Atahualpa

Lifetime portrait of Atahuallpa, the 13th and last sovereign Inca emperor

Atahuallpa or Atawallpa (c. 1502 – 1533) was the 13th and last sovereign (the last de jure emperor being Túpac Amaru) emperor of the Tahuantinsuyo, or Inca empire. He became emperor upon defeating his younger half-brother Huáscar in a civil war sparked by the death of their father, Inca Huayna Capac, from an infectious disease thought to be malaria or smallpox. During the civil war, the Spaniard Francisco Pizarro crossed his path, captured Atahuallpa, and used him to control the Inca empire. Eventually, the Spanish executed Atahuallpa, ending the Inca Empire (although several weak puppet successors followed him.)

Civil war

On the death of their father, Huayna Capac, and their older brother, Ninan Cuyochi, who had been the heir, the empire was divided between the two surviving brothers, Huáscar and Atahualpa. Huascar got the major part of it, containing the capital Cusco, and Atahualpa the northern parts, including Quito (now the capital of Ecuador), his mother's family's ancestral home. For a couple of years, the two brothers reigned without problems. But Huascar, who considered himself to be the real Sapa Inca (emperor) because he was a legitimate son of Huayna Capac and his sister, demanded that Atahuallpa swear an oath to him. Atahuallpa refused, and the civil war began.

Huascar invaded the north with a great army and soon captured Atahuallpa. Atahuallpa fled from captivity with the help of a small girl, and united himself with the generals Chalicuchima and Quizquiz. He gathered an army and defeated Huascar in the battle of Chimborazo. Atahuallpa pressed onward and began to capture the rest of the empire, including the town of Tumebamba, whose citizens he punished in gruesome ways because they had been on Huascar's side in the beginning of the civil war.

Emperor Atahuallpa during the Battle of Cajamarca

The final battle took place at Quipaipan, where Huascar was captured and his army disbanded. Atahuallpa had stopped in the city of Cajamarca in the Andes with his army of 80,000 troops on his way to the south and Cusco to claim his throne.

By this time the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro had established the city of Piura, the first Spanish settlement in Peru on July of 1532. After two months on the march, Pizarro had arrived at Cajamarca with just 168 men under his command and sent Hernando de Soto, friar Vicente de Valverde and native interpreter Felipillo to speak with Atahuallpa about the Spanish presence.

Through the interpreter, Valverde delivered the "Requirement," indicating that Atahuallpa and his people must convert to Christianity, and if he refused he would be considered an enemy of the Church and of Spain. Atahuallpa refused the Spanish presence in his land by saying he would "be no man's tributary".

"Be advised that I, being free, do not have to pay tribute to anyone, nor do I believe there is a king greater than I. However, I will have the pleasure to be the friend of your emperor, since he should be a great prince to send his armies throughout the world. But this Pope does not interest me; much less will I obey him, I being in the kingdom of my father and our religion being good and I and my subjects are happy. However, despite my being a son of Huayna Capac I cannot discuss anything so wise and old. The Christ that you speak of died, the Sun and Moon never die, besides how do you know your god created the world?"

The Spanish envoys returned to Pizarro, who prepared a surprise attack against Atahuallpa's army in what became the Battle of Cajamarca on November 16, 1532.

The seizure of Atahualpa at Cajamarca

According to Spanish law, Atahuallpa’s refusal of the Requirement allowed the Spanish to officially declare war on the Inca people. When Atahuallpa coldly asked the priest Valverde by what authority he and his people could say such things, Valverde offered him a Bible, saying that the authority derived from the words in it. He examined it and then asked why did it not speak to him. He then threw it to the ground. That gave the Spaniards the excuse they needed to wage war on the Incas. They opened fire, and over the course of 2 hours more than two thousand Inca soldiers were killed. The Spanish then imprisoned Atahuallpa in the Temple of the Sun.

Atahuallpa still could not believe the Spanish intended to take control of his kingdom. He thought that if he gave them the gold and silver they sought they would leave. In exchange for his release, he agreed to fill a large room with gold and promised the Spanish twice that amount in silver. Although he was stunned by the offer, Pizarro had no intention of releasing the Inca because he needed the ruler's influence over the native people to maintain order in the surrounding country or, more to the point, he meant to depose Atahuallpa, placing the entire empire under the rule of Spain's King Charles I (Holy Roman Emperor Charles V), with himself as viceroy.

Spaniards executing Atahuallpa in 1533, drawing by Guaman Poma de Ayala

Still outnumbered and fearing an imminent attack from the Inca general Rumiñahui, after several months the Spanish saw Atahuallpa as too much of a liability and chose to have him executed. Pizarro staged a mock trial and found Atahuallpa guilty of revolting against the Spanish, practicing idolatry and murdering Huáscar, his own brother. Atahuallpa was sentenced to execution by burning. He was horrified, since the Inca believed that the soul would not be able to go on to the afterlife if the body were burned. Friar Vicente de Valverde, who had earlier offered the Bible to Atahuallpa, intervened again, telling Atahuallpa that if he agreed to convert to Christianity he would convince the rest to commute the sentence. Atahualpa agreed to be baptized into the Christian faith. He was given the name Juan Santos Atahualpa and, in accordance with his request, was strangled with a garrote instead of being burned. Atahuallpa died on August 29, 1533. Atahuallpa was succeeded by his brother, the puppet Inca Tupac Huallpa, and later by another brother Manco Inca Yupanqui.

Legacy

Atahuallpa's disastrous handling of the Spanish invasion notwithstanding, his actions previous to the actual invasion also contributed to the fall of the empire. One could see the parallel with Harold Godwinson's feud with his brother Tostig, which led to the civil war and the Battle of Stamford Bridge as well as the Battle of Hastings, as it severely weakened their positions in a time of crisis.

However, given that there were less than 200 Spaniards and 1000 Native allies, it is easy to understand why Atahualpa did not immediately sense the threat. Atahuallpa quickly recognised them as human beings and intruders to be dealt with. For all their weapons and horses he knew he had more than enough soldiers to handle Pizarro. In fact, Atahuallpa was planning to speak with them and then arrest them. He planned to put Pizarro and his officers to death and retain the needed specialists, such as the horsebreaker, blacksmith, and gunsmith to equip his army.

See also

• History of Peru
• Ransom Room
• Spanish conquest of Peru
• War of the two brothers

References

• The Discovery and Conquest of Peru by William H. Prescott
• Conquest of the Incas, John Hemming, 1973.
• The Royal Hunt of the Sun, by Peter Shaffer, 1964.

External links

• Capture of an Inca King