PERU 



81 



tion of a purely socialistic government, and their 

 attempt was successful. The great Inca Huayna 

 Capac died, after a long and prosperous reign, at 

 about the time when Pizarro first visited Tumbez. 

 < )n liis death there was a war of succession between 

 his two sons, which had just terminated in favour 

 of Atahualpa when Pizarro (q.v.) landed a second 

 time and marched into the interior. Peru was 

 soon overrun by the Spaniards, and the beneficent 

 rule of the Incas came to an end. At about the 

 time of the assassination of Pizarro the representa- 

 tions of Las (,'asan (q.v.) respecting the cruel treat- 

 ment of the Indians had obtained a hearing, and 

 the ' New Laws' were promulgated. The grants 

 conceded to the conquerors were not to be hered- 

 itary, all men who had been engaged in civil wars 

 were to be deprived, ami personal service from 

 Indians was forbidden. Blasco Nunez Vela was 

 sent out to Peru as viceroy to enforce these 

 reforms. He landed in 1544, and proclaimed the 

 ' New Laws.' The Spanish conquerors were thrown 

 into a state of exasperation and dismay, and 

 appealed to Gonzalo Pizarro (q.v. ) to leave his 

 retirement and protect their interests. The result 

 was that the viceroy was defeated and killed, and 

 ( iiinzulo virtually became governor of Peru. But 

 lie was not reeogni/ed by the Spanish government, 

 and an ecclesiastic named Pedro de la Gasca was 

 despatched to Pent, with a commission to restore 

 order, (ionzalo Pizarro was defeated near Cuzco, 

 and beheaded on the battlefield. Gasca reversed 

 the humane legislation advocated by Las Casas, 

 and made a hasty distribution of grants to his 

 followers. The announcement of his awards caused 

 much discontent, but Gasca hurriedly sailed for 

 Spain in January 1550, leaving the country in a 

 most unsettled state, in the hands of the four 

 judges who were his colleagues. He had arranged 

 that the emperor's decree against forced labour 

 should be promulgated after he was safe out of 

 the country. This gave rise to a formidable 

 rebellion, led by Francisco Hernandez Giron. The 

 judges made head against it, but it was not put 

 down until two pitched battles had been fought, 

 and Giron had been beheaded at Lima in December 

 I.V.4. 



The Marquis of Cafiete arrived as viceroy of 

 Peru in May 1555. His policy was to employ the 

 unquiet spirits among the Spanish settlers on 

 expeditions of discovery into unknown regions, and 

 to treat the natives with liberality and justice. 

 During the five years of his government he restored 

 order among the conquerors, and established the 

 heir to the Incas in a dignified retirement. But it 

 was Don Francisco de Toledo, the viceroy from 

 l.Vi'.t tn 1580, whose legislation finally fixed the 

 colonial ]>olicy of Spain in this part of the New 

 World. He reversed the kindly treatment of 

 the ancient dynasty which had distinguished the 

 Marquis of Cafiete, and unjustly beheaded young 

 Tupac Amaru, the last of the Incas, at Cuzco in 

 1571. At the name time he wisely based his legis- 

 lation on the system of the Incas. His elaborate 

 code, called the ' Libro de Tasas,' was the text- 

 tMxik of all future viceroys. He fixed the amount 

 of tribute to be paid by the Indians, exempting all 

 males under the age <>f eighteen and over that of 

 fifty. He recognised the |Misition of the native 

 chiefs, assigning them magisterial functions, and 

 the ilnty of collecting the taxes and paying the 

 money to the Spanish officials. But he enacted 

 that one-seventh part of the ]x>pulation of every 

 village should l>e subject t/i forced labour, generally 

 in the mines. This was called the Mila system. 



It was the habitual infraction of the rules 



established by Toledo, and the abuse of the Mita, 



which caused all the subsequent misery and the 



depopulation of the country. Compliance with the 



370 



continual demand for treasure from Spain, a de- 

 mand which was insatiable, was incompatible with 

 humane treatment of the people. For more than 

 two centuries the people of Peru toiled and died. 

 At length their sufferings became intolerable. 

 They rose as one man in the autumn of 1780, and 

 a descendant of the Incas, taking the revered name 

 of Tupac Amaru, placed himself at their head. 

 After a long and formidable resistance the insur- 

 gents were finally subdued, and their leader was put 

 to death under circumstances of revolting cruelty. 

 But he did not die in vain. In his fall he shook 

 the colonial power of Spain to its foundation. From 

 the cruel death of the Inca Tupac Amaru may be 

 dated the rise of that feeling which ended in the 

 expulsion of the Spaniards from South America. 

 Some of the demands of the Inca were conceded 

 soon after his death. He was the foremost pioneer 

 of the independence of Peru. The desire for 

 liberty among Peruvians of Spanish descent had 

 its birth in Lima ; but Lima was the residence of 

 the viceroy. Here the power of Spain was concen- 

 trated. Consequently it was in the more distant 

 colonies of Buenos Ayres, Caracas, and Chili that 

 insurrectionary movements first broke out and 

 that independence was first secured. 



At length a fleet under Lord Cochrane (see DUN- 

 DONALD), equipped in Chili, brought the Argentine 

 General San Martin to Peru with troops, and the in- 

 dependence of the land of the Incas was proclaimed 

 at Lima on the 28th of July 1821. Another liberat- 

 ing force, from Colombia, under General Bolivar, 

 embarked at Guayaquil, and when the Liberator 

 arrived at Lima, in September 1823, San Martin 

 retired. The Spanish viceroy. La Serna, with his 

 army, retreated into the interior, and the patriots 

 followed on his heels. On 9th December 1824 the 

 decisive battle of Ayacucho was fought, the 

 Spanish viceroy and all his officers were made 

 prisoners, and the colonial government finally gave 

 place to a free republic. Bolivar and his Colom- 

 bians left the country in 1826, but it was eighteen 

 years before the government became settled. In 

 August 1829 General Gamarra, a native of Cuzco 

 and a hero of Ayacucho, was elected president of 

 Peru, but at the end of his term of office there were 

 troubles which culminated with an attempt to 

 form a Peru Bolivian Confederation under General 

 Santa Cruz. This was defeated by Peruvian mal- 

 contents, aided by a Chilian army, the cause of 

 Santa Cruz and his confederation having been 

 ruined after the decisive battle of Yungay on 

 January20, 1839. Gamarra again became president, 

 the confederation was dissolved, and a constitution 

 was proclaimed. But Gamarra fell in a deplorable 

 war with Bolivia, and the contentions of his officers 

 caused a succession of civil wars until 1844. 



At length a man arose who restored peace to the 

 distracted country. Ramon Castilla was a native 

 of Tarapaca, and was a veteran of Ayacucho. He 

 was brave as a lion, prompt in action, and beloved 

 by his men. His firm grasp of [>ower secured a 

 long period of peace. He was elected constitu- 

 tional president of Peru in 1844, and ten years of 

 peace followed. Castilla commenced the payment 

 of interest on the foreign debt in 1849. A revised 

 constitution was promulgated in 1856, and the 

 slaves were emancipated. Castilla retired from 

 office in 1862, and died in 1866. The next im- 

 portant event was the election of Colonel Balta. 

 This president held office from 1868 to 1872, during 

 which time public, works were undertaken on a 

 gigantic scale with the aid of foreign loans. Don 

 Manuel Pardo, a scholar and a man of letters as 

 well as a statesman, was the first civilian president. 

 He held office from 1872 to 1876, and inaugurated 

 a policy of retrenchment. But it was too late to 

 save the credit of the state, and the payments of 



