Inca Empire

The Inca civilization was at its height around 1493, as Spaniards began arriving in the Americas. In that year, the great ruler Topa Inca was succeeded by Huayna Capac, who continued to expand the empire. In about 1525 the Inca Empire survived an attack by a band of Chiriguano, Native American people from nearby Paraguay. The attackers were accompanied by Portuguese explorer Aleixo García, the first white man the Incas had ever seen. Then stories reached the Incas of other white men exploring the Pacific coast.

About 1525 both Huayna Capac and his appointed heir died within a few days of each other, probably from one of the European diseases that accompanied the arrival of the Spaniards. Their deaths set off a struggle for power between two of Huayna Capac’s remaining sons, Huáscar and Atahualpa. Civil war weakened the empire until Atahualpa captured Huáscar and ordered his execution in 1532. That same year, Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro and 180 Spanish soldiers landed on the coast of Peru. The Incas at first believed Pizarro to be their creator god Viracocha, just as the Aztecs of Mexico had associated the Spanish explorer Hernán Cortés with their god Quetzalcoatl (see Aztec Empire).

Pizarro, however, launched a surprise attack on Atahualpa's followers and seized the emperor. Atahualpa tried to buy his life by giving Pizarro enough gold to fill a room. His efforts were not successful; in 1533 the Spaniards executed Atahualpa by strangulation, and then they chopped off his head.

The Spaniards extended their control over Inca territory in the following years. Pizarro tried at first to maintain the appearances of a continued Inca state by placing Manco Capac II, a son of Huayna Capac, on the throne at Cuzco. Disagreements soon broke out among the Spanish over how to divide the wealth taken from the Incas. Manco Capac II took advantage of this situation. He escaped from Cuzco in 1536 and launched a revolt against Spanish rule.

The Spanish quickly defeated an attack by four Inca armies at Lima, Peru, which Pizarro had made his capital. After an unsuccessful three-month siege of Cuzco by another Inca army, Manco Capac II and thousands of his followers took refuge in the mountainous region of Vilcabamba to the northwest of Cuzco. There he created a new Inca state, from which he led his warriors in attacks on the Spanish.

The Inca kingdom at Vilcabamba survived for another 36 years, protected by the difficult terrain of the region. In 1572 the Spanish made a determined attempt to destroy the Inca stronghold. They overwhelmed the Inca forces and captured the last emperor of the Incas, Tupac Amarú. The Spanish beheaded Tupac Amarú in 1572, ending the Inca dynasty.

The conquerors then introduced the encomienda system, which put Native Americans to work at forced labor on great agricultural estates. Thousands died of European diseases, and many others fled the land of their ancestors, causing the population to drop rapidly. Today about 8 million descendants of the Incas inhabit the lands of the former empire, speaking the Quechuan language and following many of the ancient Inca beliefs and customs.