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![Atahualpa](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/4647.jpg?v=1714170784)
Definition
Atahualpa
Atahualpa (Atawallpa) was the last ruler of the Inca Empire. He reigned from 1532 until his capture and execution by the invading Spanish forces led by Francisco Pizarro in 1533. The troubled Incas had suffered six years of damaging civil...
![Atahualpa](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/4647.jpg?v=1714170784)
Image
Atahualpa
An 18th century CE idealised portrait of the last Inca ruler Atahualpa, r. 1532-1533 CE. (Brooklyn Museum, New York)
![Pizarro and Atahualpa: The Curse of the Lost Inca Gold](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/2878.jpeg?v=1719540543)
Article
Pizarro and Atahualpa: The Curse of the Lost Inca Gold
In November 1532 CE, Francisco Pizarro led a group of about 160 conquistadors into the Inca city of Cajamarca. The illiterate and illegitimate son of an Extremaduran nobleman and an impoverished woman, Pizarro had spent his entire life on...
![Pizarro & the Fall of the Inca Empire](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/14113.png?v=1711554010)
Article
Pizarro & the Fall of the Inca Empire
In 1533 CE the Inca Empire was the largest in the world. It extended across western South America from Quito in the north to Santiago in the south. However, the lack of integration of conquered peoples into that empire, combined with a civil...
![Hernando de Soto](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/16126.png?v=1657533071-1657135974)
Definition
Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto (c. 1500-1542) was a Spanish conquistador who fought in Panama and Nicaragua and accompanied Francisco Pizarro (c. 1478-1541) in the conquest of the Inca civilization in Peru. He famously explored North America, including...
![Francisco Pizarro](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/2878.jpeg?v=1719540543)
Definition
Francisco Pizarro
Francisco Pizarro (c. 1478-1541) was a conquistador who led the Spanish conquest of the Inca civilization from 1532. With only a small group of men, Pizarro took advantage of his superior weapons and the fact that the Incas were weakened...
![Interview: The Last Days of the Incas (Kim MacQuarrie)](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/9845.jpg?v=1645037103)
Interview
Interview: The Last Days of the Incas (Kim MacQuarrie)
How did a mere 167 Spaniards conquer an empire of 10 million people? The Spanish were outnumbered 200-to-1 yet they were able to seize the Inca capital, Cuzco, and dispose of the Inca ruler within only a year. Kim MacQuarrie's The Last Days...
![The Siege of Cusco in 1536-7](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/16069.png?v=1698277325)
Article
The Siege of Cusco in 1536-7
The two sieges of Cusco in 1536-7 were the last great military actions by the Incas as they tried to reclaim their empire from the Spanish conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro (c. 1478-1541). The European cavalry proved all but invincible...
![Inca Ruler Atahualpa](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/3016.jpg?v=1723501024)
Image
Inca Ruler Atahualpa
A reconstruction of Inca ruler Atahualpa made by G.S.Stuart. (Ojai Valley Museum, California)
![The Capture of Atahualpa](https://www.worldhistory.org/img/c/p/360x202/14473.png?v=1629701782)
Image
The Capture of Atahualpa
A painting portraying the capture of Atahualpa (r. 1532-33), the Inca emperor, by the Spanish conquistador and adventurer Francisco Pizarro on 16 November 1532. This capture was considered to be the first step of the long conquest of the...