Ñusta, which roughly translates to "princess" in the Quechua language, is a term for a highly noble or upper-class woman of Inca or Andean birth. Inca noblewomen were essentially part of the Inca Empire also called "Tawantinsuyu" where they spoke the traditional Inca spoken language "Quechua."[1] Ñustas were not full descendants of Inca royalty. Therefore, the Quechua term was used to denote the regional origin of the ñusta's non-royal parent. A ñusta could range from being the daughter or half-sister of the Sapa Inca himself, one of his lesser wives, or a wife or daughter of another high-ranking male noble, such as the heads of the local municipalities, Kurakas. The Spaniards recognized ñustas as noblewomen and added the Spanish term “Doña” to their Christian and Andean names.[2]
As Ñustas were part of the Inca culture, there would be a large focus and heavily connection when it comes to familial relations. One of the most important foundations and ideologies was family unification and adapting to a bounded organization. They also engaged with the process of creating food surpluses, maintain economic prosperity and having multiple opportunities to establishing a stabilized society being part of the Inca civilization. [3]
As noblewomen, ñustas faced a unique form of gendered scrutiny: they were traded with neighbouring communities to forge alliances or perpetuate Inca imperial rule.[4] For instance, after defeating a polity, the Sapa Inca would often take a wife from the leading family and marry one of his ñusta daughters to his subjects.[5] The choice of suitor in the marriages of ñustas was outside of the woman's control, and instead, was a matter of state policy.[6] The most desirable state for a ñusta was being married, for it kept them from dishonourable pursuits and enabled the family empire to expand.[7]
When Spaniards arrived in the Indigenous Americas, they themselves adopted the practice of trading women, after observation of the longstanding Inca tradition.[8] This is in fact how Spaniards made their claim for power in the Inca imperial system. Indigenous rulers presented European conquistadors with women, specifically ñustas, from the earliest encounters.[8] Through this practice, ñustas were often the first to become intimately acquainted with Spaniards as they became the mediators between the colonizers and colonized, and integrated Europeans into established Inca kinship networks.[8]
While the Spaniard-ñusta cohabitation initially began as a means of securing a spot among the Inca elites, legal marriage between the Spanish and ñustas later produced a mixed local elite system that forged the core political and economic networks of Spanish Peru.[9] Ñustas involved in these marriages were often conscious of the political weight their title held, and became active agents in the main historical events of this period. In other words, Inca women would inherit a nobility status through marital privileges, and this automatically allowed granted them access to some of the wealthiest lands and resources. This could be seen in Ñusta Ines Huaylas Yupanqui who took advantage of her proximity to her conquistador husband to hinder Inca Manco's claim to rule.[10] Likewise, Ñusta Cuxirimay Ocllo used her elite title and relations with the Spaniards to demand the possession of numerous lands and labourers in the valley of Yucay, near Cuzco.[10]
While ñustas were incredibly sheltered, they did not live in total isolation. They often played active roles in public ceremonies and accompanied their high-ranking male family members to investitures, masses, baptisms, funerals, and other religious ceremonies.[11] Despite being guarded, ñustas lived lives of sociability and comparative luxury: they were better fed, housed, clothed, and attended than any other group of women (except the Coya). Along with being surrounded by servants and slaves, much of a ñusta’s social life was spent gossiping, visiting friends, and participating in church-sponsored charities.[11] Ñustas were additionally renowned weavers and made beautiful textiles. Their clothing consisted of complex patterns, which showcased their skill and artistry.[12]
Inca men and women did share the bondage and responsibility of taking care of the State's farmland through agricultural activities of harvesting, planting, and plowing. Inca women were powerful workers as they did have the chance to endure in warfare alongside their husbands. However, they also would maintain the household and care for the children.[13]
The ideal elite woman was a virgin. Consequently, ñustas were among many elite girls who were brought up with their sexuality, activities, and education closely supervised. In the post-colonial period, ñustas were brought up out of the public's sight and left their homes only to go to mass. Their parents also stressed the Hispanic honour code, which tied female sexual behaviour and a woman's virginity to her family's honour. Ñustas were additionally taught to have their family's economic and dynastic interests at heart.
Additionally, these structures were highly hierarchical as Inca religion accounted for the idea that not all mortal people were the same, a belief bolstered by existing social inequalities to legitimize the structure through which the Coya and other noblewomen had power.[14] These hierarchies were deemed sacred; after all, the Coya was the daughter of the Moon, so female alliances ran deep in the imperial cult.[15] The Coya was in charge of leading priestesses, noblewomen, and common women in their worship of the female goddesses of the imperial cult, including the Moon an previous Coya's mummies.[16]
The Inca empire was ruled over by the Sapa Inca and the Coya, a king and queen of sorts, who were typically brother and sister. They extended their rule over their empire through a broad network of male and female elite locals who were, throughout their youth, educated in Cuzco on Inca ways of life. The ruling Incas attempted to assimilate their conquered people into Inca belief systems by promoting a state ideology that made Inca political affairs and religion inseparable from one another.[17] In Inca society, coyas are important, second to the Sapa Inca who's the most important person. By marrying a Sapa Inca, the coya has the duty to provide legitimacy for her children because of her status, and political guidance for her husband and her sons of whom one will be the succeeding Sapa Inca.[18] Generally, a coya vocalizes the concerns and demands of the individuals of the Inca royal family. It's why she was important in helping to maintain the relationship between the Sapa Inca and the rest of the Inca Royal family.[19] Young Inca women from around the empire, typically daughters of ayllu chiefs referred to as curacas, were sent to Cuzco to reside in the palace of the Coya or with other elite Inca noblewomen. These women had authority over the girls and were responsible for educating them on Inca lore and involving them in religious rituals. One of these rituals involved bringing golden pitchers of chicha to the Sapa Inca so that he may offer them to the Sun. These apprenticeships were a vital process in the population maintenance of the Inca elite as the Coya who hosted these girls was responsible for marrying them to appropriate men in the empire. Additionally, female traditions and skills were passed down in these environments.[20] Apprenticeships such as these formed bonds of allegiance between women of varying ranks of Inca nobility. These apprenticeships were mutually beneficial for all involved. The young women were housed, educated, and matched with appropriate husbands; the hosting Coya and noblewomen found their power legitimized as the girls they hosted returned to their communities and spread pro-Inca messages to female peasants. This practice created generational cycles of obligation between noblewomen and their social inferiors.
