applied to it. In each central district there was the same arrangement
of buildings secular and religious, the Inca-tampu and the Ccoricancha,
to which the produce of the lands belonging to the overlord and the sun
was brought at regular intervals. These stations are found generally
throughout the Inca domains, except in the coast-valleys. Between them
were minor stations where two messengers were kept to carry orders
from one stage to the other. Where there were natural difficulties to
be overcome, in the long line of communication between the capitals
Quito and Cuzco, a distance of 1500 miles in extent, causeways were
built, and over streams and torrents enduring bridges were stretched,
made of timber laid in strong ropes of twisted grass. There was a
second road along the coast of the same length, but here, where the
country was sandy, nothing was to be found save direction marks to
indicate the correct track to be followed. In Cuzco there are still
standing massive, finely-executed foundation walls which attest the
skill of Inca builders. The temple of the sun can still be traced in
the edifices of the European occupation. On an elevation commanding
the road which led to middle Peru, the coast-valleys, and the northern
colony there stands an impressive mass of cyclopean masonry, the
fortress of Sacsahuaman, which represents the great terraced fortress
begun by the founder of the Inca dominion and apparently not yet
finished at the time of the conquest.
Though the Incas preserved a systematic administration that worked
with mechanical accuracy over the area of their empire, it was at best
a despotism, and their chieftains were nothing better than crude and
brutal tyrants. The mental capacity of the race seems to have been
below that of the people of Mexico, and their culture was certainly
lower, as is seen in the absence of artistic advance on their part
along with their inability to invent picture-writing, to work out the
divisions of time, or to elaborate a system of numbers, although
they were acquainted with denary arithmetic, and regularly observed the
solstices. As warriors, they seem to have been drilled efficiently but
mechanically; they were unable to foresee changes or adapt themselves
to them when they came. They were vanquished by the Europeans more
easily than the Aztecs had been, and their downfall was brought about
by the assistance rendered the Spaniards by hosts of native allies.
IV PIZARRO
The discovery of the Pacific Ocean and the foundation of the city of
Panama on the narrow peninsula, led to the undertaking of voyages of
exploration farther south, and this in turn to the entrance into Inca
territory. In one of these enterprises progress was made as far as
the Gulf of Guayaquil. The unanimous report was that the country for
hundreds of miles was in a state of nature, unoccupied, unhealthful,
covered with swamps, forests, and lofty mountains; but the voyagers had
also heard that farther on to the south there was an empire, Bisu by
name, civilized and notorious for its great wealth.
[Illustration: FRANCISCO PIZARRO
(From the original painting in the palace of the Viceroys at Lima.)]
Francis Pizarro had been associated with Balboa up to the time of
that leader’s assassination; afterwards he planned to act on his own
account, and his planning ended in the organization of an expedition
to acquire this empire of the south. The natural son of a Spanish
noble, Pizarro, who was born about 1471 at Truxillo, had had no such
advantages of education as those enjoyed by Cortez; he lacked also that
conqueror’s impetuosity and chivalrous traits. Of the bad sides of the
earlier conquistador he had more than a double portion; he was cold,
calculating, and inflexible, shrinking from no cruelty and without a
trace of the emotionalism which made Cortez so popular among his men.
Before giving a concrete shape to his scheme of conquest, he formed a
commercial arrangement with Almagro an adventurer, and Luque a priest
and schoolmaster of Panama, for the purpose of getting a financial
backing. The first essay made in 1524 ended without tangible results.
The coast of Peru was seen, and the adventurers were long enough on
shore at Tumbez to see a surprisingly large number of gold and silver
ornaments. They were not sufficiently strong to carry them off, but
they had seen enough to pay for the hardships of their three years’
trip south and back. Pizarro then betook himself to Spain to get
further support, and before he returned to Panama he had made personal
arrangements with the government with respect to the basis on which he
would carry out his plan of conquest. Some jealousy arose because of
Pizarro’s manifest intention to assume the place of senior partner; the
proposed expedition was saved only by the diplomacy of Luque, who again
drew together his two comrades.
