Spanish Conquest of The Inca Empire - Capture of Atahualpa

Capture of Atahualpa

After his victory over his brother, Atahualpa began his southward march from Quito to claim the Inca throne in Cuzco. Atahualpa had heard tales of "white bearded men" (i.e. the Spanish and Portuguese) . Some accounts say that Atahualpa sent messengers with presents to Pizarro and his men to induce them to leave, and others contend that it was Pizarro who sent a messenger to Atahualpa requesting a meeting. Most accounts agree, however, that Atahualpa met with Pizarro voluntarily.

Atahualpa and his forces met with the Spaniards at Cajamarca on the evening of 15 November. Rather than meeting with Atahualpa himself, Pizarro sent Hernando de Soto, friar Vincente de Valverde and native interpreter Felipillo to speak with the Inca leader. De Soto spoke with Atahualpa for a while and told them that they were emissaries from King Charles I of Spain. They also said they came in peace and were prepared to serve him against his enemies. Atahualpa nearly scoffed at that as he believed their behavior was not what one would expect of embassies and emissaries. In fact he knew of their earlier atrocities against the nuns dedicated to serve the god Inti in his temple. He demanded a full accounting of their behavior in his country and an apology from their leader Pizarro. He did however agree to meet with them in the city the next day.

De Soto noticed the sight of his horses were unnerving some of the Inca's attendants so with an incredible display of horsemanship, he performed the tricks an experienced horseman would do. He stopped short of the Inca with the horse just inches away from Atahualpa. While this frightened the attendants, the Inca was unblinking. This told the Spaniards that they were not dealing with a fearful one like Moctezuma II in Mexico and it gave them even more fear the night of the 15th and early on the 16th. Atahualpa displayed hospitality by serving chicha and agreed to meet Pizarro the following day.

The next morning, Pizarro had his men strategically placed around the square where they were to meet. When Atahualpa came with 7,000 unarmed soldiers and attendants, Friar Valverde spoke with him about the Spanish presence in his lands as well as engaged in a poorly executed attempt to explain to him the precepts of the Catholic religion, an attempt which was certainly not helped by an unskilled translator. After doing so, he offered Atahualpa a Bible in the expectation that he and his men would immediately convert to Christianity in preference to being considered an enemy of the Church and Spain by the Spanish Crown.

Atahualpa stated that he was no one's vassal and asked where they got their authority. A popular but widely disputed legend states that Valverde pointed to the Book saying that it contained God's word and handed it over to Atahualpa. Supposedly, when the Inca was presented with the Book he shook it close to his ear and asked "Why doesn't it speak to me?" Having literally never seen a book before, he then threw the unfamiliar object aside. Supposedly, this is what gave the Spanish a reason to attack, starting the Battle of Cajamarca on 16 November 1532. Though the historical accounts relating to these circumstances vary, the true motivations for the attack seemed to be a desire for loot and flat-out impatience, in that the Inca did not adequately understand the Conquistadores' demands. Pizarro executed Atahualpa's 12-man honor guard and took the Inca captive at the so-called ransom room, where they demanded one room full of gold and two of silver to be exchanged for Atahualpa.

The fact that such a small number of Spanish troops were able to defeat the thousands Inca warriors at Cajamarca is attributable to many factors, among them that the Spanish had caballeros, cannon and guns while the Inca had only rustic armament. The Inca Empire also had a highly centralized chain of command directly related to the emperor's well-being or military victories which created a fictional perception of how the various gods perceived the Inca to either soldiers or commoners alike. This meant that once the Spaniards held the emperor hostage, they effectively paralyzed the empires' forces for a time.

At the signal to attack, the Spaniards unleashed volleys of gunfire at the vulnerable mass of Incas and surged forward in a concerted action. The effect was devastating, the shocked Incas offered such feeble resistance that the battle has often been labeled a massacre with the Inca losing 2,000 dead compared to five of Pizarro's men. Contemporary accounts by members of Pizarro's force explain how the Spanish forces used a cavalry charge against the Inca forces, who had never seen horses, in combination with gunfire from cover (the Inca forces also had never encountered guns before). Other factors in the Spaniard's favor were their steel swords, helmets and armor, against the Inca forces which only had leather armor and crude armament. The Spanish also had three small cannon which were used to great effect on the crowded town square. The first target of the Spanish attack was the Inca Emperor and his top commanders; once these had been killed or captured the Inca forces were disorganized as the command structure of the army had been effectively decapitated.

