Something Was Very Wrong With the Inca Empire

The Spanish Crown, alarmed by the chaos, sent Viceroy Blasco Núñez Vela to impose New Laws that would strip power from the conquistadors. Gonzalo Pizarro, the last surviving Pizarro brother, led a rebellion, defeated and beheaded the Viceroy, declaring Peruvian independence from Spain.

Spain sent Pedro de la Gasca, a priest, to Peru with authority to pardon rebels and nullify the New Laws. La Gasca's diplomacy caused Gonzalo Pizarro's forces to defect, leading to Pizarro's defeat and execution, finally ending the conquistador civil wars and restoring royal authority.

In 1532, 168 Spanish conquistadors landed in Peru and, within 18 months, brought down the mighty Inca Empire, a civilization of 10 million people. This astonishing feat was achieved through a combination of luck, a thirst for gold, biological warfare, and a legendary ambush.

In early 1532, the Inca Empire was one of the largest and most advanced on Earth, with 10 million people across 2.5 million square kilometers. Despite its formidable military and advanced engineering, it would surprisingly collapse in just 18 months.

Francisco Pizarro, a man of humble origins who became mayor of Panama City, led several expeditions south in search of a rumored wealthy kingdom. After two disastrous attempts marked by disease and hostile locals, a chance encounter with a raft laden with gold confirmed the existence of the rich Inca Empire.

When Pizarro's request for support was denied, he offered his men a choice: return to Panama or continue south. Only 13 men stayed, forcing Pizarro and his tiny band to endure seven brutal months on Isla Gorgona, a snake-infested island, awaiting rescue.

With the governor of Panama still opposing further expeditions, Pizarro sailed to Spain in 1528. He presented King Charles V with gold and gemstones, securing royal approval and vast territorial and political power, including governorship of "New Castile" (Peru).

Pizarro's third and final expedition reached Tumbes in 1532, only to find the wealthy city in ruins, burned and abandoned. This forced him to establish the first Spanish settlement in Peru, San Miguel de Piura, setting the stage for confrontation with the Inca.

The Inca, aware of the Spanish presence, sent envoys to Pizarro, inviting him to meet their emperor, Atahualpa, at Cajamarca. Pizarro, with his mere 168 men, embarked on a grueling two-month trek to the city, where he faced an Inca army of 80,000 warriors.

Unbeknownst to Pizarro, a deadly vanguard of Old World diseases, particularly smallpox, had already swept through the Inca Empire, reaching South America as early as 1524. This epidemic decimated the Inca population and killed Emperor Huayna Capac and his heir.

The deaths of Huayna Capac and his heir created a power vacuum, leading to a brutal three-year civil war between his sons, Huascar and Atahualpa. Atahualpa emerged victorious, but the conflict severely fractured and weakened the empire, leaving it vulnerable to the Spanish.

Atahualpa, despite his victory in the civil war, gravely underestimated the Spanish. He viewed their small numbers as no threat and invited them into Cajamarca, bringing a vast entourage of unarmed noblemen, priests, and servants, rather than his full army, to meet Pizarro.

Friar Valverde demanded Atahualpa convert to Christianity and submit to King Charles V. When Atahualpa rejected the bible, the Spanish launched a surprise attack. Their superior weaponry—arquebuses, cannons, and cavalry—devastated the unarmed Inca, who were caught entirely off guard.

Pizarro’s primary objective was not to kill, but to capture Atahualpa. He personally intervened to prevent Atahualpa’s death, securing the emperor alive. This act paralyzed the Inca forces, sowing panic and causing the 70,000-strong army outside the city to rout without a fight.

Atahualpa, believing he would be released, offered to fill his cell with gold and two adjoining rooms with silver. The Spanish, after receiving an enormous ransom (worth half a billion dollars today), betrayed their promise. Atahualpa was falsely accused, convicted, and, after a forced conversion, executed by garroting.

Pizarro, using a strategy similar to Cortés, leveraged internal divisions within the Inca Empire. He installed Manco Inca Yupanqui, a rival of Atahualpa, as a puppet emperor. Manco, seeking revenge for his family's persecution, allied with the Spanish, leading to the capture of the Inca capital, Cusco.

After conquering Cusco, Pizarro established Lima in 1535 as a new capital with better connections to Spain. The Spanish then fanned out across the vast Inca Empire, using the existing road network to subdue remaining regions, some of which resisted fiercely.

The Pizarro brothers, left in charge of Cusco, alienated Manco Inca by treating him as a puppet. After being imprisoned, Manco escaped, raised an army of 100,000, and laid siege to Cusco. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Spanish, aided by 30,000 native allies, held out until reinforcements arrived, forcing Manco to retreat.

After the Inca were defeated, the conquistadors turned on each other. Diego Almagro, feeling slighted by Charles V's grants to Pizarro, staged a coup in Cusco, leading to a civil war. Almagro was eventually defeated and executed, but his son, 'El Mozo,' retaliated by assassinating Francisco Pizarro in Lima.

Manco Inca established the Neo-Inca State in the remote Vilcabamba valley, maintaining a resistance against Spanish rule. After his murder by disgruntled Almagrist survivors, the leadership passed to his children, culminating in Túpac Amaru.

In 1572, Viceroy Francisco de Toledo launched a campaign into Vilcabamba, crushing the last independent Inca resistance. Túpac Amaru was captured and publicly executed, marking the final end of the Inca Empire. Despite the conquest, the legacy of the Inca endures in Peruvian language, culture, and ancient stonework.