The Conquest
A few years before the first contact with Peru. In Panama, the Levant Company was created by Francisco Pizarro, Diego de Almagro and Hernando de Luque, in order to discover new territories and conquer them.
Previous years
1529
Pizarro, without the necessary troops or resources, traveled to Spain to have an audience with King Charles V, at that time, the most powerful man in the world.
1528
In 1528, a small group of Pizarro's explorers first arrived on the shores of Tumbes and contacted the natives of the area who were friendly and told them about their emperor, Huayna Capac
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Making use of his audacity, Pizarro convinced the queen to grant him the title of Governor, Alguacil Mayor and Captain General of the territory of Nueva Castillas (from the Santiago River to Chincha) in addition to a good annual salary. Its profits were much greater than those of its partners. This was The capitulation of Toledo
1532
Pizarro travels from Panama to Tumbes, only to find a destroyed town. The natives communicated with him through Felipillo. The Indians told him that a civil war between two brothers devastated their town, and the brother who consecrated himself emperor was on his way to Cajamarca.
Pizarro and his men set out on their way to Cajamarca, facilitated by the Qhapaq Ñan, the series of Inca roads. As the Spaniards advanced, they plundered and subdued every power that came their way, thus beginning to collect gold
On Friday, November 15, 1532, he arrived in Cajamarca, and when he discovered that the Inca was in a camp a few kilometers from the city, he decided to settle in the square that night. Not before sending one of his men to announce his arrival
There were so many stores, that it caused us a lot of fear, because we did not think that Indians could have such a superb stay, nor so many stores, nor so ready; which until then, in the Indians was never seen. This caused all of us Spaniards a lot of confusion and fear. But it was not convenient to show ourselves, let alone go back because if they felt any weakness in us, the same Indians we carried would kill us; and so, with an enierous face we went down the valley and entered Cajamarca
Miguel De Estete
Spanish notary present at Pizarro's arrival in Cajamarca
Pizarro sent Hernando De Soto to announce his arrival at the Inca, who apparently was in an area of hot springs. De Soto broke each one of the protocols to talk to the Inca, he spoke to him haughtily and without getting off his horse and after telling him that they were arriving in the name of the king of Spain and the pope, Atahualpa still did not flinch or open his eyes
Hernando de Soto seemed to be righ choose for Pizarro, because of his experience and his skills as a raider.
After the moment of tension, Hernando Pizarro appeared, whom his brother sent as reinforcement, when Atahualpa understood that he was addressing the leader's brother he decided to speak. Atahualpa expressed his annoyance since he had knowledge that the Christians had sacked his town and that he knew that the Spaniards had suffered three casualties (which they denied). Atahualpa concluded by saying that he would go to meet Pizarro the next day in the square
De Soto, realized the the natives were hihglly interested in his horse. He decided to ride towards Atahualpa, and break few seconds before hitting the Inca. Few natives ran in fear. Atahualpa order to kill those native who show fear against the enemy
That night, both sides planned their strategies for the next day. Pizarro hid his troops in the buildings surrounding the plaza, who would open fire on his signal.
While Atahualpa was overconfident due to his great numerical superiority (40,000 soldiers), despite his general Rumiñahui suggesting that he ambush the Christians at night without their presence, Atahualpa insisted on going, ordering Rumiñahui to form his men at the entrance to the valley in case the enemy tried to escape.
On November 16, Atahualpa arrived at the plaza of Cajamarca. Fray Vicente de Valverde (who was there to make sure that the requirements of Spain were met and to baptize the Indians) was the one who went out to meet him with Felipillo as translator. Once again Felipillo struggled in the translation when he tried to communicate that he should surrender his devotion to a God he does not know. Atahualpa grabbed the Bible that the friar was holding and threw it away. Chaos was about to break out.
The Fray ran back to where Pizarro was, exclaiming that those Indians do not want the things of God and that they should jump to the attack. Pizarro ordered to open fire on the natives
The natives ran away terrified when they saw the horses riding towards them, many crushed to death, others from gunshot wounds. Meanwhile Pizarro's priority was to capture Atahualpa, it was a difficult task because there were several Indians holding the Inca in a literal, after much effort, the Inca emperor was captured.
1533
With Atahualpa still in captivity, on April 14, 1533, Diego de Almagro arrived in Cajamarca with the promised reinforcements. By that time the Inca had realized the ambition that the Spaniards had for gold, so he promised to fill the room where he was, 1 time with gold and twice with silver until his outstretched hand reachs
As the weeks went by, the rumors about a possible ambush of the Christians by Rumiñahui grew, and therefore the tension between the Spaniards. By June 17, 1533, all the gold had arrived, totaling 6092 kilograms of gold. Although Atahualpa requested his immediate release, Pizarro told him that he could not leave Cajamarca until more Spaniards arrived.
By this time, relations between Pizarro and Almagro were increasingly tense, a conflict that would culminate in another civil war years later.
There were more and more accusations against Atahualpa about an alleged attack on Cajamarca, so after a long time, Pizarro agreed to put him on trial. In this multiple natives were interrogated, once again with Felipillo's mistranslation. After the trial, Atahualpa was found of treason, usurpation, tyranny, regicide, fratricide, adultery, polygamy, incest and heresy.
On July 26, 1533, Atahualpa was taken to the plaza of Cajamarca to face his sentence, to die at the stake. The Inca was terrified of that end, because of his beliefs, dying at the stake meant that he would have no chance of being honored in the afterlife. Fray Vicente de Valverde offered to baptize him in exchange for a sentence that did not involve cremating his body. To which the Inca accepted.
Finally, Atahualpa was hanged until the neck broke, before the eyes of Spaniards and natives who could not believe that the son of the sun had died, the empire of the sun had fallen.
The death of the last Inca sovereign marked the end of the empire, and the beginning of the Spaniards' journey to the imperial city of Cuzco
