The oppression of the Indians by means of the _mitas_ and _repartos_ excited the indignation of the Inca Tupac Amaru; but he exerted himself for years, and exhausted every means of obtaining redress, before he was finally driven to take up arms in their defence. Moved by his earnest and incessant appeals, and his piteous account of the sufferings of his people, the Bishops of Cuzco and La Paz forwarded them to the king through Don Ventura Santalices; and Blas Tupac Amaru, the Inca's uncle, also undertook a voyage to Spain; but death put an end to the humane missions both of the Spaniard and the Indian. Nevertheless, Tupac Amaru persevered in remitting renewed petitions; while the corregidors not only eluded compliance with the royal decrees, but also increased the burdens of the Indians. At length his patience came to an end, and he resolved to make an appeal to arms, not to throw off the yoke of Spain, but to obtain some guarantee for the due observance of the laws, and their just administration. His views were certainly confined to these ends when he first drew his sword, although afterwards, when his moderate demands were only answered by cruel taunts and brutal menaces, he saw that independence or death were the only alternatives. The most merciless oppressor of the Indians of Peru was Don Antonio Aliaga, Corregidor of Tinta, and therefore Tupac Amaru's immediate superior; and the Inca determined to commence his revolt by punishing this great culprit. The Inca's old tutor, Dr. Carlos Rodriguez, Cura of Yanaoca, in celebration of his name-day, gave a dinner to the corregidor of Tinta, and the Inca Tupac Amaru, on the 4th of November, 1780. The Inca, on pretence that some person had arrived at his house from Cuzco, withdrew from the banquet early, and placing himself in ambush on the road, with some attendants, made the corregidor prisoner on his return, taking him to Tungasuca,[211] and placing him in close confinement. Tupac then wrote a letter marked _reservadissima_, which he obliged Aliaga to sign, ordering his cashier at Tinta to remit the public money in the provincial treasury to the Inca, assigning as a reason that it was necessary to set out forthwith to the port of Aranta,[212] threatened by a descent from English cruisers. The Inca thus received 22,000 dollars, some gold ingots, seventy-five muskets, baggage-horses, and mules. Recruits were also ordered to be embodied, and sent to Tungasuca.