Cajamarca and Atahualpa's ransom

In November 1532 Francisco Pizarro, with some 168 men, 62 of them mounted, set up his artillery at Cajamarca, sent a priest to call on the Inca emperor Atahualpa to accept Christianity and the rule of Charles V, and when he refused, massacred his escort and seized him. Atahualpa offered to fill a room with gold and silver for his release; the ransom was paid, and the Spanish executed him in 1533.

The mechanism

CAPTURE

How it was checked

• EvidenceT5 INDEPENDENT SECULAR; Status: ADDED 2026-09-19
• Letter eraTHE RELEASES, AND THE ENCLOSURE THAT FOLLOWS EACH 1382 to 1694
• SourcesRECORD — Britannica, 'Atahuallpa'; Britannica, 'Francisco Pizarro' · checked 19 September: Britannica (read in a browser; WebFetch is refused by the site), 'Francisco Pizarro'; Wikipedia, 'Battle of Cajamarca' (citing K. MacQuarrie, The Last Days of the Incas, 2012, p. 70)