What Inca ruler led the final rebellion and was executed in 1572?

The Inca ruler who led the final rebellion and was executed in 1572 was Túpac Amaru I. He was the last Sapa Inca of the Neo-Inca State, the independent Inca government that survived in Vilcabamba after the Spanish conquest of Cusco.

Túpac Amaru I became ruler after the death of his brother and predecessor, Titu Cusi Yupanqui. In 1572, Spanish forces under Viceroy Francisco de Toledo invaded Vilcabamba, captured the Inca stronghold, and pursued Túpac Amaru. He was taken to Cusco, tried by the colonial authorities, and publicly executed on September 24, 1572.

His death ended the remaining political authority of the Inca dynasty in Vilcabamba. It did not erase Indigenous resistance, however: Túpac Amaru became a powerful symbol of opposition to Spanish rule. More than two centuries later, José Gabriel Condorcanqui adopted the name Túpac Amaru II during his major 1780–1781 uprising. The two men are therefore often confused, but they lived in different centuries and led separate rebellions.

Túpac Amaru I is also called the last Inca of Vilcabamba, distinguishing him from the earlier imperial rulers defeated during the initial Spanish invasion.