Huanta

Huanta is a town in central Peru and the capital of Huanta Province in the Ayacucho Region. During the wars of independence it stayed loyal to the Spanish king Ferdinand VII, and the viceroy of Peru gave it the title Loyal and Invincible Villa of Huanta, which remains a source of pride to its residents. The province was the site of a major rebellion against the newly formed Peruvian state from 1825 to 1828, a monarchist rebellion that brought together different ethnic and occupational groups, in which peasants who began as monarchist rebels were transformed into liberal guerrillas; it was defeated militarily, but the local leaders did not suffer the severe repression that followed the earlier Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II. Other conflicts in Huanta include the Salt Tax Revolt of 1896 and 1897 and the Huanta Rebellion of 1969.