was the last Sapa Inca of Vilcabamba, the city that resisted the Spanish conquest for decades after the fall of the Inca Empire. Following one final Spanish offensive to conquer Vilcabamba once and for all in 1572, Túpac Amaru and his forces abandoned the city and fled into the jungle to regroup. He was eventually captured after a chase of more than 350 kilometers (assuming his Wikipedia article is true), brought to Cusco and executed.

What if he managed to escape? While I doubt he'd be able to retake Vilcabamba from the Spanish unless they decide to abandon it, could the fact the Sapa Inca is still at large instead of hanging from a noose in Cusco stir up some discontent among the Quechua population in Peru? Perhaps by spawning a "sleeping hero" myth?

@King of the Uzbeks @EMT

 

[Taunay]

He could do a lot to destabilize Spanish control in the region. It would be kinda awesome to see him leading a Native Confederacy in the Andes fighting against the Spaniards, but I guess that's out of the realm of possibility.

 

[Vinization]

He could do a lot to destabilize Spanish control in the region. It would be kinda awesome to see him leading a Native Confederacy in the Andes fighting against the Spaniards, but I guess that's out of the realm of possibility.

He probably doesn't have the manpower necessary to be a material threat to Spanish rule, but the symbolic effect of him being on the loose somewhere in the jungle could be quite something. Also, the probably implausible chance of him forming some new state in the Peruvian Amazon would be awesome.

 

[EMT]

I agree that we'd likely see a sleeping hero equivalent. The problem with ex. a theoretical Quechua uprising was that the Spanish have already crushed the Inca twice in living memory, if we're being charitable to the Inca. The Spanish co-opted the people that have power in the former Empire by this point.

The most I'd expect him to accomplish would be more localized peasant revolts, but to the people of the Andes, the Empire either died with Huayna Capac, Atahualpa, Manco Inca Yupanqui, or with him for the fall of his state.

 

[Vinization]

I agree that we'd likely see a sleeping hero equivalent. The problem with ex. a theoretical Quechua uprising was that the Spanish have already crushed the Inca twice in living memory, if we're being charitable to the Inca. The Spanish co-opted the people that have power in the former Empire by this point.

The most I'd expect him to accomplish would be more localized peasant revolts, but to the people of the Andes, the Empire either died with Huayna Capac, Atahualpa, Manco Inca Yupanqui, or with him for the fall of his state.

I wonder if there could be an equivalent to Juan Santos Atahualpa rising up sometime in the 17th century, claiming to be either Túpac Amaru reincarnated or a descendant of his.

 

[Vinization]

I agree that we'd likely see a sleeping hero equivalent. The problem with ex. a theoretical Quechua uprising was that the Spanish have already crushed the Inca twice in living memory, if we're being charitable to the Inca. The Spanish co-opted the people that have power in the former Empire by this point.

The most I'd expect him to accomplish would be more localized peasant revolts, but to the people of the Andes, the Empire either died with Huayna Capac, Atahualpa, Manco Inca Yupanqui, or with him for the fall of his state.

One last question, do you think it'd be plausible for the Spanish to abandon Vilcabamba if they give up on capturing Túpac Amaru? Should that happen, is there a chance he and whatever forces still loyal to him could reoccupy it?

 

[Infinite-Monkeys]

An interesting idea to play around with. I can't see him being remotely relevant as an actual threat to the Spanish, the most likely scenario is that you basically just see the development of a folk legend/king under the mountain equivalent but more interestingly I wonder about scenarios where there could be a real long-term legacy.

Spanish control in the region is very light and there's an awful lot wilderness so if he and some followers got away I wonder if you could see something a little bit like the Maroon communities in Brazil (I use Brazil instead of say the Caribbean as as with Brazil this more space to manoeuvre and a greater ability to effectively maintain a consistent society). Effectively a place far enough away from the Spanish that they can't reliably attack settlements, and where escaped slaves (at this point of course natives) can fleeand slowly add to the community.

In this scenario I wonder if you can even with only a little bit of stretching effectively end up with a long-term continuity of government from Vilcabamba, with Tupac's descendants effectively controlling a cluster of villages with some inherited rituals and structures from the pre-conquest society hidden away outside of Spanish reach, made from descendants of a mixture of the original exiles and escaped slaves/indentured's/serfs.

This could realistically hang on until the region becomes independent from Spain at which point this Incan in exaile community could become a really interesting part of the early politics of Peru particularly from more indigenous voices (which I'm no expert on but I gather and much more influential in Peru then a lot of its neighbours)

 

[EMT]

An interesting idea to play around with. I can't see him being remotely relevant as an actual threat to the Spanish, the most likely scenario is that you basely just see the development of a folk legend/king and the mountain equivalent bar more interestingly I wonder about scenarios where there could be a real long-term legacy.

Spanish control in the region is very light and there's an awful lot wilderness so if he and some followers got away I wonder if you could see something a little bit like the Maroon communities in Brazil (I use Brazil instead of say the Caribbean as as with Brazil this more space to manoeuvre and a greater ability to effectively maintain a consistent society. Effectively a place far enough away from the Spanish that they can't reliably attack settlements, and where escaped slaves (at this point of course natives) can fleet and slowly add to the community.

In this scenario I wonder if you can even with only a little bit of stretching effectively end up with a long-term continuity of government from Vilcabamba, with Tupac's descendants of effectively controlling a cluster of villages with some inherited rituals and structures from the pre-conquest society hidden away outside of Spanish reach, made from descendants of a mixture of the original exiles and escaped slaves/indentured's/serfs.

This could realistically hang on until the region becomes independent from Spain at which point this Incan in exaile community could become a really interesting part of the early politics of Peru particularly from more indigenous voices (which I'm no expert on but I gather and much more the same Peru then a lot of its neighbours)

These descendants would be the first choice of candidate for an Inca restoration, so long as they aren't actively destructive to the legacy of the Inca royal line. That would determine what the attitude of a Quechua revolt would be, and how much power they could potentially wield.

 

[EMT]

One last question, do you think it'd be plausible for the Spanish to abandon Vilcabamba if they give up on capturing Túpac Amaru? Should that happen, is there a chance he and whatever forces still loyal to him could reoccupy it?

I missed your post at first

And I don't think so. They'd fear that exact scenario and would likely continue to allocate resources to securing the city to deny the possibility of another Quechua revolt