Atahualpa

Atahualpa was the last ruling emperor of the Inca Empire. He became emperor upon defeating his younger half-brother Huascar in a civil war started by the death of their father, Inca Huayna Capac, from a spreadable disease thought to be malaria or smallpox. During the civil war, the Spaniard Francisco Pizarro crossed his path, captured Atahualpa, and used him to control the Inca Empire. Eventually, the Spanish killed Atahualpa, ending the Inca Atahualpa's mother was a Shyri (Quito Kingdom) princess named Pacha. On the death of their father and their older brother, Ninan Cuyochi, who had been the designated heir, the empire was divided between the two surviving brothers, Huascar and Atahualpa. Huascar got the major part of it, containing the capital Cuzco, and Atahualpa the northern parts 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 Inca emperor because he was a legal son of Huayna Capac and his sister, demanded that Atahualpa swear an oath to him. Atahualpa refused, and the civil war began. Huascar invaded the north with a great army and soon captured Atahualpa. Atahualpa fled from captivity with the help of a small girl, and united himself with the generals Chalicuchima and Quiz. He gathered an army and defeated Huascar in the battle of Chimborazo. Atahualpa pressed foreword and began to capture the rest of the empire whose citizens he punished in gruesome ways for supporting Huascar 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. Atahualpa had stopped in the city of Cajamarca in the Andes with his army of 80,000 troops on his way to the south and Cuzco to claim his throne. The Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro established the city of Piura, the first Spanish settlement in Peru in July 1532. After a march of two months, Pizarro 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 Atahualpa about the Spanish presence. Through the interpreter, Valverde delivered the "Requirement", indicating that Atahualpa and his people must convert to Christianity, and if he refused he would be considered an enemy of the Church and of Spain. Atahualpa 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 Atahualpa's army in what became the Battle of Cajamarca on November 16, 1532. The seizure of Atahualpa at Cajamarca. According to Spanish law, Atahualpa’s refusal of the Requirement allowed the Spanish to officially declare war on the Inca people. When Atahualpa 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 two hours more than two thousand Inca soldiers were killed. The Spanish then imprisoned Atahualpa in the Temple of the Sun. Atahualpa 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 Atahualpa, placing the entire empire under the rule of Spain's King Charles I (Holy Roman Emperor Charles V), with himself as viceroy. Spaniards executing Tupac Amaru in 1572, drawing by Guaman Poma de Ayala. Still outnumbered and fearing an imminent attack from the Inca general Rumiñahui, after several months the Spanish saw Atahualpa as too much of a liability and chose to have him executed. Pizarro staged a mock trial and found Atahualpa guilty of revolting against the Spanish, practicing false worship and murdering Huascar, his own brother. Atahualpa 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 Atahualpa, intervened again, telling Atahualpa 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 weapon of wire or cord instead of being burned.