Francisco Pizarro’s small force ambushed Atahualpa’s entourage in the plaza of Cajamarca and took the Inca ruler prisoner, a turning point that destabilized imperial command and enabled rapid Spanish advances inland.
After months of captivity and ransom negotiations, Atahualpa was executed at Cajamarca on Pizarro’s orders, removing a central political-religious authority figure and deepening the succession crisis the Spaniards exploited.
Pizarro’s forces entered Cusco, the Inca capital, and began systematic plunder and installation of a cooperative regime—cementing Spanish control over the imperial heartland even as resistance shifted to other regions.
Pizarro founded the City of Kings (Lima), creating a durable administrative and logistical hub on the coast that strengthened Spanish governance and resupply during ongoing conflict in the Andes.
Manco Inca’s rebellion escalated into a major attempt to retake Cusco; the prolonged siege nearly expelled the Spanish from the former imperial capital but ultimately failed, marking a decisive shift toward a long war of resistance.
Manco Inca’s forces defeated a Spanish expedition at Ollantaytambo, one of the most significant battlefield setbacks for the conquistadors, helping consolidate Inca resistance and enabling retreat toward Vilcabamba.
After roughly ten months, the siege of Cusco concluded with the Spanish holding the city, confirming their strategic grip on the highland center even as Inca leadership and forces regrouped in more remote zones.
Spanish factions fought a decisive civil battle near Cusco; Almagro’s defeat strengthened the Pizarro faction at a critical moment, affecting Spanish capacity and priorities during continuing Indigenous resistance.
Following his defeat, Almagro was executed, intensifying Spanish factional violence that repeatedly disrupted colonial consolidation while the Neo-Inca state persisted in Vilcabamba.
Pizarro was assassinated in Lima by rivals linked to the Almagrist faction, illustrating how Spanish internecine conflict continued to shape the conquest’s trajectory even after the fall of Cusco.
Manco Inca, the leading figure of early highland resistance, was killed at Vitcos by Spaniards associated with Almagro’s supporters; his death shifted leadership to his sons and helped define the Neo-Inca state’s later phase in Vilcabamba.
Spain and Vilcabamba concluded a peace agreement at Acobamba, reflecting a temporary strategy of negotiation and accommodation between colonial authorities and the Neo-Inca leadership before relations collapsed again.
Titu Cusi Yupanqui (Neo-Inca ruler) died in Vilcabamba, triggering a succession transition that soon coincided with renewed hostilities and Spanish determination to eliminate the remaining independent Inca polity.
Túpac Amaru, the last Sapa Inca of Vilcabamba, was executed in Cusco after Spanish forces captured the Neo-Inca leadership—ending the final independent Inca state and concluding the conquest-era resistance phase (1532–1572).
Conquest and Collapse of the Inca Polity (1532–1572)
