THE LAST INCA
In this program we are going to remember Atahualpa, the last ruler of the
10-million-strong Incan Empire. A man bitterly split between his unquestionable
authority among his subjects and an inability to face up to a bunch of
European invaders.
In the 16th century a gang of Spanish adventurers, 177 in all, led by the
Pizarro brothers, crossed in the sprawling Incan Empire. The news of a
ragtag assemblage of white-skinned wanderers riding on weird-looking animals
and fire-spewing sticks in hand alarmed Atahualpa but certainly not scared
him. He saw them as an advance party of some great force that for
the time being was to be reckoned with. The conquistadors were quick to
realize that the Incan empire was alive as long as its supreme ruler was
there. Like a pack of hungry wolves they headed to Atahualpa’s capital…
The Incan emperor just couldn’t care less about meeting some unknown white-skinned
strangers though and so he sent out envoys to assure the Pizarro brothers
of his friendly intentions. The envoys lavished gifts on the white men
and dissuaded them form visiting the emperor’s palace. Meanwhile, the invaders
were busily studying the mountainous part of Atahualpa’s empire.
On November 15, 1532 the Spaniards reached Cajamarca, a small Incan city
comfortably nestled amid sprawling flatlands. Cajamarca was really a sight
to see with its gold plated temple of the Sun overlooked by an impressive
looking fortress. With the city garrison alone amounting to about 50,000
warriors each of whom literally adored him, the Great Inca had no reason
whatsoever to fear the strangers.
Francisco Pizarro then invited Atahaulpa to a meeting allegedly to seal
their friendship while in fact he planned to take him prisoner. Atahualpa’s
procession reached the city’s main square shortly before sunset.
The procession was lead by hundreds of sweepers cleaning up the path of
the Son of the Sun who was sitting on a golden stretcher carried by eight
men draped in beautiful blue uniforms. The Great Inca was naked from the
waist up, save for a massive emerald necklace and a pair of huge golden
discs adorning his ears. Thousands of his lightly armed bodyguards
filled up the triangular square but, much to the Great Inca’s amazement
and indignation, there was no one there to greet him. After a lengthy and
humiliating pause, there came out Vicente de Valverde, a Dominican monk.
Without saying a word, he made a sign and the Spaniards attacked slaughtering
the Inca warriors and taking Atahualpa prisoner. The other members of the
procession took to their heels. In exchange for his release, Atahualpa
offered Pizarro to buy his liberty by filling the room where he was kept
prisoner with gold and the two adjacent rooms with silver up to the level
of the reach of his arm. All told, the stupendous ransom amounted to nearly
six tons of gold and 12 tons of silver. As if that were not enough, the
Spaniards ransacked the city’s warehouses, palaces and temples…
The well-paid Spanish conqueror did not release Atahualpa though. Instead,
he decided to execute him. On August 19, 1533 a shackled Atahualpa, charged
with idolatry and polygamy, normal things in Incan life, was lead out on
the city’s main square. Friar Vicente de Valverde told the Great Inca that
he had been sentenced to be burned at the stake but if he agreed to convert
to Christianity, he would convince the rest to commute the sentence. Atahualpa
agreed to be baptized under the Christian faith and under the name of Juan
de Atahualpa was strangled instead of being burned…
The expedition’s enormous loot eventually ended up in the pockets of the
Pizarro brothers leaving his main companion Diego de Almagro and his men
out in the cold. Fate had no mercy on the ruthless adventurers: none of
those who presided over the destruction of America’s greatest Incan empire
died of natural causes. Juan Pizarro was the first to die in a skirmish
with the Indians. Another Pizarro, Hernandez, the most perfidious
of them all, killed Diego de Almagro, one of the three cofounders of the
society to conquer the Incan Empire. The leaders of the whole expedition,
Francisco Pizarro and his brother Martin, later died at the hands of the
son of the slain Diego de Almagro. The last of the Pizarro brothers, Gonzalo,
was executed for an almost successful attempt to break Peru away from Spain
and establish his own authority over the entire South America and its inhabitants.
The last to die was Vicente de Valverde, the Dominican monk who once signaled
the start of the treacherous Spanish assault on Atahualpa and his men.
Valverde was eaten up by cannibals on a trip to the Ecuadorian island of
Puna…
08/29/2005
|