The noblewomen whom the Coya closely ruled over ranged in identity from princesses referred to as ñustas to great ladies referred to as capac huarmis or wives of chiefs referred to as curaca huarmi.[21] Ñustas typically did not have full Inca status and, therefore, had to have their natal province as a part of their title. The classes of Inca noblewomen were numerous; this list encompasses only a few examples. During the colonial period, ‘ñusta’ and ‘Coya’ would sometimes be integrated into the names of noblewomen to indicate their general nobility status without specifically designating them as the sole queen or an actual princess.
The Spanish system was strictly patriarchal, whereas Inca societies were based on gender parallelism, as an extrapolation of their religious ideologies. These conflicting notions between empires caused the original Andean system to fall apart. However, there is still some presence of gender parallelism across the structures despite the Spanish Crown's overarching influence over these small local units.[22] In pre-conquest Andean societies, women had different roles from men yet complementary to men's roles. As a result, they were equally valuable in terms of societal contribution. For example, even though men's authority did not equal women's authority, women's authority was recognized in traditional indigenous structures.[23]
Andean gender roles were complementary in nature, and both genders were considered necessary to the proper functioning of the Inca empire. The societal ideal of male and female co-leadership originated with the Inca religious belief that the gods they worshipped displayed both masculine and feminine traits. A cacical couple was considered to be more powerful than an individual man or woman. Inca origin stories describe a founding noble couple. Members of Inca social groups (ayllus) could trace their lineage back to a common ancestral couple, and leadership positions in ayllus, as in the Inca royal family, were hereditary.[24]
It is important to note that in Inca society, the notions of gender equality only existed in theory. In practice, when the Incas consolidated their control over the Andes, the elite claimed control over all women in the empire, and consequently, controlled the distribution of women.[25] Furthermore, men always had the highest status positions in places where the spheres joined. Scholars have additionally stressed that in the case of the Andean peoples, women did most of the work: they raised children, cooked, produced cloth, and worked alongside men in the fields.[26]
However, under Spanish rule, the patriarchal system of Spain influenced men to be the majority political leaders in Andean communities, showing how Spanish society places a higher value on men than women. In Spanish society, a woman's legal status is defined by her personal status, primarily whether she is married or single, as outlined by Siete Partidas and the Leyes de Toro, the Spanish empire's statutory codes and rules. If the woman inherits resources or receives a monetary marriage settlement from her husband, she is free to do whatever she wants with them, but only with the consent of any male subject in her family or her husband. There are, however, ways to circumvent Spanish law. In the traditional indigenous culture, for example, a mother gives her inheritance to her daughter, but this is not permitted under Spanish law. As a result, a male figure must act as an intermediary for the daughter to receive her intended inheritance from her mother. The drawback is that it provides male figures room to take advantage of women's assets.[27]
An important method that ñustas used to mark their status was through clothing. The ñañaca, for example, was a small cloth worn on the top of the head to signify high female rank. Noblewomen would also wear lliclas, woven shawls pinned across the chest, overtop of an acsu, a rectangular woven wrapped skirt or dress. While noblemen also used clothing to signify status, throughout the Spanish conquest, how they presented themselves became increasingly different from noblemen. Despite Spanish influence, the way noblewomen dressed stayed stable and endured relatively no change. In comparison, noblemen underwent more of a dynamic change. Their style of dress became prominently more Spanish by dressing in trousers, capes and jackets. This disparity in clothing highlighted how men wanted to be perceived as more Spanish in order to obtain more authority, whereas the opposite applied to women. Assimilating into Spanish culture would take away their jurisdiction, which is why their dress had continuity.[28] Ñustas were less ‘Hispanicized’ than noblemen, and there was more opposition to female political power in Indigenous societies as colonial ideas of patriarchy persisted.[29]
Beatriz Clara Coya (1558–1600), as one of the rare remaining ñustas of full Inca descent, was exceedingly wealthy and essentially used as a pawn in the discussion of Inca status in the colonial Andes.[30] She eventually became an encomendera in the República de Indios, although the Spanish viceroy repeatedly diminished and sabotaged her repartimiento. While she inarguably wielded power, she was consistently diminished in her position in an effort by the Spanish to turn Incas into subservient and Christianized ‘Indians.’
Micaela Bastidas Puyucahua, wife of rebel leader José Gabriel Tupac Amaru Inca, was born a noblewoman (1744-1781). Micaela was a key figure in the Inca nationalist Great Rebellion of 1780, which revolted against the Spanish colonial system in Peru. Tupac Amaru claimed the right to the Inca title through his ancestors, and Micaela was considered his Coya. She presided over the Inca kingdom (Incario) while Tupac Amaru was away at battle. She also fulfilled military leadership roles as an advisor, strategist, and commander of warrior troops.[31]