Atahualpa

Atahualpa Full Name: Atahualpa Alias: Atabalica Atahuallpa Atabalipca Francisco Atahualpa Origin: Quito, Inca Empire Occupation: Emperor of the Inca Empire (1532 - 1533) Governor of Quito (1525 - 1532) Goals: Defeat Huáscar and rule the Inca Empire (succeeded). Protect the Inca Empire from Francisco Pizarro's invasion (failed). Crimes: War crimes Torture Usurpation

Atahualpa (c. 1502 - July 26, 1533) was Sapa Inca of the Inca Empire from 1532 until his execution at the hands of Francisco Pizarro in 1533. He was the last emperor of the Inca Empire.

Biography

After his father, Huayna Cápac died in 1525, Atahualpa was appointed as governor of Quito by his brother, Huáscar, who succeeded Huayna Cápac as emperor.

During the time of Francisco Pizarro's exploration of South America and the introduction of foreign diseases, the relationship between Huáscar and Atahualpa deteriorated, to which Huáscar sent an army to capture Atahualpa, leading to his brother to declare war on the emperor and causing a division in the empire.

During the civil war, Atahualpa and his forces destroyed the city of Tumebamba, tortured and executed Huascarite general Atoc shortly after the Atahualpite victory in the battle of Mulliambato, and ordered a temple in Marcahuamachuco to be razed to the ground. After winning the civil war, the Atahualpites captured and executed Huáscar and his family and seized the capital of Cusco, while Atahualpa remained in Cajamarca, where he encountered Pizarro's conquistadors.

After Pizarro had a friar named Vincente de Valverde convince Atahualpa to read his breviary, he tossed it aside, giving Pizarro the opportunity to attack the Incans and capture Atahualpa. At the mercy of the conquistadors, Atahualpa offered to give them gold and silver, but the conquistadors, fearing an attack from general Rumiñawi, decided to execute Atahualpa. The conquistadors initially sentenced Atahualpa to death via burning at the stake, but the emperor was horrified by the idea, due to a religious Incan belief that a person's soul would not go into the afterlife if burned. Friar Valverde intervened and convinced Atahualpa to convert to Catholicism, to which he agreed and was rechristened as Francisco Atahualpa. Atahualpa was then executed via strangulation with a garrote on July 26th, 1533 and was succeeded by Túpac Huallpa as the emperor of the Neo-Inca State.

Trivia

• During the Inca Civil War, Atahualpa lost an ear and wore a headpiece to conceal the injury.