Promaucae
Promaucae,also spelled asPromaucasorPurumaucas(fromQuechuapurum awqa:wild enemy), were an indigenous pre-ColumbianMapuchetribal group that lived in the present territory ofChile,south of theMaipo Riverbasin ofSantiago, Chileand theItata River.Those to the north were calledQuillotanes[1]andMapochoesby the Spanish colonists). They spokeMapudungun,like theMolucheto the south, and were part of thePicunchetribe that lived north of theItata River.
Description
[edit]
TheIncareferred to all the peoples who were not under their empire aspuruma auca.Because these Picunche tribes were successful in defending their territory against theInca Empirein theBattle of the Maule,they were given this distinctive name. In an effort to transliterate the word into Spanish phonetics, the Spanish referred to them as thePurumaucasorPromaucaes.The early Spanish in the area knew their region as the province of Promaucae and its inhabitants were calledPromaucaes.
The Promaucae are the first inhabitants of theRancaguaValley of whom there is a historical account. TheMapucheincluded them in the group that they knew as thepicunche, "people of the north".The Promaucae, as has already been mentioned, constituted a distinct cultural unit separate from those Picunche who lived to the north of theMaipo,namedmapochoes,and to the south of theMaule,designatedmaulesandcauquenes.The Inca invaders noted the great military capacity and will to fight of the Promucae.
They were farmers and constructed some earthworks for irrigation. They left ceramic vestiges.
Inca campaigns
[edit]The Inca in their expansion used thePucara del Cerro La Muralla,which they strengthened. The Pucará was the southernmost Inca settlement then known. Inca expeditions in this territory were organized byTúpac Inca Yupanquiat the end of the 15th century and later byHuayna Cápac.
The history of this period is based on what was written in later chronicles. These chronicles indicate that the Promaucaes, informed about the coming of the Incas, allied themselves with the Antalli, Pincu and Cauqui subgroups, forming an army of 20,000 men. The Incas sent emissaries to persuade the locals into accepting Túpac Inca Yupanqui as sovereign, but the Purumaucas decided to face the Inca forces in the so-calledBattle of the Maule.[2]During the confrontation, both sides suffered many fatalities and neither army won a clear advantage.
On the fourth day, neither side left their own camp, both of which had been fortified, as they hoped to defend them if their opponents attacked. The fifth and sixth days were passed in the same manner but by the seventh, the Purumauca and their allies retired and returned home claiming victory. The Inca later considered chasing them, on which some chiefs agreed; but they decided to secure only what they had already conquered, with whichTúpac Inca Yupanquiagreed.
Due to their proximity to theInca Empire,the Promaucae learned the new technology that the Inca displayed in their new domains.
Among the peoples the Spanish called the Promaucae, adopting the term from the Inca, were particularly the people of theRapel Rivervalley.[3]Those of theMataquito Rivervalley were called theCure,for which the province ofCuricois named.[3]The people in theMaule Rivervalley and to the south were distinguished asMaule.Those to the south of the Maule and north of the Itata River were known asCauquiby the Inca[4]orCauquene.[3]The Spanish named theCauquenes Riverafter them.
References
[edit]- ^Juan Ignacio Molina,Compendio de la historia civil del reyno de Chile,pg. 9. Named forQuillota,one of the settlements of theInca Empirein Chile.
- ^Named by Francis Goicovich Videla and Osvaldo Silva Galdames in the article and the analysis onSofia Filo, "The" Battle of the Maule: Stopped the expansion Inca towards the south of Chile? "Archived2007-06-17 at theWayback Machine,University of Chile
- ^abcJuan Ignacio Molina,Compendio de la historia civil del reyno de Chile,pg. 9.
- ^Inca Garcilaso de la Vega,Comentarios reales,2da_VII_20 20
Sources
[edit]- Inca Garcilaso de la Vega,Comentarios reales,Segunda Parte: Libro VII, Cap.19,20.
- Juan Ignacio MolinaCompendio de la historia civil del reyno de Chile,Cervantes Virtual
- Larrain,Etnogeografía, Geography of Chile,Geographic Military Institute, Stgo. 1987; the XVIth: 147.
External links
[edit]- Los Promaucaes,por Eduardo Téllez Lúgaro.
- The promaucaes in O'Higgins's Region, brief relation of the cultural and natural patrimony ", Carmen Del Río and Blanca Tagle.
- Marta Blanco,The Inca Garcilaso of the Vega, an Antarctic Indian (1539-1616)
- _ 2da_VII_18 Inca Garcilaso of the Vega,Royal (Real) Commentaries.The second Part, I Free the VIIth, Chapter 18
- _ 2da_VII_19 Inca Garcilaso of the Vega,Royal (Real) Commentaries.The second Part, I Free the VIIth, Chapter 19
- Inca Garcilaso de la Vega,Comentarios Reales.Segunda Parte, Libro VII, Capítulo 20
- Alonso de Ercilla, La Araucana