Finally, in 1532, Pizarro sailed away from Panama with three ships
carrying in all 120 men and 36 horses. According to the plan accepted,
Almagro was to follow with reinforcements, while Don Luque remained
in Panama to prevent outside interference with the combination. News
had come, as we have mentioned, to the ears of Huaina Ccapac of the
landing of white men at Tumbez in 1525. Between this date and the year
of Pizarro’s second trip had intervened the period of civil war between
the rival claimants, with the captivity of the legitimate son, Huascar,
in the spring of 1532. By April, after a two months’ trip down the
coast, Pizarro arrived off the pueblo of Tumbez. He found it abandoned
and dismantled. Spending some time exploring the neighborhood, he
founded the town of San Miguel, and was put in possession of the facts
that gave him his opportunity for advance into the interior. Huascar,
desiring to get the coöperation of the Spaniards in maintaining his
hold on the country, sent messengers to Pizarro with such encouraging
words that the plan of conquest could already be outlined. Pizarro knew
how, by making use of the divisions of the natives, Cortez had taken
Mexico; his own opportunity had come sooner than he had expected. “If
the land had not been divided,” said Pedro Pizarro, “we should have
been able neither to enter nor conquer it.” On September 24, 1532,
only about 200 Europeans, all told, set out; but the number of natives
in Pizarro’s army was considerable. All the partisans of Huascar in
the neighborhood were expected to join the Spaniards, because before
setting out Pizarro had announced his intention of supporting Huascar,
the “natural lord of the country.”
The Spaniards had, however, not made much progress towards the pueblo
of Caxamalca when word came from Atahuallpa, the other claimant,
that he desired the friendship of Pizarro; to reinforce his friendly
sentiments a present accompanied the message. Pizarro spoke, in reply,
of his desire for the Inca chieftain to be his friend and brother, and
explained that his chief purpose in coming was to teach the principles
of the Christian religion. Shortly after this official description of
his mission had been given Pizarro moved forward; no opposition was
offered, although in one place a large river had to be crossed where
resistance would have been easy.
In order to obtain information about Atahuallpa efforts were made,
without success, to get some account of his intentions. An Indian chief
was tortured; his information was that the Inca was preparing to make
war, in three places, on the Christians; later on it was reported that
Atahuallpa was near Caxamalca with over 50,000 warriors. Perplexed,
Pizarro employed a native notable to go to Atahuallpa as a friendly
envoy to make clear to him that the Spaniards were coming as allies.
As Pizarro’s men began to fear that they would be exposed to attack on
the last stage of the journey, they were comforted by their commander’s
assurance that they were really nothing more than peaceful missionaries
of God and representatives of their king to ignorant heathen to whom
they wished no harm.
The fears of the adventurers were set at rest by discovering from the
natives they passed on their march up the sierras, that Atahuallpa was
not preparing to meet them in anything but a peaceful fashion. In the
difficult region through which they were being led, their advance
could have been checked by a slight display of force. But the friendly
attitude of the Inca chieftain was proved on several occasions by the
appearance of messengers with food; Pizarro promised, on his side, that
he would help to put down any remaining disaffection. On the part of
the inhabitants there was no reason to suspect that the orders given by
their superiors to serve and obey the newcomers were not reasonable.
The general impression among the natives was that the Europeans were
children of their god, the sun. Naturally this belief tended to give
them a sacred character. Up to the present, indeed, there had been
no conflicts with the natives except at Tumbez and at Puna, where
the opposition was confined to a few hundred Indians. On the arrival
in Caxamalca, Pizarro still kept up the ruse of being an ingenuous
tourist; he sent personally to Atahuallpa to beg for an interview,
insisting on his willingness to help him, and promising, if enemies
were pointed out, he would send his men to reduce them.
