Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II The Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II ( 1780 – c . 1782 ) was an uprising of native and mestizo peasants against the Bourbon reforms in the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru . While Túpac Amaru II , an early leader of the rebellion , was captured and executed in 1781 , the rebellion continued for at least another year under other leaders . Background . The government of Spain , in an effort to streamline the operation of its colonial empire , began introducing what became known as the Bourbon Reforms throughout South America . In 1776 , as part of these reforms , it created the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata by separating Upper Peru ( modern Bolivia ) and the territory that is now Argentina from the Viceroyalty of Peru . These territories included the economically important silver mines at Potosí , whose economic benefits began to flow to Buenos Aires instead of Cuzco and Lima . The economic hardship this introduced to parts of the altiplano , combined with systemic oppression of Indian and mestizo underclasses ( a recurring source of localized uprisings throughout Spanish colonial South America ) to create an environment in which a large - scale uprising could occur . In 1779 Spain raised sales taxes ( known as the " alcabala " ) on goods produced and sold in the colonies , in part to fund its participation in the American Revolutionary War . José Gabriel Condorcanqui , an upper - class Indian with claims to the Inca lineage , in 1780 adopted the name Túpac Amaru II , and called for rebellion . He was motivated in part by reading of a prophecy that the Inca would rule again with British support , and he was aware of the British colonial rebellion in North America and Spanish involvement in the war . Rebellion near Cuzco . On November 4 , 1780 , at or after a party in Tungasuca , where Túpac was cacique , Túpac and supporters seized Antonio Arriaga , the corregidor of his hometown of Tinta , held him for six days , and then publicly executed him . Before executing Arriaga , Túpac convinced Arriaga to ask a number of Spaniards to bring money to him , under the pretext of ransoming him . Túpac began moving through the countryside , where he gained supporters , primarily from the Indian and mestizo classes , but also with some Criollos ( locals of mostly Spanish descent ) . On November 17 he arrived at the town of Sangarará , where Spanish authorities from Cuzco and the surrounding area had assembled a force of about 900 . Túpac ' s ad hoc army , which had grown to several thousand , routed this force the next day , destroying the local church where a number of people had taken refuge . Spanish colonial administrator José Antonio de Areche acted in response to Túpac ' s uprising , moving troops from Lima and as far off as Cartagena toward the region . Troops from Lima were instrumental in helping repel attempts by Túpac to capture Cuzco in December and January . Following these failures , his coalition of disparate malcontents began to fall apart , with the upper - caste Criollos abandoning him first to rejoin the loyalist forces . By the end of February 1781 , Spanish authorities began to gain the upper hand , and Túpac and his family were captured on April 6 , 1781 . On May 15 he was sentenced to death , and on May 18 , he was forced to witness the execution of his wife and children before he was himself quartered . During the rebellion non - Indians were systematically killed by the rebels . Areche ' s decrees following the execution of Túpac Amaru II included the banning of the Quechua language , the wearing of indigenous clothing , and virtually any mention or commemoration of Inca culture and history . Rebellion in the south . Word of Túpac Amaru ' s activities spread to the south , where in the region near Lake Titicaca in Upper Peru , another rebellion sprang up in December 1780 , this one led by Túpac Katari . He was aided by Túpac Amaru ' s brother Diego , and benefited from the remnants of Túpac Amaru ' s forces following the latter ' s capture . He laid siege to La Paz for six months in 1781 with poorly organized forces numbering as much as 40 , 000 . Approximately 10 , 000 people or one third of the city ' s population died during the siege . He was captured and executed in November 1781 , while Diego Cristóbal Túpac Amaru held out until March 1782 before also being captured and executed . Aftermath . It is estimated that more than 80 , 000 Indians and mestizos were killed during the rebellion and its aftermath , while nearly 10 , 000 Spaniards and upper - caste Criollos were killed .