THE conquest of the Inca Empire was an undertaking carried out by the Spaniards in the expedition led by Francisco Pizarro from 1532. This expedition was part of the conquest of Spanish America and led to the foundation of the Viceroyalty of Peru. The territory of the Incas was formed by regions that today correspond to Ecuador and the north of Chile and Argentina.
Incas
O inca empire it was a great indigenous empire formed, like the Aztec Empire, from the wars and conquests of other peoples. The territorial dimension of this empire was gigantic and, according to historian Marianne Mahn-Lot, extended over four thousand kilometers. the Incas called him Tahuantinsuyu, which, translated from Quechua (language of the Incas), means "empire of the four directions"|1|.
The Incas survived from agriculture, mainly from the cultivation of corn and potatoes, in addition to raising llamas. They were ruled by an emperor named Sapa Inca. According to their legends, the first Inca emperor was Pachacuti, who was elevated to the throne around 1438.
When the Spaniards arrived in the Inca Empire in 1532, they found it in state of civil war. This war had been caused by the dispute over the imperial succession. after the emperor's death Huayna Capac in 1528, his two children, Atahualpa and huascar, started a fight among themselves for the power struggle.
Atahualpa had strong support from the northern elite of the empire, especially from the city of Quito. Huáscar already had the support of the southern elite of the empire. Huáscar had tried to capture the city of Quito, however, his brother's forces prevailed and, during the battle, he was taken prisoner.
Pizarro Expedition
Francisco Pizarro he was a Spanish commoner (unlike the Spanish conquistador Cortes, who was a nobleman) and had arrived on the American continent around his 34th birthday. In 1532, on the expedition to conquer the Incas, Pizarro was 56 years old. He owned domains in a land called the Castile del Oro (now Panama) and learned of the region of the Incas from the report of other explorers, who had heard of a region called “Biru”.
In 1527, Pizarro organized an expedition towards the regions of the Inca Empire. However, this expedition was a failure and had contact only with peoples subjugated by the Incas. This Spanish conqueror then went after royal authorization for a new expedition. King Charles V granted him this authorization in 1529. The group formed by Pizarro had "three ships, 200 men, 27 horses"|2|.
As soon as he reached the lands of the Inca Empire, Pizarro mobilized his forces towards Cajamarca, where Atahualpa settled after defeating Huáscar's troops in Quito. When the Spanish forces arrived, the representative of the Inca Empire decided to receive them and, after a disagreement, a great massacre of the Incas followed.
This disagreement began after Dominican priest Valverde delivered a bible to Atahualpa and demanded his conversion to Christianity. With his refusal, the Spaniards attacked the Incas and, after the combat, managed to imprison Atahualpa. Once arrested, he ordered the execution of Huáscar to prevent his alliance with the Spaniards.
After his arrest, the Spaniards demanded gold and silver, and Atahualpa offered to fill a room with precious metals in exchange for his freedom. Even after mobilizing a large amount of precious metals, Atahualpa was executed by the Spaniards, accused of treason because of the rumor that an ally of his was plotting to attack the Spaniards from Quito (the rumor was false).
After Atahualpa's execution, the Spaniards managed to conquer the capital of the Inca Empire, Cuzco, and, later, the city of Quito. The Emperor who occupied the throne, Lame Capac, he allied with the Spaniards and helped them to contain Inca rebellions. In 1535, Pizarro founded the city of Lima to facilitate contact with Panama. He was assassinated in 1541 after a disagreement with Diego Almagro and his allies.
|1| MAHN-LOT, Marianne. The conquest of Spanish America. Campinas: Papirus, 1990, p. 50.
|2|Idem, P. 52.
* Image credits: Zoltan Katona and Shutterstock
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