Túpac Katari

Who was Túpac Katari?

Túpac Katari or Catari, born Julián Apasa Nina, was a leader in the rebellions of indigenous people of Bolivia against the Spanish Empire in the early 1780s.

A member of the Aymara, Apasa took the name "Tupac Katari" to honor two rebel leaders: Tomás Katari, and Túpac Amaru II. He raised an army of some 40,000 and laid siege to the city of La Paz in 1781. Katari and his wife, Bartolina Sisa set up court in El Alto and maintained the siege for 184 days, from March to June and from August to October. Sisa was a commander of the siege, and played the crucial role following Katari's capture in April. The siege was broken by colonial troops who advanced from Lima and Buenos Aires.

Katari laid siege again later in the year, this time joined by Andrés Túpac Amaru, nephew of Túpac Amaru II. But Katari was again unsuccessful.

Despite his subsequent betrayal, defeat, torture, and execution, Túpac Katari is remembered as a hero by modern indigenous movements in Bolivia, who call themselves Katarismo. A Bolivian guerrilla group, the Tupac Katari Guerrilla Army, also bears his name.