History of How the Spaniards Arrived in Peru: (Relasçion de Como Los Españoles Entraron En El Peru), Dual-Language Edition [Spanish]

by Diego de Castro Titu Cusi Yupangui

Catherine Julien's new translation of Titu Cusi Yupanqui's Relas ion de como los Espa oles Entraron en el Peru --an account of the Spanish conquest of Peru by the last indigenous ruler of the Inca empire--features student-oriented annotation, facing-page Spanish, and an Introduction that sets this remarkably rich source in its cultural, historical, and literary contexts.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN: 0872208281
• ISBN13: 9780872208285
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Hackett Publishing Company
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

How the Incas lost Peru by Titu Cusi

Titu Cusi was the son of Manco Inca, the younger half-brother of Huascar Inca and Atahualpa, the two half-brothers who were engaged in a civil war against each other when the Spaniards landed in Peru in 1530. Atahualpa ruled the northern territories around Quito; and Huascar had been crowned Inca by the nobility of Cuzco, the empire's traditional center. Htahualpa's generals defeated and captured Huascar outside Cuzco. Soon thereafter, Atahualpa met Francisco Pizarro at Cajamarca on 16th November 1532. After a short battle, Atahualpa was taken prisoner without a single Spanish casualty. Atahualpa ordered the assassination of Huascar and the delivery of 24 tons of gold and silver as his own ransom. Nevertheless, Atahualpa was executed by the Spaniards, and with the help of the Spaniards, his half-brother, Manco Inca (Titu Cusi's father) assumed the royal fringe, or maska paycha, reserved for the ruling Inca. A few years later Manco Inca rebelled and after almost conquering Cuzco, withdrew to Vilcabamba. After his assassination in 1545, Titu Cusi assumed command of Vilcabamba. He continued the resistance until his own death in 1571, but perhaps for diplomatic reasons, converted to Christianity and took the name of Diego de Castro. Titu Cusi's version of these events was based on the oral traditions that were kept by his father's panaca, or kinship group. He related his account the year before his death in the language of the Incas, Quechua, to the Augustinian monk Fray Marcos García, who translated it into Spanish before it was transcribed by an unknown scribe. The Spanish version and Catherine Julien's translation appear on facing pages in this lovely book. She loads both texts with very helpful footnotes and annotations, explaining not only specific words and phrases, but also the context of the arguments Titu Cusi was making. For example, "Titu Cusi refers to the Incas here as "natural lords" ("señores naturales"), a claim ot legitimacy in European terms. There was an argument then being forcefully made that the Incas were not natural lords, but tyrants who had gained ascendancy through conquest by force in the recent past. Spanish usurpation of sovereignty was thus justified." Julien has included a very well written 22 page introduction which places Titu Cusi's document into its historical and cultural perspective. There is a very good bibliography; and the index is well done and very helpful. As a general reader, I found this to be a fascinating insight into Incan history. I have no expertize to be able judge the relative merits of various translations of this work. But I enjoyed reading this book, and I took comfort from Karen Spalding's summary of the translation: "Catherine Julien's extensive research in Inca history and archeology makes her uniquely qualified to offer us this dual-language edition of Titu Cusi's version of how the Incas lost Peru to a small gang of invaders from across the sea." Julien's autobiography appears at the

The best edition of Titu Cusi ever!

Catherine Julien has delivered, yet again. This edition of the Inca's account of the Spanish conquest of the Andes is a wonderful addition to the literature, which can be useful to both the ethnohistorian or the lay reader. Working in either language, the character of 16th century Spanish has been preserved. Bilingual readers will take much away from Julien's careful treatment of the text and her award wining commentary on the document. Two other editions of Titu Cusi Yupangui have been published within the past year, but this is simply the best of the three!