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| Route of Pizzaro's march |
Pizzaro and
his men undoubtedly carved out an epic voyage through the jungles and mountains
of South America; driven by greed and thoughts of unlimited wealth. As leader
Pizzaro a deeply unpleasant and brutal man, was responsible for driving his
small force from Ecuador down into the heart of the Inca Empire.
Their line
of march was littered with ruined towns and bodies of those dead from recent
fighting. Once he realised that a civil war was in progress Pizzaro planned to
manipulate the warring factions as Hernando Cortes had done in Mexico.
Atahualpa
and his army were camped in the mountains at Cajamarca, just off Pizzaro’s line
of march. Atahualpa was informed of the arrival of 150 strangers when they
landed on the mainland and commenced pillaging the countryside and abusing the
residents. He sent a close adviser to visit the Spaniards. His evident
authority impressed the Spanish; the local chief was
‘Greatly frightened and
stood up, for he dare not remain seated in his presence.’[i]
The envoy’s
attitude towards themselves also impressed them
‘He entered as casually as
if he had been brought up all his life among Spaniards. After having delivered
his embassy….he enjoyed himself for two or three days among us.’[ii]
The envoy
inspected the Spaniards and their accoutrements, was very interested in their
swords and ended by inviting them to meet with Atahualpa at Cajamarca. Pizzaro
accepted and sent Atahualpa a gift of a fine Holland shirt and two Venetian
glass goblets.
The
Spaniards marched into the mountains and could have been destroyed quite easily
at this point, had the Inca not underestimated the Spaniards; but the small
size of the Spanish group may have assured Atahualpa that they were not a
threat. They arrived at the valley of Cajamarca on 15th November.
They camped outside the town. After a brief visit to the town, a group of the
Spaniards visited Atahualpa in his camp.
After the
visit the Spaniards were invited to take lodgings in Cajamarca; the one hundred
and fifty Spaniards, were outnumbered four hundred to one. But the Spaniards,
unlike the Inca, were armed with the latest in high-tech weaponry; artillery.
Pizzaro and his men invited the Sapa Inca to meet with them. Pizzaro set up an
ambush; hiding the Spanish cannons, with a line of fire across the square where
Atahualpa was to be met.The Spaniards were bound by the Requirement, an order of the Royal Council, enabling the Conquistadores to attack peoples that were not receptive to Christianity[iii]. The Requirement was to be proclaimed before any bloodshed took place. Friar Vincente de Valverde, a Dominican, proffered the bible to Atahualpa, after proclaiming that he had been sent by the King of Spain to reveal Christianity to the heathen Inca. Atahualpa was unable to open the bible and the friar attempted to help him. After inspecting the volume, which he was naturally unable to read, Atahualpa threw the bible down.
‘But after examining it he
threw it angrily down among his men, his face a deep crimson.’[iv]
The friar
gave the signal to activate the ambush, on the spurious grounds that Atahualpa,
in doing this, had rejected the message of Christianity. He was captured after
a fierce battle, the Inca warriors overcome by modern technology.
Death of a Dupe
Not long
after his capture Atahualpa was informed that his brother Huascar was being
brought captive from Cuzco. Pizzaro told Atahualpa that he wanted to meet
Huascar, reasoning that two claimants to the Inca throne were better than one.
Atahualpa ordered that his brother be killed, but told the Spaniards that the
execution was unauthorised. Atahualpa had already killed a number of his
siblings and the deaths continued. The brother with the best claim to being
Sapa Inca, Tupac Huallpa, took refuge with the Spanish.
Atahualpa
promised the Spaniards a room full of gold and silver, as he was concerned that
he would lose his life. Pizzaro recognised the value of his hostage, whose
chiefs still obeyed his orders, even in captivity. He promised to give
Atahualpa his freedom if he did not indulge in treasonous behaviour. Pizzaro ‘Gave him to understand that he would return to Quito, the land that his father had left him.’[v]
Accordingly he ordered that his generals remain in the south to consolidate their victory, collect his ransom and not attempt to rescue him, as he believed Pizzaro’s promises. Atahualpa’s orders seemed to convey his acceptance of the Spaniard’s presence, when he could barely wait for the departure of the odious strangers. Meanwhile the Spaniards were sending for reinforcements.
During his
period of captivity the Spanish observed Atahualpa
‘A man of thirty years of
age, of good appearance and manner, although somewhat thick-set. He had a large
face, handsome and fierce, his eyes reddened with blood. He spoke with much
gravity, as a great ruler. He made very lively arguments…….he was a wise man.
He was a cheerful man, although unsubtle. When he spoke to his own people he
was incisive and showed no pleasure.’[vi]
The
observations of Gaspar de Espinosa were inevitably coloured by the contempt of
a civilised and Christian man, looking down on a semi-civilised savage, who had
‘rejected’ the teachings of Christ.
While the
ransom was being collected one of Atahualpa’s most senior generals, Calcuchima[vii], agreed to join
Atahualpa at Cajamarca; a decision that helped bring about collapse of the Inca
resistance to the Spanish invaders. To persuade Calcuchima to disclose the
whereabouts of even more gold Pizzaro and his men had him tortured and eventually
he, like Atahualpa, was murdered.
The
Spaniards were reinforced on 14th April 1533 by a contingent of one
hundred and fifty led by Diego da Amalgro. Atahuelpa’s ransom, at 2010 figures,
is estimated to be worth £31,000,000.00[viii]. Despite payment of the
ransom Atahuelpa was not released and he then ordered an attack on Cajamarca.
The chief of the town warned Pizzaro. The Conquistadores were eager to leave
for Cuzco, where fabulous wealth awaited them. They discussed taking Atahuelpa
as hostage with them, but were worried about attacks by other Inca generals.
The
Spaniards were conflicted about killing Atahualpa, but da Amalgro was one of
those supporting the killing of Atahualpa. The decision was made under pressure
from da Amalgro with assistance from opportunistic royal officials. Told that
he would be burned to death[ix] Atahualpa was ‘persuaded’
to convert to Christianity and was executed by garrotting on 29 August 1533.
Atahualpa
was succeeded as Sapa Inca by his brother Tupac Huallpa, who was used by the
Spanish as a puppet. The Spanish bled the Americas dry of gold and silver; used
to decorate the churches in Spain and to prosecute wars in Europe. When the
supply of precious metals in the New World ran out Spanish expansion ceased and
the country could only look back on its past glories. Future dangers to
European stability came from French designs on the Spanish state, as opposed to
Spanish expansionism.
Bibliography
The Incas –
Nigel Davies, Folio Society 2001
The Conquest
of the Incas – John Hemming, Book Club Associates 1974
En.wikipedia.org
[i]
The Conquest of the Incas - Hemming
[ii]
Ibid
[iii]
Specifically Roman Catholicism
[iv]
The Conquest of the Incas - Hemming
[v]
Ibid
[vi]
Ibid
[vii]
Calcuchima’s military reputation had been garnered during the reign of Huayna
Capac and he might have been able to lead resistance against the Spaniards
[viii] Using
the retail price index or £56,000,000.00
using average earnings; www.measuringworth.com
[ix]
Against Inca beliefs
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