Pizarro had now no difficulty in applying the scheme of conquest so
successfully illustrated by Cortez in Mexico, but common enough to
the conquistadors everywhere. By getting possession of the chief, the
Spaniards made sure of the people; like Montezuma in Mexico, Atahuallpa
in Peru was adored as a god. To put the capture of the Inca into
execution was not difficult. He was invited to be present at a feast
given by Pizarro. Under cover of this hospitable act his person could
be seized. The risk came from the fact that he had about him 30,000
men. The night before the plot was to be carried out the Spanish camp
gave itself up to religious exercises, the captain Pizarro taking the
lead in encouraging his men to face the coming danger. Much comfort
was derived from the assurances of the ecclesiastics who accompanied
the expedition that God was on their side and would aid them to put
his enemies to confusion. Careful arrangements had been made that the
Spanish men-at-arms should be held in readiness in their quarters,
prepared to sally into the square of the town at a moment’s notice. The
artillerymen were bidden to train their guns on the Inca camp, and
fire on it when the command was given. Pizarro took with him twenty
men to aid in the seizure of Atahuallpa. In the great square where the
Spaniards were lodged no one was to leave quarters until the artillery
fire began. Much help was expected from the horsemen in causing a
panic among the Indians, and they were told to put little bells on the
harness.
The square of the pueblo that Pizarro selected to carry out his plan
seemed expressly constructed for the deed. Triangular in shape, there
were but two means of egress from it--two doors which gave access to
the streets of the town. When the time appointed came, as the Inca
chief delayed, Pizarro sent word to him to be expeditious, as the meal
was being delayed until he arrived. Atahuallpa, taking an escort of
6000, who were unarmed except for small cudgels and slings, came into
the square. Here there was every appearance of festivity; some of
the men were dancing and singing; some carried plates and crowns of
gold and silver. In a litter, made of gold and silver, Atahuallpa was
borne along through the files of his escort, who parted ranks when he
appeared, all keeping absolute silence. He then listened to a harangue
from a Spanish friar inviting him to obey the Pope and receive the
faith of Christ, and also to become the friend and tributary of the
King of Spain. Otherwise he was threatened with the fate of an enemy;
the Spaniards told him they would abolish all idols, “so that you may
leave the lying religion of your many and false gods.”
Atahuallpa, in his answer, objected to taking the proffered position
of tributary, but wished to be a friend of the King of Spain; he also
declined to receive his kingdom at the hands of the Pope, as the friar
had told him the King of Spain had done. On theological points he
showed himself a skilled disputant, contrasting the Christian God, who
had died, with the sun and moon, who had never died. He also inquired
of the friar how he knew that the God of the Christians had created the
world. The pious friar gave him his Breviary, explaining that he had
learnt of the Creator from that book. Atahuallpa looked at it, opened
its pages, first thanked him, then threw it on the ground, saying
it told him nothing of the kind. Indignantly the friar picked up the
Breviary and rushed to Pizarro, crying out, “The Gospels are on the
ground. Vengeance! Christians, at them! they do not wish our friendship
nor our law! Kill these dogs who despise God’s law. Go on, and I
absolve you.”
At this instant the guns were fired, the trumpets sounded, and the
infantry and cavalry came forth from their shelters. The sight of the
armed warriors on their horses and the noise of the guns threw the
Indians into a panic. In the rush to get out of the square, part of
the wall surrounding it, was broken down. The Indians fell on top of
one another, closely pursued by the horsemen, who trampled them down
without mercy. Those who held their ground inside the inclosure were
dealt with by the foot soldiers, and most of them were killed. There
was no resistance, for the natives were practically unarmed. Atahuallpa
was, as had been agreed, taken alive, many of his nobles giving up
their lives to protect his person from attack. As the members of his
bodyguard fell, their places were taken with desperate heroism by
others of the group.
The massacre was likened by one of the chroniclers to the killing of
sheep. The victims numbered more than 10,000, and only 200 escaped.
Not a Spaniard perished nor even was wounded except Pizarro, who had
a flesh wound in the hand, inflicted accidentally by one of his own
men. Pizarro’s act in hewing down this crowd of Peruvians, unarmed and
panic-stricken, recalls the worst features of the Mexican conquest,
the massacre of Cholula and the attack made by Alvarado on the Mexican
chiefs while they were celebrating a religious festival.
The next day was spent in sacking the palace of Atahuallpa, whose rich
stores of gold and silver were discovered. Next came the question of
the disposition of the captives, 8000 or more. It was actually proposed
that the warriors should be killed or have their hands cut off, but
Pizarro, who had not been trained in vain to the economic principles of
conquest, decided that all should be reduced to slavery. The reduction
of Atahuallpa to the status of a prisoner had the desired effect. The
subordinate chiefs made their peace. This was a welcome escape from
further hostilities, but Pizarro was more interested in arranging
terms for the ransom which Atahuallpa was willing to give to receive
his liberty. The gold and silver kept coming in; sometimes in one day
70,000 pesos were received.