The majority of Atahualpa's troops were in the Cuzco region along with Quisquis and Challcuchima, the two generals he trusted the most. This was a major disadvantage for the Inca and their undoing was due to a lack of self-confidence, and a desire to make public demonstration of fearlessness and godlike command of situation. The main view is that the Inca were eventually defeated due to inferior weapons, 'open battle' tactics, disease, internal unrest, the bold tactics of the Spanish, and the capture of their emperor. While Spanish armour was very effective against most of the Andean weapons, it was not impenetrable to maces, clubs, or slings. However, ensuing hostilities like the Mixtón Rebellion, Chichimeca War, and Arauco War would require that the conquistadors ally with friendly tribes in these later expeditions.

The battle began with a shot from a cannon and the battle cry Santiago! Many of the guns used by the Spaniards were hard to use in the close-combat situations that the Spanish found themselves in, and most natives adapted in 'guerrilla fashion' by only shooting at the legs of the conquistadors if they happened to be unarmored. During Atahualpa's captivity, the Spanish, although greatly outnumbered, forced him to order his generals to back down by threatening to kill him if he did not. According to the Spanish envoy's demands, Atahualpa offered to fill a large room with gold and promised the Spanish twice that amount in silver. While Pizarro ostensibly accepted this offer and allowed the gold to pile up, he had no intention of releasing the Inca; he needed Atahualpa's influence over his generals and the people in order to maintain the peace.

Atahualpa feared that if Huáscar came into contact with the Spanish, he would be so useful to them that Pizarro would no longer need Atahualpa and have him killed. To avoid this, Atahualpa ordered Huáscar's execution, which took place not far from Cajamarca according to some chronicles. Others mentioned that Huáscar had been previously killed in battle, and a few others that Huáscar was killed before Pizarro's arrival.

When Atahualpa was captured at the massacre at Cajamarca, he was treated with respect and is rumored to have learned from the Spanish soldiers the game of chess. Pizarro held Atahualpa for a ransom of gold and silver which began to arrive from Cuzco on 20 December 1532 and flowed steadily from then on. By 3 May 1533 Pizarro received all the treasure he had requested; it was melted, refined, and made into bars.

The question eventually came up of what to do with Atahualpa; both Pizarro and Soto were against killing him, but the other Spaniards were loud in their demands for death. False interpretations from the interpreter Felipillo made the Spaniards paranoid. They were told that Atahualpa had ordered secret attacks and his warriors were hidden in the surrounding area. Soto went with a small army to look for the hidden army, but a trial for Atahualpa was held in his absence. Among the charges were polygamy, incestuous marriage, and idolatry, all frowned upon in Catholicism but common in the Inca religion. The men who were against Atahualpa's conviction and murder argued that he should be judged by King Charles since he was the sovereign prince. Atahualpa agreed to accept baptism to avoid being burned at the stake and in the hopes of one day rejoining his army and killing the Spanish; ironically, he received the name Francisco. On 29 August 1533 Atahualpa was garrotted and died a Christian. He was buried with Christian rites in the church of San Francisco at Cajamarca, but was soon disinterred. His body was taken, probably at his prior request, to its final resting place in Quito. Upon de Soto's return he was furious because he never found a trace of evidence of the secret gathering of Atahualpa's warriors.

Having deprived the Inca empire of leadership, Pizarro and another conquistador, Hernando de Soto, moved south to Cuzco, the heart of Tawantinsuyu, which they captured in November 1533; they then led their men in an orgy of looting, pillaging, and torture in search of more precious metals.

Benalcázar, Pizarro's lieutenant and fellow Extremaduran, had already departed from San Miguel with 140 foot soldiers and a few horses on his conquering mission to Ecuador. At the foot of Mount Chimborazo, near the modern city of Riobamba (Ecuador) he met and defeated the forces of the great Inca warrior Rumiñahui with the aid of Cañari tribesmen who served as guides and allies to the conquering Spaniards. Rumiñahui fell back to Quito, and, while in pursuit of the Inca army, Benalcázar encountered another, quite sizable, conquering party led by Guatemalan Governor Pedro de Alvarado. Bored with administering Central America, Alvarado had set sail for the south without the crown's authorization, landed on the Ecuadorian coast, and marched inland to the Sierra. Most of Alvarado's men joined Benalcázar for the siege of Quito.