Mateo Garcia Pumacahua Chihuantito , military and revolutionary. He was born in 1748 in the town of Chincheros, district of Calca (Cuzco). His parents were don Francisco Pumacahua Inca, governor of Chincheros, and doña Agustina Chihuantito; both were natives of the same town and belonged to the ayllu I put Ayamarca, of descendants of the Incas. It is presumed that Mateo studied at the college of noble Indians in San Francisco de Borja. In 1770, when his father died, he became hereditary chief and governor of Chincheros, under the charge of ensuring the faithful practice of religion, the maintenance of order and good customs, as well as the collection of taxes. respective taxes. Three years later he was conferred the rank of captain of noble Indians in the province of Urubamba. Around 1776 he had to marry Doña Juliana Carihuamán, a native of Cuzco, with whom he had five children:Ignacia, Poland, Francisco de Paula, Lorenzo and María Eusebia. As a fervent royalist, he bravely fought indigenous insurrections, including the great rebellion of Tupac Amaru II in 1780. Pumacahua took part in the operations of the second column, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Don Juán Manuel Campero, leading under his orders two thousand Indians from Chincheros, Maras and Guayabamba. Thus, he was able to stop the offensive of Diego Cristóbal Tupac Amaru in the Sacred Valley of the Incas and later (January 1781) contribute to the defeat of chief José Condorcanqui at the site of Cuzco. His performance in the search for the fugitive Tupac Amaru II and his role in the victory of Checacupe, which definitively sealed the end of the rebellion, increased his merits. For this reason, he was later entrusted with the pacification of the Collao plateau area, with the rank of colonel (granted in his favor in 1780) and with a monthly salary of 180 pesos. But he not only received awards and titles, but also public recognition from the visitor José Antonio de Areche and Viceroy Agustín de Jáuregui.
After the rebellion of Túpac Amaru II, Pumacahua returned to his home in the town of Chincheros and leased a farm in Guayabamba, province of Urubamba. Seeking to obtain grants, in 1782 he empowered the Marquis of Salinas to expose in court all the services he had rendered to his Majesty. In 1783 Pumacahua received the title of militia colonel and in 1794, the permanent rank of infantry colonel, with the right to pay. Among the noble Indians of Cuzco, he was elected second lieutenant of the imperial city, and as such he took his oath on June 28, 1802. In a list of merits from 1804 we see him request the rank of brigadier with the position of colonel in the active army. , and also the grace of a habit of the order of Santiago and the reduction of part of the tribute of twelve of his relatives, whom he lists in the memorial. In March 1809 he already contributes financially to the royalist cause with two thousand five hundred pesos. That same year, under the orders of Goyeneche, he participated in military actions to punish the Argentine expeditions to Upper Peru. Leading an army of 3,500 men, he marched to Desaguadero in order to reestablish communications between the capital and Goyeneche's army. The cacique increased his force with the auxiliaries from Puno and Arequipa, reassured the towns, occupied Sica-Sica and ordered all the surrounding parties. By virtue of these repeated achievements, Pumacahua obtained the long-awaited promotion to brigadier, along with the presidency of the royal audience of Cuzco, which he solemnly assumed on September 24, 1812. From this high seat he had to judge those responsible for the coup that took place place in said capital in 1813, when the lawyer Rafael Ramírez de Arellano and thirty other people launched a proclamation, refusing to recognize the authorities of the municipality, by virtue of the liberal tenor of the Constitution of Cádiz . In order to avoid major incidents, the president of the audience had to intervene in a measured and prudent manner.
The truth is that, as a result of his experiences and his contact with patriotic and enlightened men, Pumacahua will experience a radical change in his feelings. In the midst of daring curses from the Creole people, who hated his command because of his indigenous nature, the cacique leaves the royal audience and retires to the hacienda called "Sala" that he owned in Uruquillas. This is where the revolution that broke out on August 3, 1814 surprised him. It all started with a fight between a soldier and a student from the San Antonio Abad seminary, which led to the Army's attack on this institution. Under the leadership of the brothers José and Vicente Angulo , a popular mob attacked the barracks in retaliation. Emissaries came from here to invite Pumacahua to participate in the revolt as president of a government committee, ready to embrace the cause of emancipation. The brigadier-president accepted the position and, advised by the Angulos, decided to send three expeditions to open a second battle front against the royalist army of Upper Peru. . The first marched to Huamanga, under the command of the priest Béjar and Mariano Angulo, and was defeated in Huanta; the second, under the command of Captain Manuel Pinedo and the priest Muñecas, marched towards Upper Peru, being defeated in Chacaltaya. The third expedition was under the leadership of Vicente Angulo and Pumacahua himself, who managed to occupy the city of Arequipa, but ended up defeated in the battle of Umachiri on March 1, 1815. Pumacahua was taken prisoner, when he tried to go to Cuzco, by some Marangani Indians who led him to the presence of General Juan Ramírez. This ordered to open a summary trial, in which without further delay Pumacahua was sentenced to death, which became effective on March 17, 1815 in Sicuani. As a lesson to those who dared to follow the flag of emancipation, it was ordered to send the head of Pumacahua to Cuzco, while one of his arms was fixed in a public square in Sicuani. The great military man and native aristocrat would then be about 67 years old.