Incan Empire While the Inca

Incan Empire

While the Inca Empire was continuously flourishing, Spain was beginning its rise to prominence in the western world. The political union of the several independent monarchies in the Iberian Peninsula and the final expulsion of the Moors after 700 years of intermittent warfare had bred a sense of destiny and a militant religious zeal. The Spaniards brought to the New World the "conquest culture" they had developed in their long struggle to achieve nationhood. To the Spanish conquistador life was a daring, gamble, a lottery to be confronted in a spirit of adventure, daring, and bravado (Child, 1991).

The contrasts between the conquistadores and the Incas were marked; by the time the Spaniards arrived the Incas were consolidating and no longer conquering, and the typical Indian of the empire was a servile and mild-mannered creature of routine, satisfied with the nourishment and psychological support provided by his ayllu. Life was carefully ordered and controlled by small bureaucratic elite in Cusco that was able to plan for all eventualities, but one: the coming of the conquistadores (Child, 1991).

It was during this time when Pizarro came and tried to conquer the Inca Empire. It was 1524 when Francisco Pizarro launched an expedition along with two partners, Diego de Almagro and Father Fernando de Luque. The governor of Panama was displeased by the slow progress of the expedition that why he sent two ships to bring the adventurers back. However Pizarro detained one of the vessels and set sail with followers who had remained loyal to him. Returning to Panama in 1528 with a small quantity of gold, he was able to confirm reports regarding the wealth to be found in South America but could not muster enough support for a new voyage. The partners consequently decided to send Pizarro to Spain to seek the aid of the crown. Charles I, pleased by the success of the 1521 conquest of Mexico, agreed that Pizarro could continue his explorations with the political support of the crown. This time, accompanied by two of his brothers, Juan and Gonzalo, Pizarro returned to Panama and in 1531 set out on his third voyage (Child, 1991).

After traveling along the coast for several months, he came ashore in southern Ecuador. His progress on land was hampered by sickness and by conflicts with the natives, but he made his way east toward Cajamarca, where the Inca ruler, Atahualpa, was reported to be.

Leading a force of 106-foot soldiers, sixty-two horsemen, and a few cannon, Pizarro arrived at Cajamarca in November 1532. As the Spaniards approached, the residents deserted the city, fleeing to a nearby camp where Atahualpa awaited the foreigners with 30,000 of his best troops (Child, 1991).

Several hours after, the notion that Pizarro finally conquered Inca Empire happened. It was a seal not only the fate of Atahualpa, but of the Inca Empire itself. Pizarro's men fell upon the Incas in the central square of Cajamarca with their cannon, horses, wardogs, and Toledo steel. In less than two hours Atahualpa was a prisoner, and the cream of the empire's leadership was either dead or retreating in shock and confusion. Pizarro offered Atahualpa his freedom in exchange for the gold that would fill a sizable room up to the height of his outstretched hand. The order went out to the four corners of the Tawantinsuyu; soon officials returned to Cajamarca with llamas laden with the royal ransom.

After the gold was gathered, the Spaniards betrayed Atahualpa, arguing that he had committed murder by ordering the poisoning of Huascar. He was tried and found guilty and sentenced to die at the stake. At the last minute he agreed to be baptized as a Christian and instead was garotted on August 29, 1533 (Child, 1991).