Adimchi

Sep 25, 2022

Ransom Room

On November 16, 1532, Atahualpa, Lord of the Inca Empire, agreed to meet with some 160 Spanish conquistadors under the command of Francisco Pizarro. these foreigners treacherously attacked and captured Atahualpa and eventually executed him in 1533.

The conquistadors were aware of the massive quantities of gold and silver carried by Atahualpa and the Inca nobles. Hernán Cortes had found riches by capturing Aztec Emperor Montezuma: and Pizarro decided to try the same tactic. pizarro hid his cavalrymen and artillerymen around the square in Cajamarca and sent Father Vicente de Valverde to meet the Inca. The friar showed a bible to Atahualpa who flipped through a few pages, unimpressed, and threw it away. The Spanish used this supposed sacrilege as an excuse to attack. Suddenly the square was filled with heavily armed Spaniards on foot and horseback, massacring native nobility and warriors.

Atahualpa was captured and thousands of his men (including civilians, soldiers, and important members of the Inca aristocracy) were murdered in just an hour. Atahualpa was placed under heavy guard in the Temple of the Sun, where he finally met Pizarro. Atahualpa realized that the Spanish were there for gold and silver and He offered to fill a room with gold and twice with silver. The room was 22 feet long and 17 feet wide and the Emperor offered to fill it to a height of about 8 feet. The Spanish quickly accepted the offer, even instructing a notary to make it official. Atahualpa sent word to bring gold and silver to Cajamarca and shortly, native porters were bringing a fortune to the town from all corners of the empire and laying it at the feet of the invaders. After several months in fear of an imminent attack from general Rumiñawi, the Spanish considered Atahualpa too much of a liability and decided to execute him. Pizarro staged a mock trial of Atahualpa and found him guilty of revolting against the Spanish, practicing idolatry, and murdering Huáscar, his brother. Atahualpa was sentenced to death by burning but was terrified 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 intervened, telling Atahualpa that, if he agreed to convert to the Catholic faith, he could convince Pizarro to commute the sentence. Atahualpa agreed to be baptized into the Catholic faith and was given the name Francisco Atahualpa in honor of Francisco Pizarro.

Per his request, he was executed by strangling with a garrote on July 26, 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.

Atahualpa’s ransom added up to over 13,000 pounds of gold and twice that much silver. the gold alone is estimated to be worth nearly half a billion US dollars in today's money.