How did Pizarro capture Atahualpa at Cajamarca in Peru?
Cajamarca: Pizarro captures Atahualpa
Cajamarca: Pizarro captura a Atahualpa
16 November 1532. Francisco Pizarro reached the Andean town of Cajamarca on 15 November 1532 with 168 men.
Where: Peru, Cusco
What happened
Francisco Pizarro reached the Andean town of Cajamarca on 15 November 1532 with 168 men. The Inca empire had just come through a civil war between the brothers Atahualpa and Huáscar, sons of Huayna Capac, who had died of smallpox around 1528 before any Spaniard arrived. On 16 November Atahualpa entered the square with thousands of unarmed attendants; the Spaniards attacked with horses and guns, killed several thousand and seized him. He offered to fill a room with gold and more with silver for his freedom. The ransom was paid, melted down and shared, the Crown taking a fifth, and on 26 July 1533 Pizarro had him executed anyway. Cusco fell in November 1533, and the Spaniards set up puppet Incas while resistance continued from Vilcabamba until 1572.
Say it
Atahualpa llenó una habitación de oro, pero los españoles lo mataron.
Atahualpa filled a room with gold, but the Spaniards killed him.
Why it matters
The capture of the Inca gave Spain the Andes and its silver; Quechua, the Inca language, survived to give Spanish words like 'papa', 'cóndor' and 'cancha'.
Read about it
- Cajamarca, 1532 — Cajamarca, 1532
- El imperio inca — The Inca Empire
- Los incas y el sol — The Incas and the sun
Connected
- The demographic collapse of the Americas (1492–1650)
- Words from the languages of the Americas (1492–)
- Balboa reaches the Pacific (29 September 1513)
- Balboa reaches the Pacific (29 September 1513)
- Lima, the City of the Kings, is founded (18 January 1535)
- Lima, the City of the Kings, is founded (18 January 1535)
- Santiago de Chile and the Mapuche war (12 February 1541–25 December 1553)
- Silver is found at Potosí (1545)
- Silver is found at Potosí (1545)
- The rebellion of Túpac Amaru II (4 November 1780–18 May 1781)
Sources
- Francisco Pizarro — World History Encyclopedia
- Atahualpa — World History Encyclopedia
- The Iberian Conquest of the Americas — World History Encyclopedia