Pizarro Captures Atahualpa: The Inca Empire Falls
Francisco Pizarro arrived at Cajamarca on November 15, 1532, with 168 men, 62 horses, and a few cannons. Atahualpa waited with an army of 80,000, having just won a civil war against his half-brother. The next day, a Spanish friar presented Atahualpa with a Bible. He threw it on the ground. Pizarro gave the signal. Hidden musketeers and cavalry charged into the packed square. The slaughter lasted less than two hours. An estimated 2,000 to 6,000 Inca warriors were killed; the Spanish suffered one casualty. Atahualpa was captured alive. He offered to fill a room with gold and twice with silver in exchange for his freedom. Pizarro took the ransom, 13,000 pounds of gold and 26,000 pounds of silver, then executed Atahualpa anyway. The Inca Empire, the largest in pre-Columbian America, collapsed within a year.
November 16, 1532
494 years ago
Key Figures & Places
What Else Happened on November 16
Emperor Justinian published the second and final revision of his legal code, the Codex Justinianus, consolidating 1,000 years of Roman law into a single systema…
Emperor Li Jing dispatches ten thousand troops under Bian Hao to crush the Chu Kingdom, driving the entire ruling family into exile at his Nanjing capital. This…
He was 1,500 miles away when he became king. Edward I learned of Henry III's death while still in Sicily, returning from the Holy Land — and simply didn't rush …
Jadwiga was crowned King (not Queen) of Poland at age 10, with the masculine title chosen to assert her full sovereign authority. She married Lithuanian Grand D…
The victims never existed. That's the core of it. The "Holy Child of La Guardia" — supposedly a murdered Christian boy whose heart was used in Jewish ritual — w…
King Gustavus Adolphus fell in the thick of the Battle of Lützen, his death plunging the Swedish army into a chaotic retreat. While his forces ultimately held t…
Talk to History
Have a conversation with historical figures who witnessed this era. Ask questions, explore perspectives, and bring history to life.