Pizarro not being satisfied with the industry of the natives in
getting treasure, Spanish emissaries were sent to Cuzco. Under their
experienced hands the supplies increased; in one day 200 loads of gold
and 25 of silver were brought into Caxamalca. Much of the precious
metal was made up of strips taken from the walls of the temples, which
were tapestried in this way. Some ornaments are mentioned; such as a
fountain made entirely of gold and a golden footstool weighing 18,000
pesos. All was melted down except a few objects of small weight, kept
and sent to the King of Spain as curiosities.
Despite the paying of this enormous ransom, there was no question of
keeping faith with their captive. He was only in the way now that
Pizarro had the enormous ransom. His death would remove a dangerous
rallying point, and by it his people would be thrown into such
confusion that they would submit the more easily to the yoke that was
being prepared for them. Like the chief of the Aztecs, Cuauhtemoc,
Atahuallpa was charged with disloyalty to the Spanish crown, of which
he was assumed to be a dependent. As the zealous representative of his
King, Pizarro passed sentence of death on his prisoner, commanding that
it be executed by burning. All protests from the victim were unheeded,
even when he assured his conquerors that through him they could keep
the Indians on terms of good will. “If,” he said, “they wished gold and
silver, he was ready to hand over twice the amount they had already
received.” As they did not believe he could keep any such engagement,
they refused to defer the day of execution. When the pile was ready,
Atahuallpa, on finding that if he became a Christian, he would not be
burnt, went through the form of conversion. Pizarro ordered that he
should be bound to a stake on the square of the pueblo and strangled.
(August 29, 1533.)
One of Atahuallpa’s brothers was then proclaimed chief by the
Spaniards, and with this “roi fainéant” in tow Pizarro set out on
the two months’ march to the capital, Cuzco. Before he came to the
neighborhood of the leading pueblo, Inca warriors disputed with some
obstinacy his further progress; but the presence of their chieftain
with Pizarro prevented anything like a serious rising of the people.
Disgusted with this most untoward event, Pizarro blamed an Inca
general, who had been made a prisoner at Xauxa, for the resistance
made on the march. This was enough to prove his guilt; the prisoner
was condemned to death and burnt alive a short distance from Cuzco.
Even this flagrant outrage failed to move the Incas to any organized
effort to stay the European advance; instead of moving aggressively,
Manco, the brother of Huascar, came voluntarily to Pizarro asking his
protection, hoping by his aid to become the chieftain of the Incas.
This alliance made it easy for the Spaniards, posing as the supporters
of the regular line, to get within the walls of Cuzco without
opposition, on November 15, 1533. The great massive pueblo with the
fortress and temple of the sun, and with its extensive population, was
a rich prize. Everything in the way of gold was quickly removed, and
the humble followers of the modest commercial undertaking so recently
organized at Panama found themselves in the possession of wealth.
But the great drawback was the high price of provisions by which the
adventurers lost some of the treasure that had fallen to their share.
Under such conditions of forced hospitality Pizarro arranged for the
elevation of Manco as Ccapac-Inca or overlord. At the same time Cuzco
received the gift of municipal government, March 24, 1534. Pizarro,
not forgetful of his own services, took the title of governor, and
everything was speedily changed. Cuzco now had a bishop, a cathedral
was built, monasteries and convents arose as if by magic, and all the
famous temples were transformed into churches.
Things were moving expeditiously and smoothly in Pizarro’s favor,
until he learnt of the arrival at a place not far from Quito of an
officer of Cortez, Pedro de Alvarado, the governor of Guatemala, with
an expedition of 500 Europeans and more than 2000 Indian allies.
