BY
SIR CLEMENTS MARKHAM, K.C.B.
[1910]





INTRODUCTION


The drama was cultivated by the Incas, and dramatic performances were
enacted before them. Garcilasso de la Vega, Molina, and Salcamayhua
are the authorities who received and have recorded the information given
by the Amautas respecting the Inca drama. Some of these dramas, and
portions of others, were preserved in the memories of members of Inca
and Amauta families. The Spanish priests, especially the Jesuits of
Juli, soon discovered the dramatic aptitude of the people. Plays were
composed and acted, under priestly auspices, which contained songs and
other fragments of the ancient Inca drama. These plays were called
'Autos Sacramentales.'

But complete Inca dramas were also preserved in the memories of members
of the Amauta caste and, until the rebellion of 1781, they were acted.
The drama of Ollantay was first reduced to writing and arranged for
acting by Dr. Don Antonio Valdez, the Cura of Tinto. It was acted
before his friend Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui[FN#1] in about 1775. Taking
the name of his maternal ancestor, the Inca Tupac Amaru, the ill-fated
Condorcanqui rose in rebellion, was defeated, taken, and put to death
under torture, in the great square of Cuzco. In the monstrous sentence