The Inca ruler, Atahualpa, is one of the key figures in the history of the European colonialization of South America. As the last emperor of the largest empire in pre-Columbian Empire, Atahualpa was an immensely powerful leader. In 1532, however, Atahualpa was taken captive by a small Spanish force of 200 men under the conquistador Francisco Pizarro at Cajamarca. The capture of the most powerful ruler in South America paved the way for the Spanish colonization of South America. To understand the situation of the Inca Empire in 1532, one has to go back several years.
Portrait of Atahualpa, Fourteenth Inca. Brooklyn Museum
Portrait of Atahualpa, Fourteenth Inca. Brooklyn Museum ( Wikimedia Commons )
In 1526 or 1527, the Inca ruler, Huayna Capac (“the young mighty one”), had died, possibly due to an infectious disease brought to the New World by the Europeans. The crisis was exacerbated when Huayna Capac’s designated heir, Ninan Cuyuchi, died as well. The death of these two men split the empire into two, divided between two of Huayna’s other sons. In the north, Atahualpa ruled his part of the empire from Quito (where his mother was a princess), whilst his half-brother, Huascar, controlled the south from the empire’s capital of Cusco.
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