Sayri Tupac was the second of the Incas of Vilcabamba. He was still a minor when Manco Inca, his father, was assassinated by the almagristas in 1545. Power was temporarily assumed by Atoq Supa, who was probably a relative of little Sayri Tupac, and he upheld the decision to continue fighting the Spanish. with sporadic attacks on caravans traveling between Cuzco and Lima. In 1548, when Gonzalo Pizarro's rebellion was crushed, he wanted Mr. Pedro de la Gasca to persuade Sayri Tupac to come out of his refuge in peace . For such a mission he used his uncle Paullu Inca, trusting that, being his relative the bearer of the offering, the Inca would accept. In a letter to the king, dated July 17, 1549, La Gasca lamented the failure of such a mission, leaving the negotiations interrupted.
Spanish mission for an agreement with Sayri Tupac
Then it would be the viceroy Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza who, between 1550 and 1556, would undertake the steps to get Sayri Tupac out of his refuge . Mendoza formed a commission made up of Juan de Betanzos (married to Angelina Yupanqui, daughter of Huayna Cápac), the mestizo Juan Sierra (son of the conqueror Mancio Sierra de Leguízamo and Dona Beatriz Mango), Juan Bautista Muñoz, corregidor of Cuzco, and the Dominican friar Melchor de los Reyes.
The commission was unable to enter Vilcabamba via the Apurimac River, ending up crossing the Chuquichaca bridge. According to the chronicler Diego Fernández el Palentino, Sayri Tupac mistrusted the commission, so he sent two of his captains ahead of him to arrange the conditions for his departure and his transfer to Lima. . The envoys received the best treatment in the capital and were housed in the houses of the wealthiest families. Through him, the viceroy offered Sayri Tupac a thousand castellanos of rent for him and his children with an encomienda in the Yucay valley, plus a plot of land above the fortress of Cuzco "to build his house". He returned Juan Sierra with the captains to Vilcabamba and learned that Sayri Tupac had received the tassel, that is, he had fully assumed powers, with Atoq Supa retiring. Once the viceroy's offer was accepted, Sayry Tupac left Vilcabamba clarifying that he was not doing it out of fear but because his “guacas” had ordered him to. In July 1557 he left the Vilcabamba redoubt forever, being led on a litter together with his wife Cusí Huarcay, accompanied by a retinue of three hundred people. On January 5 of the following year he entered the city of Lima, being received by the Marquis of Cañete and the object of much attention, including games of reeds in his honor.
Sayri Tupac's return to Cuzco
Sayri Tupac later returned to Cuzco and lived in his palace in the Yucay Valley. He along with his wife accepted Christianity and were baptized, he with the name of Diego de Mendoza and his wife with that of María Manrique. The Incas who had remained in Vilcabamba considered him a traitor, so much so that as soon as he left his shelter, his half-brother Titu Cusí Huallpa put on the mascaipacha .
Death of Sayri Tupac
Sayri Tupac's death is shrouded in mystery:some authors believe that he was assassinated by the Spaniards themselves and others blame the Incas of Vilcabamba themselves. His brother Titu Cusí Yupanqui states in his instruction that Juan de Betanzos went from Cuzco with a notary to certify that his brother had died a natural death. In any case, a Cañari Indian named Francisco Chillchi was accused of having poisoned Sayri Tupac with herbs and remained detained for a year without being able to prove anything to him. Years after the death of Sayri Tupac, the Inca generals Rimachi Yupanqui and Yamqui Mayta declared under the ritual of the Inca oath that Sayri Tupac was never an Inca nor heir to Manco Inca. There is also a letter dictated by Titu Cusí, dated in Vilcabamba on June 20, 1559 in which he says:“Your V. M. is already informed that the Inga, my lord and brother Thupa Amaro, is an Inga straight and true, by right line according to our father and lord Mango Inga left him ordained and commanded, and that Sayri Thupa our brother was chosen among us, as lieutenant (inca-raptin), so that the people of war would be aware that there was a lord who governed them until so long. the inga my lord had some understanding of reason to be able to govern us” . Apparently the departure of Sayri Tupac was a strategy used by the rebel Incas to avoid the assault on Vilcabamba.