Latest / The Rise of Colonialism: How Europe Divided the World — Fexingo History / The Inca Empire vs Pizarro: Cajamarca and Beyond
Transcript
- Luna: So we've covered the Aztecs, but what about the Inca? That's a whole other empire that fell to the Spanish, right? Lucas: Right, and it's just as dramatic. While Cortés was toppling Tenochtitlan, another massive empire thrived in the Andes: Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire. At its peak under Huayna Capac in the early 1500s, it stretched from modern Colombia to central Chile, with a population maybe around 10 million people. Lucas: But then Huayna Capac died, probably from smallpox that had spread from Central America, and his empire was plunged into a civil war between his sons: Atahualpa in the north and Huáscar in the south. That war weakened them just as the Spanish arrived. Luna: So Francisco Pizarro walked into a divided empire? Lucas: Exactly. Pizarro had already made one exploratory voyage down the Pacific coast in 1524, then another in 1526, and he'd heard rumors of a wealthy empire. He even returned to Spain to get royal backing. In 1531, he left Panama with about 180 men, 37 horses, and a handful of cannons. Lucas: When he landed in what's now Ecuador, he learned about the civil war. Atahualpa had just defeated Huáscar and was camped near the town of Cajamarca, in the highlands, with an army of perhaps 30,000 to 50,000 soldiers. Luna: So how does a handful of Spaniards defeat an army that size? Lucas: It's one of the most famous military blunders in history. Pizarro sent an envoy to invite Atahualpa to a peaceful meeting in Cajamarca's main square. Atahualpa, confident in his numbers, came with several thousand unarmed attendants. He didn't see these few ragged strangers as a threat. Lucas: When Atahualpa arrived, a Spanish priest, Friar Vicente de Valverde, approached him with a Bible and demanded he submit to Christianity and the Spanish king. Atahualpa, who had never seen a book before, examined it and threw it on the ground. That was the signal. Luna: The Spanish ambush. Lucas: Exactly. Spanish soldiers hidden in the surrounding buildings opened fire with arquebuses, cannons, and charged on horseback. The Inca had never seen horses or gunpowder before. The square became a slaughter. Thousands of Incas were killed, and Atahualpa was captured. Lucas: Atahualpa, realizing what the Spanish valued, offered a ransom: he would fill the room he was held in once with gold and twice with silver. Pizarro agreed. For months, Incas from across the empire brought treasures, stripping temples and palaces. But once the room was filled, the Spanish melted it all down into ingots. Luna: Did they let him go? Lucas: No. They accused him of plotting a rebellion, and in July 1533, they executed him by garrote. That was a huge mistake from a strategic point of view. Atahualpa had been a puppet emperor; without him, the Inca resistance could rally around a new leader. Lucas: Pizarro then marched on Cusco, the Inca capital, with the help of native allies like the Cañari, who resented Inca rule. They captured Cusco in November 1533, installing a puppet Inca, Manco Inca, to control the population. Luna: But Manco Inca didn't stay a puppet for long, did he? Lucas: No. Manco Inca initially cooperated, but the Spanish treated him with contempt, demanding gold and women. In 1536, he escaped Cusco and rallied a massive army, perhaps 100,000 strong, to besiege the city. The siege of Cusco lasted months, with the Spanish nearly starving. Lucas: But the Spanish had horses, steel armor, and better tactics. They managed to hold out, and eventually Manco Inca retreated to the jungle city of Vilcabamba, where he established a rump state that resisted Spanish rule until 1572. Luna: So there was resistance for decades after the initial conquest. Lucas: Exactly, but it was a losing battle. The Spanish had diseases, weaponry, and internal divisions among the Inca to exploit. And the conquistadors themselves turned on each other—there were civil wars between Pizarro and rival Spanish factions. Pizarro was assassinated in 1541. Luna: It's such a tragic story. The Inca had an incredible civilization—roads, engineering, astronomy—and it was brought down by a tiny group of opportunists. Lucas: It really puts the asymmetry in perspective. The Inca population collapsed from around 10 million to maybe 1 million in the first century of Spanish rule, mostly from disease. The conquest of the Inca Empire was not a fair fight, but it wasn't just a military victory—it was a catastrophe of demographic and cultural destruction. Luna: And the gold and silver from the Andes fueled the Spanish empire for centuries. Lucas: Absolutely. The silver mines of Potosí, discovered in 1545, became the lifeblood of the Spanish crown. But that's another story.