This interference seemed likely to cause trouble, until Alvarado
was persuaded to sell his army and everything in it to Pizarro. The
sum handed over to avoid a competitive conquest, which would have
meant loss of life and, more important still, from the point of view
of these experts in exploitation of subject races, loss of time,
was considerable. Alvarado withdrew with something like $2,000,000;
gauged by the standards of butchery, rapacity, and knavery in the West
Indies and in Mexico, this was a splendid bargain. But, as Alvarado
had only set his foot on Peruvian soil, he had not yet begun to
reckon imperially; he was certainly far removed still from Pizarro’s
poetic fancy in finance. Now that there was no longer a chance for
such awkward interruptions, Pizarro set about the foundation of a new
capital for Peru. Cuzco, being far distant from the seacoast, was
manifestly unsuitable, and accordingly Lima was founded on the 6th
of January, 1535, to be the center of this new colonial possession.
Preparations were already under way for a regular administration with
Pizarro at the head, after the model of the rule established by Cortez
in Mexico.
The royal fifth of the treasure taken was so large that it removed all
obstacles at Madrid. Detailed confirmation was given to the general
concessions made to Pizarro, and their territorial extent was amplified
by adding seventy leagues of land to the south. Almagro received a
concession extending from the southern limit of Pizarro’s province 200
leagues. To the northern territory was given the name New Castile, to
the southern, New Toledo; but the Indian names, Peru and Chili, were
too strongly imbedded in native usage to be forced out of existence.
When Almagro was sent by Pizarro to Cuzco with orders to use it as a
starting-point for the southern territory that had been assigned to
him, the lieutenant took the opportunity of claiming that the Inca
capital was situated south of Pizarro’s concession, and, therefore,
was a part of his own land. This difficulty being patched up on June
12, 1535, Almagro set out for the conquest of Chili, while Pizarro
began the establishment of a new seacoast town, Trujillo, and pushed
forward the building of Lima.
The native population was dealt with after the “repartimiento” plan.
Under the burden of their new oppressors, the Indians, who had for
so long submitted to the cruder tyranny of the Inca chiefs, rose in
revolt. Manco, a scion of the old house, placed himself at the head of
the anti-Spanish movement, and the first success of the natives was
the capture of the citadel of Cuzco, February, 1536. In the meantime
the Spaniards who lived in isolated plantations had been massacred.
Both the new towns, Lima and Trujillo, were invested. After a time
the citadel of Cuzco was retaken from the natives, but Juan, one
of Pizarro’s brothers, met his death in the fighting. As a relief
expedition Pizarro sent to Cuzco more than 400 men, of whom 200 were
cavalry, but they never succeeded in crossing the Sierra. Aid was then
asked from the neighboring colonies of Panama, Guatemala, and Mexico.
With the help of abundant reinforcements, Cuzco was retaken, and the
obstinacy of the Spaniards in holding their ground for six months
discouraged the Indians from further efforts to cut off the old capital.
When Almagro discovered the unattractive character of his newly
assigned province, where the population was hostile and the land
largely a desert, he returned along the western declivities of the
Andes to reassert his claims on Cuzco. Arriving there in April, 1537,
he made a successful night attack on the place, and took Pizarro’s
brother, Fernando, prisoner. Near Cuzco Alvarado was stationed with 500
men at Xanca, and here a battle took place on July 12, 1537, in which
Alvarado was beaten and taken prisoner. Almagro then set out for Lima.
He and Pizarro, after a meeting at Mala on November 13, 1537, agreed to
submit the question of the limits of their provinces to arbitration,
arranging in the meantime that Almagro should hold Cuzco and Ferdinand
Pizarro should have Caxamalca. But this arrangement was not carried
out. Ferdinand soon after organized an expedition to recapture Cuzco,
and another battle was fought with Almagro in April, which resulted
in the latter being taken prisoner. After being given the semblance
of a trial, he was put to death on July 8, 1538, by Fernando. Francis
Pizarro, who denied complicity in Almagro’s death, treated the latter’s
son kindly, but he did not forget to reward his own brothers, after he
had made his triumphal entrance into Cuzco, with large landed estates.
To Gonzalo he gave the district of Lake Titicaca, which included the
mines of Potosi.
The assassination of Almagro stirred up indignation among his friends,
who determined, that when the official explanations were presented in
Spain by Pizarro’s emissaries, their side should be given a hearing.
In the mother country, the authorities refused to distinguish between
the claims of the two factions. What was plain was that dissensions
in the colony could only damage Spanish control, and might lead to a
restoration of Indian rule there. Accordingly a royal commissioner was
sent out with ample powers.