*Ø* Blogmanac November 15, 1532 | Pizarro and Atahualpa: The Prelude
1532 Pizarro and his 168 soldiers entered Cajamarca. The next day would see what is perhaps history’s most stunning battle.
Greed, gold and God: The Battle of Cajamarca
A satisfactory afternoon's work
for Spanish imperialism
When you have seen the errors in which you live, you will understand the good that we have done you by coming to your land … Our Lord permitted that your pride should be brought low and that no Indian should be able to offend a Christian.
Pizarro to Atahualpa
November 15-16, 1532
New World: Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro (1471 - June 26, 1541) seized Incan emperor Atahualpa (c. 1502 - August 29, 1533) after victory at Cajamarca, Peru. Pizarro had 168 men and 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. The result: one of history's most incredible battles, and it was all over in an afternoon.
Atahualpa (or Atahuallpa; Atabalipa) (ah'-ta-oo-al'-pa), was the13th and final emperor of the Incan Empire. He had been victorious in a devastating civil war with his half brother. He was a younger son of the Incan ruler Huayna Capac and an Ecuadorian princess of the Quito; although not the legitimate heir, he seems to have been the favourite. When Huayna Capac died (c. 1527), the kingdom was divided between Atahualpa, who ruled the northern part of the empire from Quito, and Huáscar, the legitimate heir, who ruled from Cuzco, the traditional Inca capital.
Into Atahualpa's heartland
Contemporary chroniclers depicted Atahualpa as brave, ambitious, and very popular with the army. He was soon embroiled in a civil war with his elder half-brother for control of the empire. The war ravaged Inca cities, wreaked havoc on the economy, and decimated the population. Early in 1532, near Cuzco, while Pizarro was making his way to Atahualpa's heartland, the army of the Incan lord had defeated Huáscar's army in what was probably the greatest of any Incan military engagement. Atahualpa treacherously captured his half-brother and his family and later had them executed, while Atahualpa was himself a prisoner – of Pizarro. (As Huáscar had been something of an ally to the Spanish, his half-brother's actions were later cited as a cause of the treatment Pizarro meted out to Atahualpa.)
In November, while the newly victorious Atahualpa and his battle-hardened army of 80,000 were relaxing with the hot springs in the village of Cajamarca, before their planned triumphal entry into Cuzco, Francisco Pizarro entered the city with a force of 168. Atahualpa got wind of the incursion.
On November 15, as the Spanish band moved close to Cajamarca, they tortured a few natives and discovered that Atahualpa was waiting for them at Cajamarca. Bravely, “Governor” Pizarro’s “army” moved towards the Incan town, and saw a beautiful town filled with so many tents that they were filled with fear. Hernando Pizarro, the leader’s brother, estimated the number of Incan soldiers at 40,000, but an eyewitness wrote that he gave this estimate in order to calm his comrades: there were in fact more than 80,000. Meanwhile, Most of Pizarro’s men were hidden around the main courtyard of Cajamarca.
Atahualpa ambushed
Invited by the Spaniard to attend a feast in his honor, the Inca chief accepted. The next day, he arrived at the appointed meeting place with several thousand unarmed retainers; Pizarro, prompted by the example of Hernán Cortés and Montezuma in Mexico, had prepared an ambush.
The next day at around noon, Atahualpa appeared in the town centre, carried on a palanquin borne by 80 Incan noblemen in rich blue livery, and with a retinue of 2,000 Indians sweeping the road before him. An eyewitness wrote “Then came a number of men with armour, large metal plates, and crowns of gold and silver which they bore, that it was a marvel to observe how the sun glinted on it." Atahualpa was also surrounded by his warriors, many thousands of them ...
This story continues at >http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/cajamarca_battle.html and I will be adding to it here tomorrow as well. Read how 168 men defeated 80,000 in an afternoon.
