A Fateful Meeting
On the
evening of Saturday, November 16, 1532, the Spaniards,
led by Francisco Pizarro, received a visit from the Inka
Atahuallpa in the walled town of Cajamarca. Outside the
walls encamped the Inka's army, numbering between 30,000
to 80,000 warriors. Inside the town, Pizarro's men and
horses remained hidden behind trapezoidal doorways while
their priest came forward to meet the Inka.
A Deadly Insult...
Following the protocol mandated by
the government of Spain, the priest read the Requirement,
a lengthy document
describing the Christian view of world history and requiring
the hearer the recognize the Church, the Pope and the
King of Spain, or death and losses from attack would
be regarded as his own fault.
The interpreter got the meaning across,
and the Inka was outraged. The priest offered his prayer
book to the
Inka, who threw it to the ground.
...a Deadly Attack
At this, bugles blared, guns thundered,
and a Spanish war cry echoed across the triangular plaza.
Horsemen
in silvery steel armor charged out of the shadows, tilting
with heavy lances at the tightly-packed retinue of the
Inka ruler. The Indians fought bravely to defend the
Son of the Sun, but they were no match for horses, guns
and steel swords and armor. The Spaniards cut down Atahuallpa's
litter bearers and pulled the Inka from his litter.
Lancers galloped over dying Indians and pursued survivors
into the night. The horsemen mercilessly rode down fleeing
warriors on the plain until bugles recalled them. Eyewitnesses
estimated the Indian dead at two to eight thousand; Atahuallpa
said seven thousand. Not a single Spaniard died, and
only one minor wound, to Governor Pizarro's hand, was
sustained.
A King's Ransom, All for Naught
Pizarro's men held Atahuallpa
hostage, demanding a roomful of gold as ransom. Thousands
of priceless artworks of
gold and silver were melted down and sent to Spain. Although
the phenomenal ransom was paid, the Spaniards killed
the Inka, anyway. Although several descendants of Huayna
Capac struggled to expel the Spaniards throughout the
remainder of the 16th century, the struggle was in vain.
What disease and internecine warfare had begun was carried
on to success by the Spanish via surprise, boldness,
horses and technological advantage.
In the ensuing years, they were also aided
by the entrenched habits of the Inka warriors, volunteers
who habitually
left their farms to serve during certain seasons, then
returned home to tend their crops; and by the accumulated
resentment of all the tribes the Inkas had conquered
in the previous century. Many of these tribes joined
forces with the Spanish against the Inkas, little realizing
that they were exchanging one repressive regime for another
even worse.
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