Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua, Lead Stratgiest and Revolutionary Icon

Have you ever heard the story of the lead strategist and propaganda creator who helped lead an uprising against colonizers in Peru in the late 1700s?

Who united multiethnic groups in the name of freedom and resistance against tyranny? She recruited not only Indians, but also mestizos, Blacks, Creoles, and “good” Spaniards, something unheard of in eighteenth-century Peru.

Famously known as the wife of rebel leader Túpac Amaru II, Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua was second-in-command of the most significant uprising in Spanish colonial history. This revolt would inspire other South American countries like Argentina, Bolivia, and Columbia to fight for their freedom.

The Túpac Amaru rebellion was the most significant rebellion the region had ever seen. A revolution wouldn’t have happened without the lead strategist and second-in-command, Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua.

Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua was a warrior in her own right. Not only did she lead rebels and develop propaganda and marketing tactics for the rebellion, but she also created a financial and logistic charting system to help fund it. She orchestrated the very much anti-slavery, anti-classist, anti-high taxes, and better working conditions revolution.

In the first #RevolutionaryWarriHer, we look at the life and accomplishments of Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua, a woman who led a rebellion and inspired other women to take up arms.

Even at a young age, Michaela was in favor of freedom for all. Micaela was born in Tamburco, Peru, on June 23, 1744. Her father, Manuel Bastidas, was of African descent and died when she was two; her mother, Josefa Puyucahua (or Puyucawa), was an indigenous woman. Because of her status as a Zamba (person of mixed race), Micaela was considered a minority in her overwhelmingly indigenous Andean community. Due to her upbringing in the indigenous community, she spoke Quechua more than Spanish and felt more connected to her indigenous roots. She had little schooling, but unlike most women at that time, she was educated in arts and letters, which she would later use to her advantage as the advisor and second-in-command of the uprising.

In 1760, at age fifteen, Micaela married José Gabriel Condorcanqui, an administrator, trader, and chief, who later changed his name to Túpac Amaru II because he claimed to be a descendent of the imperial Inca ruler Túpac Amaru. Túpac Amaru II was a man of nobility who spoke Spanish, Latin, and Quechua and often mediated discussions and arguments between local and court magistrates. The Spanish subjected many indigenous and African slaves to forced labor and horrible working conditions in fields and textile mills. Both Micaela and Túpac believed in justice for all, working with the Spaniards to implement better working conditions, increase equality among those in Peru, and eliminate slavery, something Micaela knew about from living in the Andes Mountains. The officials’ attitude and unwillingness to compromise are some reasons for the uprising.

Although there’s not much information on Micaela, we can infer what her upbringing was like in the Andes, being a minority and considered an illegitimate child because of her lineage. Her education influenced the way she saw the world around her. Micaela saw firsthand the mistreatment of indigenous people in her community, seen as lesser in the Spanish-made cross-ethnic hierarchy system. Growing up, Micaela was surrounded by her mother and other indigenous women who taught her about the importance of community and standing up for what you believe in. That is why it’s no surprise that she later became an advisor and strategist in one of the largest rebellions in history.

On November 4, 1780, at age thirty-five, Micaela and Túpac Amaru II initiated an uprising against the Spanish colonial regime. The rebellion began after Túpac captured and executed Antonio Arriaga, a corregidor (local administrative/judicial official). Túpac’s message to the people of Peru:

“We are born in these lands and are of the same origin.”

This rebellion was a long time coming: Túpac had always spoken up about the mistreatment of the people of Peru.

As a #RevolutionaryWarriHER, Micaela did more than just wait for the rebellion to start; she advised and planned the uprising.

How does a Lead Strategist prepare for an Uprising?

Draw up a recruitment plan that includes recruiting 7,000–10,000 Indians, mestizos, Blacks, Creoles, soldiers, and neighboring country representatives.
1. Create alliances and include incentives in your plan. One of those alliances includes assisting those in Upper Peru (modern-day Bolivia) in their rebellion, the Katarista Uprising.
2. Organize indigenous tribes and followers to help attack other corregidors.
Plan the routes of rebellion, including which houses and textile mills to burn.
1. The center of the rebellion route was in southern Peru, from Cuzco (the second-largest city in Peru and the first city Túpac seized) to Lake Titicaca.
Use your experience and knowledge to hold secret meetings with community members while building a sisterhood with other Peruvian women so that they, too, can fight for their rights.
Use your network to gather information on the locals’ concerns and your enemies.
1. In this case, use Túpac Amaru II’s network of various locals and traders with whom he had forged previous relationships.
Develop propaganda, communication systems, and marketing materials in multiple languages to benefit the less well-educated populations.
Oversee the rebel base in Pampamarca and map out safe passageways for soldiers and allies to pass through.

As a lead strategist and financial planner, Micaela also spoke with the elite Spaniards and indigenous monarchs to fund and assist with the rebellion. Funding from supporters allowed the group to buy firearms, clothes, and other supplies, which the indigenous community was prohibited from doing. When she wasn’t recruiting or planning, she led her soldiers on the battlefield in San Felipe de Tungasuca. Micaela and her mostly women rebel army helped Túpac Amaru II defeat the Spanish in the battle of Sangarará. Micaela joined Túpac again in the center of Cuzco to attack the city and urged him to take advantage of the enemy’s weak city guard. Despite her urgings, Amaru did not advance, and this inaction ultimately led to their capture. Their Spanish captors made the couple watch their son Hipólito be executed. Then it was Michaela’s turn. Her execution was cruel: the Spaniards first cut out her tongue, then strangled her, and then proceeded to kick her stomach and breasts.

Although brutal, it’s important to note how Spaniards killed Micaela and the other women leaders that day. They took her tongue as a warning for those who spoke out against them. They kicked her down because they knew she was powerful, a woman who stood up for others. Her breasts, because she was a woman who inspired other women to fight for their rights in a time when women, primarily the indigenous and enslaved, didn’t have rights.

What Makes Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua a #RevolutionaryWarriHER?

Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua is a symbol of women’s rights, anti-colonialism, and anti-oppression. She worked with many Quechuan and other indigenous women to free them from Spanish colonialism and become a part of social and political decision-making. She worked with over twenty women leaders like Tomasa Tito Condemayta Hurtado de Mendoza, the cacica (most powerful ruler of her region) and military officer of an all-women battalion, to integrate indigenous women into politics. Micaela inspired many other women to strategize and take up arms.

The rebellion lasted two years after her death, but her spirit inspired many. It inspired other country’s uprisings, and it encouraged many women to voice their opinions on and off the battlefield. Micaela’s ability to fight for all rights inspired many women in South America. The town of Abancay in Peru built the National University of Micaela Bastidas de Apurímac and a statue of her in her honor.

Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua is a Revolutionary WarriHER because she inspiHERS us to stand up for what we believe in and never give up, even in the face of tyranny.

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