Guaman Poma

Guaman Poma Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala was an indigenous Andean nobleman, chronicler, and illustrator known for his extensive manuscript El Primer Nueva Corónica y Buen Gobierno, which he compiled to appeal to King Philip III of Spain and Council of the Indies. His work addressed the history of the Inca Empire, colonial institutions in Viceroyalty of Peru, and cross-cultural encounters involving figures such as Francisco Pizarro, Atahualpa, and Manco Inca Yupanqui. The manuscript remains a crucial primary source for studies of Cusco society, Lima administration, and Andean visual culture.

Early life and background

Guaman Poma was born into a noble lineage in or near Cusco, descendant of Inca aristocracy and linked to local ayllu networks such as those centered at Santiago de Chuco and Huamachuco. His upbringing connected him to institutions like the Inca Empire nobility, the Catholic missions of Franciscan Order and Society of Jesus, and colonial offices in the Viceroyalty of Peru. Active during the governorships of figures like Blasco Núñez Vela and Diego López de Zúñiga, he navigated interactions with legal bodies such as the Audiencia of Lima and petitions to the Council of the Indies. Influences in his life included contact with Spaniards linked to Potosí silver, settlers from Seville, and clerics tied to the Archdiocese of Lima.

El Primer Nueva Corónica y Buen Gobierno

Guaman Poma authored El Primer Nueva Corónica y Buen Gobierno, a manuscript intended for presentation to King Philip III of Spain and offices like the Casa de Contratación and the Council of the Indies. The chronicle recounts precolonial histories involving figures such as Pachacuti, Túpac Yupanqui, and Huayna Capac while also documenting colonial episodes with actors like Francisco de Toledo and Francisco de Borja. The text critiques incursions tied to Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire and administrative reforms linked to the Bourbon Reforms antecedents, and it proposes governance reforms referencing models from Castile, Aragon, and colonial precedents in New Spain. Composed in Spanish language and Quechua contexts, the manuscript merges narrative, legal petitions, and ethnographic detail aimed at institutions including the Royal Audience of Charcas and patrons such as clerics in Lima Cathedral.

Artistic style and manuscript illustrations

The manuscript is renowned for over 400 drawings combining indigenous iconography with European techniques found in works by artists associated with Seville, Antwerp, and Florence. Guaman Poma’s illustrations depict historical figures like Atahualpa and colonial officials such as Francisco Pizarro, scenes from rituals linked to Inti and syncretic rites mediated by friars of the Franciscan Order and Dominican Order, and landscapes including Lake Titicaca and Andes Mountains. Visual conventions echo colonial-era atlases from Gerardus Mercator and genre scenes similar to prints circulating from Hans Holbein the Younger and Albrecht Dürer, while employing indigenous graphic devices comparable to quipu representation and iconography present in colonial paintings from Cusco School. Material features of the codex relate to manuscript production centers like Lima workshops and repositories such as Biblioteca Royal de Dinamarca collections.

Political advocacy and critiques of colonial rule

Guaman Poma combined legal rhetoric understandable to institutions like the Council of the Indies with denunciations of abuses by conquistadors and colonial officials including members of the Encomienda system and corregidores in regions such as Chachapoyas and Huamanga. He named colonial actors involved in violence, challenged practices linked to the Repartimiento and tribute demands imposed around Potosí and the highland mita system, and appealed for remedies akin to ordinances issued by Viceroy Blasco Núñez Vela and reforms promoted by clerics such as Bartolomé de las Casas. His petitions proposed administrative measures referencing royal prerogatives of Philip II of Spain and later monarchs, and sought protection of indigenous rights in institutions like the Real Audiencia of Lima and municipal cabildos modeled on Castilian municipal charters.

Legacy and influence on Andean historiography

The manuscript resurfaced in European collections and influenced scholarship on the Inca Empire, colonial society in the Viceroyalty of Peru, and indigenous perspectives preserved alongside chronicles by Garcilaso de la Vega and reports like those by Bernabé Cobo. Modern historians and institutions including Royal Library, Copenhagen curators, scholars at Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, and departments in Oxford University and Harvard University have used the codex to reinterpret Andean agency, ethnohistory, and colonial art history. Guaman Poma’s work informs studies across fields involving archives from Archivo General de Indias, comparisons with visual sources from Cusco School painters, and debates engaging scholars such as Tzvetan Todorov-era critics, Inga Clendinnen, and contemporary researchers at museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and British Museum. His manuscript remains central to curricula in programs at Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and research on indigenous literacies in the early modern Americas.

Category:Peruvian chroniclers Category:Inca people Category:16th-century writers