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Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa or Ataw WallpaOther older or alternative spellings are ⟨Atahuallpa⟩, ⟨Atabalipa⟩ and ⟨Atabalica⟩. (, ) ( 150226 July 1533), was the last effective Sapa Inca, reigning from April 1532 until his capture and execution in July of the following year, as part of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.
Around the same time as Atahualpa's victory, a group of Spanish , led by Francisco Pizarro, arrived in the region. In November 1532, they captured Atahualpa during an ambush at Cajamarca. In captivity, Atahualpa gave a ransom in exchange for a promise of release and arranged for the execution of Huáscar. After receiving the ransom, the Spanish accused Atahualpa of treason, conspiracy against the Spanish Crown, and the murder of Huáscar. They put him on trial and sentenced him to death by burning at the stake. However, after his baptism in July 1533, he was instead.
A line of successors continued to claim the title of emperor, either as Spanish vassals or as rebel leaders, but none were able to hold comparable power.
Since the earliest Quechua dictionaries, atawallpa and wallpa were offered as the Quechua word for "chicken". For centuries several historians believed that this Sapa Inca's name came from the bird name. Some even translated the name as "happy rooster" or "bird of fortune". Considering such species was new in the Andes, contemporary scholars believe the Etymology direction was the inverse: the bird species may have been named after the monarch, as already said by Blas Valera in the 16th century.
It has been proposed that this Given name may have been a compound of two Puquina language roots, ata-w "appointed, chosen" and wallpa "diligent or courageous". However, this analysis is not consensual.
The chronicler and soldier Pedro Cieza de León, from his investigations among the members of the Inca nobility of Cusco, affirmed that Atahualpa had been born in Cusco and that his mother was Tuto Palla or Túpac Palla (Quechua names), an "India Quilaco" or "native of Quilaco". This demonym could allude to an ethnic group from the province of Quito and would imply that she was a second-class wife belonging to the regional elite. Cieza de León denied that Atahualpa was born in Quito or Inca-Caranqui and that his mother was the lady of Quito, as some at the time claimed, since Quito was a province of Tahuantinsuyo when Atahualpa was born. Therefore their kings and lords were the Incas.
According to Juan de Betanzos, Atahualpa was born in Cusco and his mother was a ñusta (Inca princess) from Cusco of the lineage of Inca Yupanqui (Pachacuti).
In the 18th century the priest Juan de Velasco, using as a source a work by Marcos de Niza, whose existence has not been confirmed, compiled information about the Kingdom of Quito (whose existence has not been confirmed either). According to de Velasco, the Kingdom of Quito was made up of the Quitu culture or Scyris ethnic group and disappeared when it was conquered by the Incas. This work includes a list of the kings of Quito, the last of whom, Cacha Duchicela, would have been the Kuraka (Inca cacique) defeated and killed by the Inca Huayna Cápac. Paccha Duchicela, the daughter of Cacha Duchicela, would have married Huayna Cápac, and from that union Atahualpa would have been born as a legitimate son. Several historians, such as the Peruvian Raúl Porras Barrenechea and the Ecuadorian Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño, have rejected this version for lack of historical and archaeological foundation.
Most Peruvian historians maintain that, according to the most reliable chronicles (Cieza, Sarmiento and Betanzos, who took their reports firsthand), Atahualpa was born in Cusco and his mother was a princess of Inca lineage. These historians consider that Huáscar's side invented the version of Atahualpa's Quito origin to show him to the Spanish as a usurper and bastard. They also believe that many chroniclers interpreted the division of the empire between the two sons of Huayna Cápac (Huáscar, the eldest son and legitimate heir; and Atahualpa, the bastard and usurper) according to their European or Western conception of political mores. According to Rostworowski this is wrong because the right to the Inca throne did not depend exclusively on primogeniture or paternal line (because the son of the Inca's sister could also be heir) but also practical considerations such as the ability to command.
