Pizarro Captures Atahualpa and Ends the Inca Empire
A small Spanish force takes the Inca ruler hostage, collects a room full of gold and silver for his release, then kills him anyway
Quick facts
- Leader
- Francisco Pizarro
- Force
- About 180 men, 30 horses
- Location
- Cajamarca, Peru
- Ruler captured
- Atahualpa, executed 1533
What happened
Francisco Pizarro arrived in northern Peru in late 1531 with a small force of about 180 men and 30 horses. He took advantage of a civil war within the Inca Empire, then in November 1531 requested a meeting with the Inca ruler Atahualpa, who agreed to meet at Cajamarca. The Spanish tried to convert Atahualpa to Christianity; he refused, and Pizarro's men captured him in the ensuing confrontation. Atahualpa offered a room filled with gold and silver as ransom for his freedom, and the Inca delivered the treasure, but Pizarro had him executed in 1533 regardless. Spain went on to suppress several Inca rebellions over the following decades, achieving full control of the former empire by 1572.
Why it matters
Pizarro's capture of Atahualpa, distantly related to his cousin Cortes's capture of the Aztec capital a decade earlier, showed how a small, well-armed Spanish force could topple an empire of millions by seizing its ruler rather than conquering its territory outright. The ransom's betrayal set the tone for Spanish rule in Peru for the following decades.
How we know
The Library of Congress exhibit Pizarro and the Incas and the Mariners' Museum's entry on Pizarro both describe the force size, the meeting at Cajamarca, the ransom, and Atahualpa's execution, based on period Spanish accounts of the conquest.
Sources
- Library of Congress, Exploring the Early Americas. Pizarro and the Incas · Primary source (author-declared)loc.gov · Cited as a "primary" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- The Mariners' Museum, Ages of Exploration. Francisco Pizarro · Reputable sourceexploration.marinersmuseum.org · The domain "exploration.marinersmuseum.org" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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