Execution Of The Last Incan Emperor, Atahuallpa

Execution Of The Last Incan Emperor, Atahuallpa

Founded in AD 1438, the Inca Empire was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. With its capital at Cusco, the empire ruled over lands in present-day Peru, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador. 

In May 1532, following a civil war that resulted in him defeating his rivals, Atahualpa became the new Inca emperor. But his moment in the sun was brief because in the same year the threat of a Spanish invasion became a reality. 

In November, with tensions growing between the Incas and the Spanish, Atahualpa camped outside the city of Cajamarca with a huge army. He had heard word that a small Spanish force, led by Francisco Pizarro, was marching through his territory, so he sent one of his men to their camp. News soon returned informing the emperor that the Spanish force comprised 106 foot soldiers and 62 cavalry. On hearing this, Atahualpa requested that they should come and meet him. He believed that their inferior numbers posed no threat to him, and his intention was to capture Pizarro and his small army.

On 15 November, the Spanish reached Cajamarca and entered the largely deserted city. Pizarro then invited Atahualpa to come into the city where they could talk. The emperor agreed, and the next day he was carried into the city in a litter with around 6,000 of his men in support. But when they entered Cajamarca, there was no sign of the Spanish. The overconfident emperor and his force gathered in the main plaza—which only had two or three narrow exits—and there the Inca army waited. 

After a while, a Spanish friar named Vincente de Valverde came out of one of the buildings with an interpreter and asked Atahualpa to come inside and talk with Francisco Pizarro. But Atahualpa refused. The friar then demanded that Atahualpa accept Catholicism as his faith and threatened war if he refused. Atahualpa refused again, but he had unknowingly walked into a well-laid trap, and in the buildings around the square the Spanish waited patiently for the moment to strike. And to make matters worse for the Incas, the Spanish also had troops and cannons positioned in a building in the centre of the square. 

After Valverde had threatened Atahualpa, tensions began to build within the square. So tense and terrified were the vastly outnumbered Spanish troops that, according to Pedro Pizarro, some urinated down themselves as they watched nervously from the buildings. 

At some stage the negotiations broke down and shots were fired at the massed Inca soldiers. The Spanish then charged from the buildings and the panic-stricken Incas—most of whom, if not all, had never experienced gunfire or heavy cavalry—tried to flee the square but the tight exits hindered their flight. During the melee, the Incas attempted to carry Atahualpa away in his litter, but the Spanish soldiers chopped their hands off. To the shock of the Spanish, the injured Incas then tried to lift the litter with their bloodied arms. But it was a lost cause, and Francisco Pizarro was victorious without the loss of a single one of his soldiers.  

Atahualpa was captured along with a few thousand of his men; the rest were killed or fled in what is known as the battle of Cajamarca. 

Only one Spaniard was injured in the battle and that was Pizarro who was cut by one of his own men as he tried to protect Atahualpa. Pizarro knew the value of keeping the emperor alive as a hostage.

Outside the city, the Inca camp was plundered. The Spanish found an abundance of gold, and Atahualpa offered them plenty more, probably to save himself. Although he kept his promise and handed over more gold, a year later the Spanish told Atahualpa that he was to be burned alive. He strongly opposed this because he believed that if he burned his soul would not make it to the afterlife. Nevertheless, the Spanish tied him to a stake, but then offered him a way out, provided that he convert to Catholicism. He accepted and was baptized; the Spanish then strangled him instead. And that was the end of the last true emperor of the Incas. He was succeeded by vassal emperor, Túpac Huallpa. 

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Illustration of the execution of the last Incan Emperor, Atahuallpa (1497–1533), by Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizzaro, on August 29, 1533.© Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com