Ecuadorian historians have conflicting opinions:
| +Summary of chroniclers and historians ! scope="col" | Chronicler or historian ! scope="col" | Origin of Atahualpa ! scope="col" | Summary of his version ! scope="col" | Reliability data |
When Atahualpa was thirteen years old, there was a rebellion in the north of the empire by two peoples from that region, the Cara culture and the Cayambis. Together with his father and his brother, Ninan Cuyuchi marched at the head of the Inca army towards the northern provinces (Quito region). Four governors remained in Cusco, including Huáscar. Atahualpa stayed in Quito with his father for more than ten years, helping him put down rebellions and conquer new lands. For this he had the support of skilled Inca generals, such as Chalcuchímac and Quizquiz. During this period he learned government tasks and gained prestige for the courage he displayed in war actions.
The chroniclers described Atahualpa as someone of "lively reasoning and with great authority".
Around 1460, Tupac Inca Yupanqui, with an army of 200,000 warriors that were sent by his father, easily gained control of the Palta nation in southern Ecuador and northern Peru in a matter of months. However, the Inca army met fierce resistance from the defending Cañari, which left the Incas so impressed that after they were defeated, the Cañari were recruited into the Inca army. In northern Ecuador, the Inca army met fiercer resistance from an alliance between the Quitu culture and the Cañari. After defeating them in the battle of Atuntaqui, Tupac Yupanqui sent settlers to what is now the city of Quito and left as governor Chalco Mayta, belonging to the Inca nobility.
Around 1520, the tribes of Quitu culture, Caras and Puruhá rebelled against the Inca Huayna Capac. He personally led his army and defeated the rebels in the battle of Laguna de Yawarkucha where there was such a massacre that the lake turned to blood. According to Juan de Velasco, the alliance of the northern tribes collapsed and finally ended when Huayna Cápac married Paccha Duchicela, queen of the Shyris, making them recognize him as monarch, this marriage was the basis of the alliance that guaranteed the Inca power in the area.
After Huayna Capac died in 1527, Atahualpa was appointed governor of Quito by his brother Huáscar.
Atahualpa returned to Quito and amassed a great army. He attacked the Cañari of Tumebamba, defeating its defenses and levelling the city and the surrounding lands. He arrived in Tumbes, from which he planned an assault by rafts on the island Puná. During the naval operation, Atahualpa sustained a leg injury and returned to land. Taking advantage of his retreat, the "punaneños" (inhabitants of Puña) attacked Tumbes. They destroyed the city, leaving it in the ruined state recorded by the Spaniards in early 1532.
From Cuzco the Huascarites, led by the armies of general Atoc, defeated Atahualpa in the battle of Chillopampa. The Atahualapite generals responded quickly; they gathered together their scattered troops, counter-attacked and forcefully defeated Atoc in Mulliambato. They captured Atoc and later tortured and killed him.
The Atahualapite forces continued to be victorious, as a result of the strategic abilities of Quizquiz and Chalcuchímac. Atahualpa began a slow advance on Cuzco. While based in Marcahuamachuco, he sent an emissary to consult the oracle of the Huaca (god) Inca mythology, who prophesied that Atahualpa's advance would end poorly. Furious at the prophecy, Atahualpa went to the sanctuary, killed the priest and ordered the temple to be destroyed. During this period, he first learned that Pizarro and his expedition had arrived in the empire.
Atahualpa's leading generals were Quizquiz, Chalcuchímac and Rumiñawi. In April 1532, Quizquiz and his companions led the armies of Atahualpa to victory in the battles of Mullihambato, Chimborazo and Quipaipán. The Battle of Quipaipán was the final one between the warring brothers. Quizquiz and Chalcuchimac defeated Huáscar's army, captured him, killed his family and seized the capital, Cuzco. Atahualpa had remained behind in the Andean city of Cajamarca, where he encountered the Spanish, led by Pizarro.
Atahualpa and his army had camped on a hill just outside Cajamarca. He was staying in a building close to the Konoj , while his soldiers were in tents set up around him. When Pizarro arrived in Cajamarca, the town was mostly empty except for a few hundred . The Spaniards were billeted in certain long buildings on the main square and Pizarro sent an embassy to the Inca, led by Hernando de Soto. The group consisted of 15 horsemen and an interpreter; shortly thereafter de Soto sent 20 more horsemen as reinforcements in case of an Inca attack. These were led by Francisco Pizarro's brother, Hernando Pizarro.
