My Travels In Peru

The Rise of a New Empire

In the previous chapter I discussed how the Spanish conquistadors benefited from the legend of Viracocha. Imagine how the god must have felt when his creations fell into the hands of foreign invaders! But how would they have known about the myth that they cleverly exploited?

The answer is that the Spaniards were well informed before they set off to conquer Peru. It didn't happen by chance. They didn't just stumble into an empire waiting to be taken. During the preceding decade, they had collected a lot of useful and valuable information. Their previous incursions had allowed them to test the enemy defences and learn about their military tactics. Moreover, they had captured indigenous people and trained them to speak Spanish. From them, they learned about the Tahuantinsuyo, the political situation, and the strengths and weaknesses of their enemy. And almost certainly, they would have learned about the Viracocha legend, and conveniently played the role of saviours of the oppressed.

Although they had extremely good luck, the Spaniards had done their homework and had planned their mission well. They had learned about high-altitude sickness and knew that they had to acclimatize themselves slowly in the mountains before their big encounter with Atahualpa. Moreover, Pizarro had fought alongside Cortez against the Aztecs and had learned how an empire could be won by trickery and treachery. But, whereas Cortez had taken on an empire of about 5 million people, Pizarro took on one five times as big. 

Anyone thinking about their plan might have concluded that he and his men must have had a death wish. Nevertheless, he had succeeded in getting the financial backing of the King of Spain, who was also the Holy Roman Emperor, and certainly no fool. This tells me that he had a well-developed and detailed plan of how to conquer Peru. No one would have financed the costly mission unless it had a reasonably good chance of success.

With incredible odds against him, as it would appear to us now, Pizarro set out to conquer a great empire and succeeded, making him the greatest conquistador of all time. Why is it that everyone remembers Cortez and Montezuma, who was slain by the former, and hardly anyone remembers Atahualpa, who was slain by Pizarro? Yet, we read about all of them in our history books!

Fifteen hundred years earlier, when the roman invasion force crossed the English Channel, the force commander ordered the destruction of the ships that had carried them across. The ships were set on fire, and, as they burned, every soldier knew that the only way back to the homeland was to conquer England. At that very moment, the invasion became a question of life and death. The burning fleet send a clear message that there would be no turning back at the first enemy encounter, if things didn't go well. The Romans fought for their very survival, and they accomplished their mission.

When Pizarro and his men landed in what is now Ecuador and marched down the coast and up the mountains of Peru, everyone knew that they would be fighting for their very survival, and, like the Romans, they achieved their objective. Without that level of commitment it could have been over for them soon after they landed. A lot of credit must be given to Pizarro for his bold conquest. Despite all their good luck, at the end of the day, they survived because of their military and political skills, which allowed them to exploit all the good luck that went their way. They were fighting men, and their cruelty knew no bounds. They remained alive by lying, cheating, and anything else that was necessary.

Their conquest was not accidental. It was well planned and even had a royal charter from the king authorizing Pizarro to claim the conquered lands for Spain, and to govern them on his behalf. In 1528, when he was pleading his case to the king, the victorious Cortez had returned to Spain, wealthy beyond imagination, and lavishing the king's court with presents of silver and gold taken from the Aztecs. So, again luck played into Pizarro's hand.

Because of Cortez' immense success, in 1529, Pizarro received court approval for the conquest of Peru; and, in January 1530, he sailed from Seville to Panama. In December of that year he set sail from Panama City with three ships, 180 soldiers, and 37 horses. They landed in Ecuador and slowly made their way to Peru. On the way, they had several hostile encounters with the natives before reaching Cajamarca, in 1532, but by and large their long journey was unimpeded.

Again, as luck would have it, the new emperor was camped on the city's outskirts, with his large army numbering more than 100,000. Pizarro sent a delegation to him with gifts and an invitation to meet him in the central square of Cajamarca, where he and his soldiers lay in ambush. In the almost two years that the conquistadors traveled in the northern part of the empire, there must have been reports send to the emperor about their horses, armour, and weapons. Yet, Atahualpa accepted the invitation and went to meet him with a large ceremonial contingent of courtesans and unarmed soldiers, falling into his trap. Why was he so fascinated by the strangers?

By the accounts he must have received, he would have known that they were not as friendly as they professed. Why did he throw all caution to the wind? He could have insisted that Pizarro go to him, as protocol would have required, or at the very least sent a security detail ahead of the encounter to ensure that they were all disarmed before he met them. Why did the head of a large empire go to Pizarro and not the latter to him? No matter how one looks at it, the emperor acted foolishly. He must have believed in his own invincibility, and for that he paid a huge price. His pride sowed the seeds of disaster not only for him, but also for his people. Was it inevitable?

There was nothing preordained about the collapse of the Incan Empire. Even with their superior weaponry and treachery, it took the Spaniards forty years to complete their conquest. If Atahualpa had not allowed himself to be captured, and later murdered, the Spaniards would not have succeeded. The resources of the empire were vast, and the Spaniards  would have been slaughtered in short shrift. In time they would have learned how to make steel and defend themselves from future European fighting forces. It didn't have to end that way!

I am surprised that no one has written a tragedy about the ill-fated Atahualpa. If Shakespeare had known about him, we might have been reading Atahualpa instead of Hamlet! Perhaps, this shows how little is still known about the death of this tragic figure and the fall of his vast empire. But just like the mythical phoenix rises from its ashes, the Spanish Empire rose from the Incan's ashes.