Cura Ocllo (died 1539) was the wife and sister of
Manco Inca Yupanqui, puppet and later remnant ruler of the
Inca Empire between 1533 and his death in 1544. Her husband was named
Sapa Inca in October 1533 after the death of his and Cura Ocllo's brother
Tupac Huallpa, having in his turn succeded
Atahualpa upon his execution by the Spaniards three months earlier. Manco initially worked as a puppet ruler from the
Cuzco part of the Inca royal family of
Huayna Capac, having challenged Atahualpa and the northern tribes from
Quito in the
Inca Civil War. He later turned against his Spanish lords and made rebellion, was captured in a failed escape attempt but later released. Once free, Manco started ingenious to free his land from the Spaniards. Attempting to regain the Inca capital of Cuzco in a ten month
siege in 1536, he failed, however, and had though victory over conquistador
Francisco Pizarro's brother Hernando at
Ollantaytambo in January 1537, had to withdraw. Cura Ocllo likely followed her husband through these events and bore his son
Sayri Tupac in 1535, during Manco's time in captivity. Guerilla war ensured as soon the Spaniards had solved their internal disputes, capturing Cura Ocllo in 1539. She reportedly faced gruesome torture and was repeatedly raped by her captors before being facing subsequent execution, allegedly being pierced by lances. Her body was by a legend put in a basket on her request and carried by a river to her husband in the
Vilcabamba mountains. Manco followed her in 1544 and became the last symbol and leader of major Inca resistance towards the Spanish conquerors.