The New Student's Reference Work/Atahualpa

Atahualpa (ä' tȧ-wäl' pȧ), the last of the Incas or rulers of Peru. He was first given the kingdom of Quito, but in a war with his brother had just obtained the rule of Peru, when Pizarro, at the head of his 200 Spanish cavaliers, marched through the country and entered Caxamarca where the Inca was encamped. By a daring but treacherous stratagem Pizarro got possession of the king, who had come by invitation on a friendly visit. While a priest was explaining the Christian religion, at a sudden signal the mysterious firearms poured death into the terrified masses of the Peruvians and the Spanish cavalry rode them down with merciless fury. Atahualpa, made a captive, agreed to pay an enormous ransom; but was accused of plotting against Pizarro, tried and condemned to be burned. On his agreeing to be baptized, his sentence was modified to death by strangling (1533). Prescott in his Conquest of Peru tells the story of this struggle and of the wonderful civilization of the Incas.