On Nov. 16, 1532, the Spanish and Inca met at Cajamarca in modern Peru. More massacre than battle, the engagement allowed the Spanish to capture the Inca leader, Atahualpa, and begin their subjugation of the Inca empire.
Spain in the early 16th century was at the height of its power. Spain's monarch, Charles I, also ruled the Holy Roman Empire in central Europe as Emperor Charles V. Additionally, Charles ruled territories in Italy, the Low Countries, and elsewhere in Europe. No European monarch would rule as much territory in Europe again until Napoleon Bonaparte three centuries later.
In addition to territory and dynastic rule, Spain's power rested upon many props. It was considered a bastion of Catholicism as the Protestant Reformation was spreading throughout northern Europe. Spain's navy was second-to-none at the time, and its explorers had brought fame and prestige to the nation.
Christopher Columbus' 1492 discovery of the “New World” had opened many possibilities to Europeans looking to exploit the new lands. In 1518, Hernán Cortés invaded the Aztec empire in modern Mexico. Within a few years and with only a relative handful of men under his command, Cortés succeeded in conquering the Aztecs and vastly extending the domain of King Charles.
Cortés' adventure had captured the imagination of Spaniards who wanted to emulate his achievement. Francisco Pizarro was one such aspirant. A cousin of Cortés, Pizarro had worked for the Spanish administration in Panama as the Aztec empire fell, and had led expeditions to South America. He was aware of the power and potential wealth of the Inca empire in Peru, and believed he could topple it as easily as Cortés had the Aztecs.
In his book “The New Penguin History of the World,” historian J.M. Roberts wrote: “In 1531 Pizarro set out upon a similar conquest (to Cortés') of Peru. This was an even more remarkable achievement than the conquest of Mexico and, if possible, displayed even more dreadfully the rapacity and ruthlessness of the conquistadors.”
Circumstances within the Inca empire greatly aided Pizarro's desire. European arrival in the Americas had proved disastrous for the native populations. Diseases spread and killed Native Americans at an alarming rate. Huayna Capac ruled the Inca as Sapa Inca (which can be translated in many ways, including “Great Inca”) and most likely contracted smallpox in 1527. Capac was just one of many Inca who fell to an epidemic that claimed perhaps as many as 200,000 Inca. It also claimed the life of his oldest son and heir, Ninan Cuyochi.
The title should have devolved upon Capac's next oldest son, Huáscar, though Capac's younger son Atahualpa coveted the throne, and soon launched a major war against his brother to take it. This conflict ended with the April 1532 Battle of Quipaipan, in which Huáscar was defeated and Atahualpa was able to take the throne as Sapa Inca. It was on his way back from his victory at Quipaipan, at the head of his 80,000 troops, that Atahualpa stopped at Cajamarca for rest.
Commanding only 168 men, Pizarro approached the superior numbers of the Inca, who had been alerted to his presence. After torturing local natives to gain intelligence, Pizarro felt confident enough to advance on the city. Eventually, a messenger from Atahualpa arrived and asked to speak with Pirzarro.
In his book “Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies,” scientist Jared Diamond includes firsthand accounts from several of Pizarro's followers: “The Governor (Pizarro) concealed his troops around the square at Cajamarca, dividing the cavalry into two portions of which he gave the command of one to his brother Hernando Pizarro and the command of the other to Hernando de Soto. In like manner he divided the infantry, he himself taking one part and giving the other to his brother Juan Pizarro. At the same time, he ordered Pedro de Candia with two or three infantrymen to go with trumpets to a small fort in the plaza and to station themselves there with a small piece of artillery. When all the Indians, and Atahualpa with them, entered the Plaza, the Governor would give a signal to Candia and his men, after which they should start firing the gun, and the trumpets should sound, and at the sound of the trumpets the cavalry should dash out of the large court where they were waiting hidden in readiness.”
Many Inca began to arrive in fine dress, Atahaulpa's court. Eventually, Sapa Inca himself arrived upon a litter decorated with gold and silver, carried by 80 of his lords. Atahualpa wore a crown and emeralds and surrounded himself with gold, silver and parrot feathers. More and more of the court arrived, and many of Pizarro's men began to despair at the sheer numbers of Inca that entered the plaza.
Pizarro then ordered a friar to step forward and address Atahualpa, identifying himself as a man of God. Atahualpa noticed the Bible that the friar carried and asked for it. Unable to understand the purpose of such an object (the Inca had no written language), Atahualpa tossed it away. The eyewitness account continues:
“The Friar returned to Pizarro, shouting 'Come out! Come out, Christians! Come at these enemy dogs who reject the things of God. That tyrant has thrown my book of holy law to the ground! Did you not see what happened? Why remain polite and servile toward this over-proud dog when the plains are full of Indians? March out against him, for I absolve you!’ ”
It was then that Pizarro gave the signal for his men to strike. The crash of the artillery, the swiftness of the horses and the blaring of the trumpets served to confuse and frighten the natives, many of whom quickly fled. Mostly unarmed, the Inca were mowed down with little harm done to the Spanish. In their haste to flee, many Inca trampled their own people, in some cases piling on top of each other and suffocating those beneath.
In the confusion, Pizarro personally led his men toward Atahualpa, and with the aid of horsemen they were able to turn over the litter. Sapa Inca, who only months before had been made the sole leader of the Inca people, was now a prisoner of the Spanish.
The capture of Atahualpa paralyzed organized resistance to Pizarro and ensured that he could rule in his name. Inca society had been so hierarchical that the removal of their leader meant that little independent action would be taken on Atahualpa's behalf.
Diamond asks an important question in his book: Why? Why did Pizarro capture Atahualpa and not the other way around? More important, Diamond asks, is why did the Spanish conquer the Aztec and Incan empires in South America rather that the Aztecs and the Incas conquering the Spanish in Europe? What factors were in play that allowed Pizarro such dramatic and consequential success?
Diamond notes many reasons. Certainly the guns played a part, though not a decisive one. More important were the horses, which gave the Europeans a surprising mobility and striking power. Of course, the Europeans had a maritime technology that Native Americans lacked, and the Spanish political organization, while hierarchical as well, allowed for a flexibility that the Inca's system did not.
Perhaps the most important reason for Spanish success, Diamond notes, was a written language. He wrote: “Literacy made the Spaniards heirs to a huge body of knowledge about human behavior and history. By contrast, not only did Atahualpa have no conception of the Spaniards themselves, and no personal experience of any other invaders from overseas, but he also had not even heard (or read) of similar threats to anyone else, anywhere anytime previously in history. That gulf of experience encouraged Pizarro to set his trap and Atahualpa to walk into it.”
After Atahualpa paid a huge ransom for his release and even converted to Christianity, Pizarro had him executed the following year, when he feared that Sapa Inca had become a political liability. Thereafter many Inca did rebel. By 1572, all of the former Inca empire fell under the jurisdiction of the Spanish.
Cody K. Carlson holds a master's degree in history from the University of Utah and currently teaches at SLCC. He has also appeared on many local stages, including Hale Center Theater and Off Broadway Theater. Email: ckcarlson76@gmail.com