Inca Civil War

A succession war between the Inca rulers Huáscar and Atahualpa from about 1529 to 1532. Atahualpa’s victory fractured the empire shortly before Francisco Pizarro’s Spanish invasion.

Huáscar: An Inca ruler who contested the throne with his half-brother Atahualpa and was defeated in the succession war. His claim to rule drew the empire into the conflict.
Huayna Capac: An Inca emperor who ruled during the empire’s expansion and died during a smallpox epidemic in the early sixteenth century. His death left competing heirs and no uncontested succession.
Capture of Atahualpa: The seizure of Atahualpa by Francisco Pizarro’s forces at Cajamarca in November 1532. The Spanish captured the victorious ruler soon after the civil war ended.
Battle of Mullihambato: A battle in the Inca civil war in which Atahualpa’s forces defeated Huáscar’s army. It illustrates the northern faction’s military advance before the decisive campaign near Cuzco.
Atahualpa: An Inca ruler who defeated Huáscar and was captured by Francisco Pizarro in 1532. His military victory ended the war, but his capture soon exposed the empire to Spanish power.
Inca succession: The political practices through which rulers of the Inca state gained and transmitted authority. The conflict arose because imperial succession did not settle the rival claims.
Battle of Cajamarca: A 1532 encounter in which Spanish forces captured Atahualpa and killed many of his attendants. The divided empire could not mount a unified response when the Spanish seized its ruler.
Battle of Chimborazo: A battle in the Inca civil war fought in the northern Andes between forces loyal to Atahualpa and Huáscar. It marks the campaign that brought Atahualpa’s forces closer to victory.
Battle of Quipaipán: A decisive battle in 1532 in which Atahualpa’s forces defeated Huáscar’s army near Cuzco. The defeat opened the way for Atahualpa’s forces to take Cuzco and capture Huáscar.
Huayna Capac’s death: The death of the Inca emperor Huayna Capac, commonly dated to around 1527, amid epidemic disease. His death preceded the power vacuum that brought Huáscar and Atahualpa into conflict.

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