Bartolina Sisa
Encyclopedia
Bartolina Sisa was an Aymara woman, an indigenous heroine and the wife of Tupac Katari
. Her date of birth is uncertain, some sources give it as August 24, 1753, while others give it as August 12, 1750. Together with her husband, she led an indigenous uprising against the Spanish in Bolivia
at the head of an army of some 40,000 which laid siege to the city of La Paz
in 1781. Katari and Sisa set up court in El Alto
and their army 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 rule following Katari's capture in April. The siege was broken by colonial troops who advanced from Lima
and Buenos Aires
.
Bartolina Sisa was captured and executed by the Spanish on September 5, 1782 . She was hanged after being publicly humiliated in the Colonial Square (now Plaza Murillo), beaten and raped. Once dead, the Spanish cut her body into pieces, showed publicly her head to intimidate the natives and sent their limbs to be exhibited in different villages.
In her honour, the 5th of September was instituted as the International Day of the Indigenous Women since 1983.
Tupac 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....
. Her date of birth is uncertain, some sources give it as August 24, 1753, while others give it as August 12, 1750. Together with her husband, she led an indigenous uprising against the Spanish in Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
at the head of an army of some 40,000 which laid siege to the city of La Paz
La Paz
Nuestra Señora de La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of the La Paz Department, and the second largest city in the country after Santa Cruz de la Sierra...
in 1781. Katari and Sisa set up court in El Alto
El Alto
At one time merely a suburb of adjacent La Paz, Bolivia, on the Altiplano highlands, the city of El Alto is today one of Bolivia's largest and fastest-growing urban centers. As of the 2001 census, the population was 649,958. In 2010, the population may be nearly 900,000, or more. The city contains...
and their army 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 rule following Katari's capture in April. The siege was broken by colonial troops who advanced from Lima
Lima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
and Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
.
Bartolina Sisa was captured and executed by the Spanish on September 5, 1782 . She was hanged after being publicly humiliated in the Colonial Square (now Plaza Murillo), beaten and raped. Once dead, the Spanish cut her body into pieces, showed publicly her head to intimidate the natives and sent their limbs to be exhibited in different villages.
In her honour, the 5th of September was instituted as the International Day of the Indigenous Women since 1983.