Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa (Quechua), Atabalica, Atahuallpa, Atabalipa ( 1502July 1533), was the last effective Incan emperor before his capture and execution during the Spanish conquest.
Atahualpa was the son of the emperor Huayna Cápac, who died around 1525 along with his successor, Ninan Cuyochi, in a smallpox epidemic. Atahualpa 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. From 1529 to 1532, they contested the succession in the Inca Civil War, in which Atahualpa's forces defeated and captured Huáscar.
Around the same time as Atahualpa's victory, a group of Spanish conquistadors, led by Francisco Pizarro, arrived in the region. In November, they captured Atahualpa during an ambush at Cajamarca. In captivity, Atahualpa gave a ransom in exchange for a promise of release and arranged for the execution of Huáscar. After receiving the ransom, the Spanish accused Atahualpa 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, as either as Spanish vassals or as rebel leaders, but none were able to hold comparable power.
Origin
Name
The name Atahualpa comes from a construction of the Puquina language, a language that was used by the Inca nobility. It is made up of the Quechua words /ata-w/ (appointed or chosen) and /wallpa/ (diligent, diligent or courageous). The word /wallpa/ also originated the Quechua name for the hen and the rooster (guallpa), animals that were introduced to America by the Spanish. The word /wallpa/ originated as an onomatopoeic imitation of the Inca's name while he was imprisoned in Cajamarca. It is based on the account of several chroniclers who declared that every night the roosters began to crow and the followers of the imprisoned Inca assumed that he manifested himself through the bird, portending bad times.
For centuries it was believed that the name Atahualpa came from the Quechua words Ataguallpa, Atabalipa or Atawallpa, whose meanings were erroneously constructed by chroniclers of the time based on the Quechua translation of the word "rooster" or "hen". You have for example: "happy rooster" or "bird of fortune".
Birth
There are uncertainties about Atahualpa's date and place of birth. He was likely born around the turn of the 16th century, 1502. There is disagreement on his place of birth. Below are the versions of some chroniclers and historians:
The chronicler and soldier Pedro Cieza de León, from his investigations among the members of the Inca nobility of Cusco, affirmed that Atahualpa had been born in Cusco and that his mother was Tuto Palla or Túpac Palla (Quechua names), a "India Quilaco". » or «native to Quilaco». This demonym could allude to an ethnic group from the province of Quito and would imply that it was a second-class wife, belonging to the regional elite. Cieza de León denied that Atahualpa was born in Quito or Caranqui and that his mother was the lady of Quito, as some at the time claimed, since Quito was a province of Tahuantinsuyo when Atahualpa was born. Therefore, their kings and lords were the Incas.
According to Juan de Betanzos, Atahualpa was born in Cusco and his mother was a ñusta (Inca princess) from Cusco of the lineage of Inga Yupangue (Pachacuti).
In the 18th century, the priest Juan de Velasco, using as a source a work by Marcos de Niza whose existence has not been confirmed, compiled information about the Kingdom of Quito (whose existence has not been confirmed either). According to de Velasco, the Kingdom of Quito was made up of the Shyris or Scyris ethnic group and disappeared when it was conquered by the Incas. This work includes a list of the kings of Quito, the last of whom, Cacha Duchicela, would have been the Kuraka (Inca cacique) defeated and killed by the Inca Huayna Cápac. Paccha, the daughter of Cacha Duchicela, would have married Huayna Cápac, and from that union Atahualpa would have been born as a legitimate son. Several historians, such as the Peruvian Raúl Porras Barrenechea and the Ecuadorian Jacinto Jijón y Caamaño, have rejected this version for lack of historical and archaeological foundation.