Atawallpa (), also Atahualpa or Ataw Wallpa (, ) ( 150229 August 1533), whose regnal name was Caccha Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui Inca (from the caccha idol and to honour the emperor Pachacuti), was the last effective Inca emperor, 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.

Biography

Atawallpa was the son of the emperor Huayna Cápac, who died around 1525 along with his successor, Ninan Cuyochi, in a smallpox epidemic. Atawallpa initially accepted his half-brother Huáscar as the new emperor, who in turn appointed him as governor of Quito in the north of the empire. The uneasy peace between them deteriorated over the next few years. Atawallpa sought to create an independent state in Quito. From 1529 to 1532, they contested the succession in the Inca Civil War. Huáscar managed to take Atawallpa prisoner. Atawallpa escaped and rallied his forces, winning several battles against Huáscar's forces before capturing Huáscar.

Around the same time as Atawallpa's victory, a group of Spanish conquistadors, led by Francisco Pizarro, arrived in the region. In November 1532, they captured Atawallpa during an ambush at Cajamarca. In captivity, Atawallpa gave a ransom in exchange for a promise of release and arranged for the execution of Huáscar. After receiving the ransom, the Spanish accused Atawallpa 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 garroted 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.

Origin

Name

thumb|Atabalipa, King of Peru, 17th-century oil painting at the MuNa, [[Quito]]

Although this monarch's name is written with some major discrepancies in early sources, most spellings seem to reflect (which in contemporary orthography would be written ⟨Ataw Wallpa⟩). As such, ⟨Atabalipa⟩, ⟨Tavalipa⟩ and others are spellings that represent the first impressionistic orthographies of his name.

Since the earliest Quechua dictionaries, and 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 etymological 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 person name may have been a compound of two Puquina roots, "appointed, chosen" and "diligent or courageous". However, this analysis is not consensual.

Birth

thumb|"The execution of Atahualpa Inca in [[Cajamarca: they behead him", drawn in 1615 by the chronicler Guaman Poma]]

There are uncertainties about Atawallpa's date and place of birth. He was likely born around the turn of the 16th century, . Atawallpa agreed to be baptized.

On the morning of his death, Atawallpa was interrogated by his Spanish captors about his birthplace. Atawallpa 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. Atawallpa was succeeded by his brother Túpac Huallpa and, later, by another brother, Manco Inca.

Legacy

thumb|Statue of Atahualpa in the [[Royal Palace of Madrid]]

After the death of Pizarro, Quispe Sisa, Atawallpa's favorite sister, who had been given to Pizarro in marriage by her brother, married a Spanish knight named Ampuero and left for Spain. They took her daughter by Pizarro with them and she was later legitimised by imperial decree. Francisca Pizarro Yupanqui married her uncle Hernando Pizarro in Spain, on 10 October 1537 – they had a son, Francisco Pizarro y Pizarro. The Pizarro line survived Hernando's death, although it is extinct in the male line. Among Inés's direct descendants, having Inca royal ancestry, at least three governed Latin American nations during the 19th and early 20th centuries: Dominican President José Desiderio Valverde and Bolivian Presidents Pedro José Domingo de Guerra and José Gutiérrez Guerra. Pizarro's third son, by a relative of Atawallpa renamed Angelina who was never legitimised, died shortly after reaching Spain. Another relative, Catalina Capa-Yupanqui, who died in 1580, married a Portuguese nobleman named António Ramos, son of António Colaço. Their daughter was Francisca de Lima who married Álvaro de Abreu de Lima, who was also a Portuguese nobleman.

In Quito, the most important football stadium is named Estadio Atahualpa after Atawallpa.

On the façade of the Royal Palace of Madrid there is a statue of the Inca emperor Atawallpa, along with another of the Aztec emperor Moctezuma II, among the statues of the kings of the ancient kingdoms that formed Spain.

Inkarri

A myth concerning Atawallpa's death and future resurrection became widespread among indigenous groups, with versions of the tale being documented as far as among the Huilliche people of southern Chile. A rare version recorded by Tom Dillehay among the Mapuche of Araucanía tells of Atawallpa killing Pedro de Valdivia. She argues he was buried in Ecuador for safekeeping. The location is named Malqui-Machay, Quechua for "mummy", and stone walls and trapezoidal underground water canals have been found in this location. More serious archaeological excavation needs to be done to confirm Estupiñán's beliefs.

A treasure hunt for Atawallpa's gold forms the basis for the second Biggles book, The Cruise of the Condor. Atawallpa Inca's conflict with Pizarro was dramatised by Peter Shaffer in his play The Royal Hunt of the Sun, first staged by the National Theatre in 1964 at the Chichester Festival, then in London at the Old Vic. The role of Atawallpa was played by Robert Stephens and by David Carradine, who received a Theatre World Award in the 1965 Broadway production. Christopher Plummer portrayed Atawallpa in the 1969 movie version of the play. The closing track of Tyrannosaurus Rex's debut album, My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair... But Now They're Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows, was entitled "Frowning Atahuallpa (My Inca Love)".

Atawallpa 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.

See also

  • History of the Inca
  • Crown of the Andes

Notes

References

Bibliography

  • [https://www.worldhistory.org/Atahualpa/] Atahualpa – World History Encyclopedia
  • Francisco de Xeres, [https://web.archive.org/web/20051030091621/http://www.fll.vt.edu/Culture-Civ/Spanish/texts/spainlatinamerica/pizarro.html] Narrative of the Conquest of Peru