Pip Wilson's articles are available for your publication, on application. Further details
Receive similar items free each day with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac ezine. Send a blank email
1532 Pizarro and his 168 soldiers entered Cajamarca. The next day would see what is perhaps history’s most stunning battle.
Greed, gold and God: The Battle of Cajamarca
A satisfactory afternoon's work
for Spanish imperialism
When you have seen the errors in which you live, you will understand the good that we have done you by coming to your land … Our Lord permitted that your pride should be brought low and that no Indian should be able to offend a Christian.
Pizarro to Atahualpa
November 15-16, 1532
New World: Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro (1471 - June 26, 1541) seized Incan emperor Atahualpa (c. 1502 - August 29, 1533) after victory at Cajamarca, Peru. Pizarro had 168 men and 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. The result: one of history's most incredible battles, and it was all over in an afternoon.
Atahualpa (or Atahuallpa; Atabalipa) (ah'-ta-oo-al'-pa), was the13th and final emperor of the Incan Empire. He had been victorious in a devastating civil war with his half brother. He was a younger son of the Incan ruler Huayna Capac and an Ecuadorian princess of the Quito; although not the legitimate heir, he seems to have been the favourite. When Huayna Capac died (c. 1527), the kingdom was divided between Atahualpa, who ruled the northern part of the empire from Quito, and Huáscar, the legitimate heir, who ruled from Cuzco, the traditional Inca capital.
Into Atahualpa's heartland
Contemporary chroniclers depicted Atahualpa as brave, ambitious, and very popular with the army. He was soon embroiled in a civil war with his elder half-brother for control of the empire. The war ravaged Inca cities, wreaked havoc on the economy, and decimated the population. Early in 1532, near Cuzco, while Pizarro was making his way to Atahualpa's heartland, the army of the Incan lord had defeated Huáscar's army in what was probably the greatest of any Incan military engagement. Atahualpa treacherously captured his half-brother and his family and later had them executed, while Atahualpa was himself a prisoner – of Pizarro. (As Huáscar had been something of an ally to the Spanish, his half-brother's actions were later cited as a cause of the treatment Pizarro meted out to Atahualpa.)
In November, while the newly victorious Atahualpa and his battle-hardened army of 80,000 were relaxing with the hot springs in the village of Cajamarca, before their planned triumphal entry into Cuzco, Francisco Pizarro entered the city with a force of 168. Atahualpa got wind of the incursion.
On November 15, as the Spanish band moved close to Cajamarca, they tortured a few natives and discovered that Atahualpa was waiting for them at Cajamarca. Bravely, “Governor” Pizarro’s “army” moved towards the Incan town, and saw a beautiful town filled with so many tents that they were filled with fear. Hernando Pizarro, the leader’s brother, estimated the number of Incan soldiers at 40,000, but an eyewitness wrote that he gave this estimate in order to calm his comrades: there were in fact more than 80,000. Meanwhile, Most of Pizarro’s men were hidden around the main courtyard of Cajamarca.
Atahualpa ambushed
Invited by the Spaniard to attend a feast in his honor, the Inca chief accepted. The next day, he arrived at the appointed meeting place with several thousand unarmed retainers; Pizarro, prompted by the example of Hernán Cortés and Montezuma in Mexico, had prepared an ambush.
The next day at around noon, Atahualpa appeared in the town centre, carried on a palanquin borne by 80 Incan noblemen in rich blue livery, and with a retinue of 2,000 Indians sweeping the road before him. An eyewitness wrote “Then came a number of men with armour, large metal plates, and crowns of gold and silver which they bore, that it was a marvel to observe how the sun glinted on it." Atahualpa was also surrounded by his warriors, many thousands of them ...
This story continues at >http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/cajamarca_battle.html and I will be adding to it here tomorrow as well. Read how 168 men defeated 80,000 in an afternoon.
Pip Wilson's articles are available for your publication, on application. Further details
Receive similar items free each day with a free subscription to Wilson's Almanac ezine. Send a blank email
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