Who Was When
Wars

Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire

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Pizarro's expedition and its Indigenous allies

Pizarro's expedition, for the Crown of Castile, Huáscar's faction of the Inca nobility, Cañari, Huanca, Chanka, Huaylas, and Chachapoyas

against
The Inca Empire and, from 1537, the Inca state of Vilcabamba

Inca Empire and Neo-Inca State of Vilcabamba

Countries today: Ecuador, Peru, and Spain

What happened

In 1532 Francisco Pizarro led about 170 Spaniards into the Inca Empire, which was coming out of a civil war between the brothers Atahualpa and Huáscar and had been struck by epidemic disease. At Cajamarca on 16 November his men attacked Atahualpa's retinue and took him prisoner. Atahualpa paid a ransom in gold and silver, but the Spaniards executed him in 1533 and, joined by Huáscar's supporters, entered Cusco that November. Peoples who resented Inca rule, among them the Cañari, Huanca, Chanka, Huaylas and Chachapoyas, fought alongside the Spaniards. In 1536 Manco Inca, the ruler the Spaniards had installed, broke with them and besieged Cusco for ten months. When the siege failed he withdrew to Vilcabamba, where a small Inca state held out. In 1572 forces sent by Viceroy Francisco de Toledo took Vilcabamba and executed its last ruler, Túpac Amaru.

Outcome: Spanish forces took Vilcabamba, the last Inca stronghold, in 1572; the former Inca lands became part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru.

Key events

Leaders

  • Francisco Pizarro · Leader of the expedition and governor · Pizarro's expedition and its Indigenous allies
  • Hernando Pizarro · Commanded the Spaniards in Cusco during the siege · Pizarro's expedition and its Indigenous allies
  • Diego de Almagro · Pizarro's partner; brought reinforcements in 1533 · Pizarro's expedition and its Indigenous allies
  • Sebastián de Belalcázar · Took Quito in 1534 · Pizarro's expedition and its Indigenous allies
  • Francisco de Toledo · Viceroy of Peru; sent the 1572 expedition to Vilcabamba · Pizarro's expedition and its Indigenous allies
  • Atahualpa · Sapa Inca; captured in 1532 and executed in 1533 · The Inca Empire and, from 1537, the Inca state of Vilcabamba
  • Rumiñahui · General who held the north around Quito · The Inca Empire and, from 1537, the Inca state of Vilcabamba
  • Quizquiz · Atahualpa's general in the south · The Inca Empire and, from 1537, the Inca state of Vilcabamba
  • Manco Inca · Led the 1536 rising and founded the Vilcabamba state · The Inca Empire and, from 1537, the Inca state of Vilcabamba
  • Túpac Amaru · Last ruler of Vilcabamba; executed in 1572 · The Inca Empire and, from 1537, the Inca state of Vilcabamba

Cultures it ended or changed

Meanwhile, elsewhere in

Sources