The Rest Is History

647. The Fall of the Incas: The King in the North (Part 4)

February 26, 2026

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  • Following Atahualpa's execution, Pizarro installed the puppet emperor Tupac Hualpa, aligning the Spanish with the Huascar faction and enabling the march toward the wealthy city of Cusco. 
  • The Spanish conquest of Cusco was characterized by the immense looting of the city's treasures, including the Coricancha (Temple of the Sun), and the installation of Manco Inca as the new Sapa Inca, despite the continued presence of Atahualpa's northern armies. 
  • The subsequent military campaign north to secure Quito revealed the deep divisions within the Inca Empire, as the Spanish were aided by local allies (like the Wanka and Canyari) against Atahualpa's generals, Quisquis and the brutal Ruminyawi, who famously turned a rival into a kettle drum. 
  • The Inca general Ruminyawi employed scorched-earth tactics, gutting Quito and withdrawing into the forests after a tactical retreat from the Spanish, who then engaged in extreme brutality against the remaining population in search of treasure. 
  • The arrival of rival Spanish conquistadors, particularly Pedro de Alvarado, resulted in catastrophic losses for his own forces due to poor leadership and environmental hazards, leading him to sell his assets and withdraw from Peru. 
  • The conquest of the northern Inca forces was completed rapidly by 1535, largely due to the collapse of Inca morale and the strategic advantage provided by indigenous tribal allies supporting the Spanish, while the subsequent distribution of land and labor established an extractive settler colonial system that immediately began to breed internal Spanish conflict. 

