*Ø* Blogmanac August 29, 1533 | The execution of the last Incan emperor
The Inca emperor, Atahualpa, was executed on the orders (and perfidy) of Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro.
At the Battle of Cajamarca, on November 16, the preceding year, Pizarro with only 168 men conquered the Incan king in one of the most extraordinary battles of all time. Atahualpa had 80,000 battle-hardened soldiers who had recently defeated an indigenous enemy. However, the Spaniards had iron swords, guns, horses and armour, which the Incas did not.
Pizarro himself had grabbed Atahualpa from the litter, or palanquin, on which the great king was borne, calling out the Spanish war cry (“Santiago!”, or “St James!”) as he did so. The conqistador took Atahualpa prisoner and demanded a ransom, which the Incan king’s subjects duly paid. The ransom was almost unbelievable – enough gold to fill a room 22 feet long by 17 feet wide to a height of over 8 feet. When it was delivered, the good Christian Pizarro reneged on his promise and had Atahualpa strangled to death.
The tragedy at Cajamarca was not the only occasion in 1532 on which Western technology was able to trounce Incan technology – for technology such as guns and steel swords, rather than fighting skills and valour – were what won the day. In his excellent, Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Guns, Germs and Steel (Vintage, 1998), Jared Diamond, writes:
“During Pizarro’s march from Cajamarca to the Inca capital of Cuzco after Atahualpa’s death, there were four such battles: at Jauja, Vilcashuaman, Vilcaconga, and Cuzco. Those four battles involved a mere 80, 30, 110, and 40 Spanish horsemen, respectively, in each case ranged against thousands or tens of thousands of Indians.”
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The Inca emperor, Atahualpa, was executed on the orders (and perfidy) of Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro.
At the Battle of Cajamarca, on November 16, the preceding year, Pizarro with only 168 men conquered the Incan king in one of the most extraordinary battles of all time. Atahualpa had 80,000 battle-hardened soldiers who had recently defeated an indigenous enemy. However, the Spaniards had iron swords, guns, horses and armour, which the Incas did not.
Pizarro himself had grabbed Atahualpa from the litter, or palanquin, on which the great king was borne, calling out the Spanish war cry (“Santiago!”, or “St James!”) as he did so. The conqistador took Atahualpa prisoner and demanded a ransom, which the Incan king’s subjects duly paid. The ransom was almost unbelievable – enough gold to fill a room 22 feet long by 17 feet wide to a height of over 8 feet. When it was delivered, the good Christian Pizarro reneged on his promise and had Atahualpa strangled to death.
The tragedy at Cajamarca was not the only occasion in 1532 on which Western technology was able to trounce Incan technology – for technology such as guns and steel swords, rather than fighting skills and valour – were what won the day. In his excellent, Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Guns, Germs and Steel (Vintage, 1998), Jared Diamond, writes:
“During Pizarro’s march from Cajamarca to the Inca capital of Cuzco after Atahualpa’s death, there were four such battles: at Jauja, Vilcashuaman, Vilcaconga, and Cuzco. Those four battles involved a mere 80, 30, 110, and 40 Spanish horsemen, respectively, in each case ranged against thousands or tens of thousands of Indians.”
More
More
And more
Pip Wilson posted item above at 2:24 PM | Permalink
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