What was Atahualpa known for?
Who was Atahualpa in Inca?
Who was the greatest of the Sapa Incas?
The empire of the Inca in the early 16th century made Spain, the nation that would ultimately conquer her, look pennyante by comparison. The Inca lands included all of Peru and Boliva, a sizeable southern chunk of what is today Ecuador and the northern half of modern Chile.
The Aztecs had their Tenochtitlán, the great city center of their empire, while the Incas had Cuzco, which means "naval."
Atahualpa was the Inca, a living descendant of the sun god, despotically powerful, the high priest and commander general of the army. As an added plum, as if everything else was not enough, he possessed the power to make or break laws and enact taxes.
From his earliest days the last Inca was, like all those before him, grounded in the Inca basics; that is, a thorough knowledge of general subjects, religion, military strategy and the latest in despotic techniques.
Into this rosy picture entered a dilemma. Even Incas must one day die. When old-man Inca Huayana Capac was about to kick the gold-leafed Inca bucket, he decreed that his two sons, Atahualpa and Huáscar, would each receive an equal half of the empire to rule over as he saw fit.
Atahualpa and Huáscar, however, were not about to go along with their father's wishes. They eyed each other like two hot-headed roosters in a hen house, and each went to war against the other in order to have control of the entire hen house. Inca Huayana Capac's last words had fallen on deaf rooster ears.
A civil war usually brings out the worst in everyone. After several years of strife and warfare, it was Atahualpa who emerged victorious, but at the cost of a weakened empire.
The stage was now set for the entrance of Francisco Pizarro.
"Hello, My Name is Francisco Pizarro. I'm from Spain and I Come in Peace. By the Way, You Are Now Subjects of the Spanish Empire."
What did Francisco Pizarro discover?
What was Francisco Pizarro known for?
Why is Francisco Pizarro important?
Francisco Pizarro was many things. He was crude, merciless, shifty like a waterfront rat and lustful when it came to the pursuit of gold. But his overriding ambition was to make something of himself. He had come from a dirt-poor background and, in the rigid social-class structure of Spain, he had no chance for the upward mobility and big-shot status he craved.
However, fortunes could be made and power established in the New World for those who were ambitious-minded, and Pizarro certainly was this. Promising the Spanish Queen glory, gold and new souls for the Catholic church, Pizarro was named governor and captain general of Peru and given a commission, a ship and two hundred soldiers to get the conquering job done.
Pizarro was remarkably lucky. By rights his small force should have been swept away by the enormous army at the disposal of Atahualpa. (It had been weakened by the civil war, but this was relatively inconsequential in view of the paltry number of Spanish soldiers that needed to be dealt with.)
Only Atahualpa seems to have forgotten to take his army with him when he agreed to meet with Pizarro. Atahualpa was captured and held to ransom. The ransom of gold and silver was paid, but Pizarro elected to have Atahualpa executed anyway.
The Spaniards were not without mercy and Christian charitableness, however. After agreeing to convert to Christianity just before his execution, Atahualpa was allowed to die by strangulation rather than by fire.
Who was Atahualpa in Inca?
Who was the greatest of the Sapa Incas?
A Good Little Sun God Goes to School to Learn His Inca Trade
Atahualpa, the last Inca emperor, would have had difficulty surveying all of his kingdom. It stretched as far as the eye could see and then stretched yet more over countless horizons.The empire of the Inca in the early 16th century made Spain, the nation that would ultimately conquer her, look pennyante by comparison. The Inca lands included all of Peru and Boliva, a sizeable southern chunk of what is today Ecuador and the northern half of modern Chile.
The Aztecs had their Tenochtitlán, the great city center of their empire, while the Incas had Cuzco, which means "naval."
Atahualpa was the Inca, a living descendant of the sun god, despotically powerful, the high priest and commander general of the army. As an added plum, as if everything else was not enough, he possessed the power to make or break laws and enact taxes.
From his earliest days the last Inca was, like all those before him, grounded in the Inca basics; that is, a thorough knowledge of general subjects, religion, military strategy and the latest in despotic techniques.
Trouble in the Inca Paradise As Two Roosters Fight over the Same Hen House
But before Atahualpa ever became emperor, there was his old man, the Inca Huayana Capac. Those were the halcyon days when everything was roses and peaches with cream and a cherry on top in the land of the Incas. The Inca Empire was a well functioning, right orderly empire. As far as over-extended empires go, it was the rosy picture of health. All the Inca doctors would have given it a clean bill of health.Into this rosy picture entered a dilemma. Even Incas must one day die. When old-man Inca Huayana Capac was about to kick the gold-leafed Inca bucket, he decreed that his two sons, Atahualpa and Huáscar, would each receive an equal half of the empire to rule over as he saw fit.
Atahualpa and Huáscar, however, were not about to go along with their father's wishes. They eyed each other like two hot-headed roosters in a hen house, and each went to war against the other in order to have control of the entire hen house. Inca Huayana Capac's last words had fallen on deaf rooster ears.
A civil war usually brings out the worst in everyone. After several years of strife and warfare, it was Atahualpa who emerged victorious, but at the cost of a weakened empire.
The stage was now set for the entrance of Francisco Pizarro.
"Hello, My Name is Francisco Pizarro. I'm from Spain and I Come in Peace. By the Way, You Are Now Subjects of the Spanish Empire."
What did Francisco Pizarro discover?
What was Francisco Pizarro known for?
Why is Francisco Pizarro important?
Francisco Pizarro was many things. He was crude, merciless, shifty like a waterfront rat and lustful when it came to the pursuit of gold. But his overriding ambition was to make something of himself. He had come from a dirt-poor background and, in the rigid social-class structure of Spain, he had no chance for the upward mobility and big-shot status he craved.
However, fortunes could be made and power established in the New World for those who were ambitious-minded, and Pizarro certainly was this. Promising the Spanish Queen glory, gold and new souls for the Catholic church, Pizarro was named governor and captain general of Peru and given a commission, a ship and two hundred soldiers to get the conquering job done.
Pizarro was remarkably lucky. By rights his small force should have been swept away by the enormous army at the disposal of Atahualpa. (It had been weakened by the civil war, but this was relatively inconsequential in view of the paltry number of Spanish soldiers that needed to be dealt with.)
Only Atahualpa seems to have forgotten to take his army with him when he agreed to meet with Pizarro. Atahualpa was captured and held to ransom. The ransom of gold and silver was paid, but Pizarro elected to have Atahualpa executed anyway.
The Spaniards were not without mercy and Christian charitableness, however. After agreeing to convert to Christianity just before his execution, Atahualpa was allowed to die by strangulation rather than by fire.
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