The Spaniards invited Atahualpa to visit Cajamarca to meet Pizarro, which he resolved to do the following day. Meanwhile, Pizarro was preparing an ambush to trap the Inca: while the Spanish cavalry and infantry were occupying three long buildings around the square, some musketeers and four pieces of artillery were located in a stone structure in the middle of the square. The plan was to persuade Atahualpa to submit to the authority of the Spaniards and, if this failed, there were two options: a surprise attack, if success seemed possible or to keep up a friendly stance if the Inca forces appeared too powerful.
The following day, Atahualpa left his camp at midday, preceded by a large number of men in ceremonial attire; as the procession advanced slowly, Pizarro sent his brother Hernando to invite the Inca to enter Cajamarca before nightfall. Atahualpa entered the town late in the afternoon in a litter carried by eighty lords; with him were four other lords in litters and and 5,000–6,000 men carrying small , slings and pouches of stones underneath their clothes. "He was very drunk from what he had imbibed in the (thermal) baths before leaving as well as what he had taken during the many stops on the road. In each of them he had drunk well. And even there on his litter he requested drink". The Inca found no Spaniards in the plaza, as they were all inside the buildings. The only man to emerge was the Dominican friar Vincente de Valverde with an interpreter.
Although there are different accounts as to what Valverde said, most agree that he invited the Inca to come inside to talk and dine with Pizarro. Atahualpa instead demanded the return of every thing the Spaniards had taken since they landed. According to eyewitness accounts, Valverde spoke about the Catholic religion but did not deliver the requerimiento, a speech requiring the listener to submit to the authority of the Spanish Crown and accept the Christianity faith. At Atahualpa's request, Valverde gave him his Roman Breviary but, after a brief examination, the Inca threw it to the ground; Valverde hurried back toward Pizarro, calling on the Spaniards to attack. At that moment, Pizarro gave the signal; the Spanish infantry and cavalry came out of their hiding places and charged the unsuspecting Inca retinue, killing a great number while the rest fled in panic. Pizarro led the charge on Atahualpa but captured him only after killing all those carrying him and turning over his litter. Not a single Spanish soldier was killed.
After several months in fear of an imminent attack from general Rumiñawi, the outnumbered Spanish considered Atahualpa to be too much of a liability and decided to execute him. Pizarro staged a mock trial and found Atahualpa guilty of revolting against the Spanish, practicing idolatry and murdering Huáscar, his brother. Atahualpa was sentenced to death by burning at the stake. He was horrified, since the Inca believed that the soul would not be able to go on to the afterlife if the body were burned. Friar Vincente de Valverde, who had earlier offered his breviary to Atahualpa, intervened, telling Atahualpa that, if he agreed to convert to Catholic Church, the friar could convince Pizarro to commute the sentence. Atahualpa agreed to be baptized into the Catholic faith. He was given the name Francisco Atahualpa in honor of Francisco Pizarro.
On the morning of his death, Atahualpa was interrogated by his Spanish captors about his birthplace. Atahualpa declared that his birthplace was in what the Incas called the Kingdom of Quito, in a place called Caranqui (today located 2 km southeast of Ibarra, Ecuador). Most chroniclers agree, though other stories suggest various other birthplaces.
In accordance with his request, he was executed by strangling with a garrote on 26 July 1533. His clothes and some of his skin were burned and his remains were given a Christian burial. Atahualpa was succeeded by his brother Túpac Huallpa and, later, by another brother, Manco Inca.
In Quito, the most important football stadium is named Estadio Atahualpa after Atahualpa.
On the façade of the Royal Palace of Madrid there is a statue of the Inca emperor Atahualpa, along with another of the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II, among the statues of the kings of the ancient kingdoms that formed Spain.
Atahaulpa plays a key role in Laurent Binet's 2019 alternate history novel Civilizations, journeying across the Atlantic and going on to conquer much of Europe.
He is also referenced in Alberto Belli's 2025 film Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado, with a depiction that he has left a magical bracelet that leads to a fallen star which has the power to grant a selfless wish.
Additionally, he is a major character in the 2010 science fiction short story "Invaders" by John Kessel.
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