Segments

Cusco’s Golden Wonders
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(00:02:36)
  • Key Takeaway: The Temple of the Sun (Coricancha) in Cusco featured walls plated with gold, golden effigies of flora and fauna, and was considered a wonder of the early 16th-century world.
  • Summary: The description of Cusco’s Coricancha, sourced from Peter Shaffer’s play, detailed acres of gold soil planted with golden maize and life-size golden llamas. This description was closely based on primary sources from Spanish chroniclers written shortly after the Inca fall. The looting of the Temple of the Sun was already underway to contribute to Atahualpa’s ransom.
Post-Atahualpa Power Shift
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(00:06:26)
  • Key Takeaway: Pizarro installed Tupac Hualpa, Huascar’s brother, as the new puppet emperor in Cajamarca, cementing the Spanish alliance with the southern, Cusco-aligned faction of the Inca Civil War.
  • Summary: Killing Atahualpa allowed the Spanish to push south toward Cusco, while Diego de Almagro, excluded from the ransom, was eager for further spoils. Unlike the conquest of Mexico, the Spanish made little immediate effort to impose Christianity, likely due to being heavily outnumbered. Tupac Hualpa’s coronation included traditional Inca ceremonies, though he immediately ceded symbolic power to Charles V.
The March to Cusco
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(00:14:00)
  • Key Takeaway: The 800-mile march from Cajamarca to Cusco by Pizarro and Almagro was an ‘insane’ logistical feat across the central Andes, aided by support from the Huascar-aligned Wanka people.
  • Summary: The journey involved constant river crossings, climbing rock faces, and enduring altitude sickness, described as one of the most staggering invasions in history. Along the way, the Spanish encountered evidence of the civil war, including 4,000 bodies left by the Quito army. The Spanish maintained an aura of invincibility, having suffered no combat deaths up to that point, largely due to Inca lack of pikes or effective anti-horse weaponry.
Manco’s Arrival and Chalcuchima’s Death
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(00:21:21)
  • Key Takeaway: Manco, Huascar’s brother and the new southern faction candidate, presented himself to the Spanish and immediately instigated the execution of the captured Inca general Chalcuchima by burning.
  • Summary: Manco, a fugitive, was welcomed by Pizarro as a liberator of Cusco, solidifying the Spanish-Southern Inca alliance. Manco confronted Chalcuchima, accusing him of smuggling orders to the northern army led by Quisquis. Chalcuchima refused to convert to Christianity to avoid a garrote, choosing to be burned alive while calling for vengeance from Quisquis.
Entering the Inca Capital
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(00:24:49)
  • Key Takeaway: Pizarro and Manco entered Cusco on November 15, 1533, finding the city orderly and magnificent, with palaces surrounding the central square, Auque Pata, where deceased emperors’ mummies were kept with personal relics.
  • Summary: Cusco was described as orderly, clean, and architecturally remarkable, impressing the Spanish who had no standard of comparison outside the Americas. The Spanish moved into the Inca palaces, and Manco was formally crowned shortly after, participating in a massive festival where mummies were paraded with their fingernails and teeth displayed on altars. The Spanish then proceeded to melt down vast quantities of gold and silver from the temples.
The Northern Threat and Alvarado’s Arrival
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(00:45:53)
  • Key Takeaway: Pizarro focused on securing the central third of the empire while facing threats from Atahualpa’s generals in the north, including the ruthless Ruminyawi, who turned a rival claimant into a kettle drum.
  • Summary: The northern third (Ecuador/Colombia) remained loyal to Atahualpa’s faction, posing a major threat to Pizarro’s control. Ruminyawi consolidated power in Quito by murdering the rival claimant Kilis Cacha and transforming his body into a drum for military use. Simultaneously, Pedro de Alvarado arrived on the coast in February 1534 with a large force, immediately engaging in unnecessary cruelty that shocked even other conquistadors.
Battle for Quito Territory
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(00:54:16)
  • Key Takeaway: Alvarado’s expedition quickly devolved into disaster, leading Pizarro’s captain Benalcázar and Almagro to race north to secure Quito’s gold before Alvarado could claim it.
  • Summary: Benalcázar, supported by the anti-Inca Canyari people, engaged Ruminyawi in the massive Battle of Teocajas (or Mount Chimborazo), where the Spanish cavalry initially dominated but were forced into a deadlock. The Spanish forces then tricked Ruminyawi’s army by slipping away overnight, allowing Benalcázar to reach Quito only to find Ruminyawi had already stripped the city of its treasure.
Battle for Quito Stalemate
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(00:56:39)
  • Key Takeaway: Inca forces under Ruminyawi fought with exceptional bravery but were ultimately outmaneuvered by a Spanish deception involving burning campfires.
  • Summary: The battle saw exceptional Inca bravery despite heavy losses, leading to a deadlock at nightfall. The Spanish tricked Ruminyawi’s forces by leaving campfires burning while slipping away in darkness. This allowed Benalcázar’s men to bypass the main Inca army and enter Quito.
Ruminyawi’s Scorched Earth
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(00:57:47)
  • Key Takeaway: Ruminyawi executed a ‘Russia 1812 style’ scorched-earth policy in Quito, removing treasure, family, and women before withdrawing.
  • Summary: Upon reaching Quito, the Spanish found Ruminyawi had already gutted the city, taking Atahualpa’s family and 4,000 women, and setting fire to palaces and storehouses. Ruminyawi’s men also killed 300 Virgins of the Sun Temple who refused to evacuate with them. The Spanish responded by slaughtering women and children while searching for the hidden gold.
Alvarado’s Disastrous March
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(00:59:10)
  • Key Takeaway: Pedro de Alvarado suffered massive casualties, including 85 Spaniards and countless native porters, due to getting lost in the jungle and ascending the highest, snow-covered mountain pass.
  • Summary: While Diego de Almagro behaved relatively well by his standards, Pedro de Alvarado disgraced himself after getting lost in the jungle, suffering from disease, and being caught in a volcanic eruption. His forces then took the wrong route up the Andes, leading to 85 Spanish deaths from exposure and the freezing to death of nearly all his native contingent.
Alvarado Cedes Command
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(01:00:30)
  • Key Takeaway: Despite facing Almagro, a severely depleted and demoralized Alvarado sold his ships and gear to Almagro and agreed to leave Peru forever.
  • Summary: When Alvarado finally reached Quito, he lost his nerve and agreed to a deal with Almagro. He sold all his ships and equipment for 100,000 gold pieces and agreed to leave Peru permanently. Alvarado later died in 1541 in a banal freak accident when a horse fell on him.
Fate of Inca Generals
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(01:02:19)
  • Key Takeaway: Inca general Kisquis was bludgeoned to death by his own officers for refusing to surrender, and Ruminyawi was captured, tortured, and executed by burning in June 1535.
  • Summary: Kisquis, returning from Cuzco, was killed by his own officers after his men, distraught over the Spanish capture of Quito, urged him to seek peace. Ruminyawi was later captured by Miguel de la Chica near a mountain lake, tortured for gold with no success, and executed in the main square of Quito, completing the conquest of the north.
Spanish Settlement and Feuding
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(01:05:36)
  • Key Takeaway: Francisco Pizarro established Lima (Ciudad de los Reyes) in 1535 and began distributing vast tracts of land and forced labor (encomienda) despite royal instructions to treat the natives as free subjects.
  • Summary: Manco Inca observed the Spanish melting down the gold and dividing the spoils, realizing his position was precarious as a Spanish puppet. Pizarro founded Lima in January 1535, intending to appease the influx of new settlers by granting them huge landed estates and thousands of laborers under the abusive encomienda system. This land distribution fueled the growing feud between the Pizarro brothers and Diego de Almagro.