Inca Civil War

Inca Civil War
Emperor Atahualpa, the victorious brother, however, his reign as emperor was short.
Date 1527 (hostilities begin) to April 1532 Location Peru and Ecuador Result Reunion and later destruction of the Inca Empire (Northern Inca Empire victory)
Belligerents
Inca Empire apart from northern territories, allied city-state Tumebamba, principalists	Confederate Northern Inca Empire (1527-1532), separatists
Commanders and leaders
Huascar, Inca emperor and claimant to the northern regions	Atahualpa, Northern Inca emperor (legitimate)
Strength
~400,000, 100,000 from Tumebamba, with another 2 million reservists	At top some 250,000
Casualties and losses
~800,000 soldiers (in two battles and three city-captures), +100,000-1,000,000 civilians	Casualties added to those placed to left

The Inca Civil War, Inca Dynastic War, or Inca War of Succession, broke out in 1527 (fighting started in 1531) as a disagreement between the two brothers Huáscar and Atahualpa and was — in a way — a war of succession of the Inca throne. However, it was Huáscar who started the war since he saw himself as the rightful heir of all Incas, while Atahualpa was revealed to be tactically superior to the mighty armies of Cusco.

The division of an empire

The Inca Empire was formed in the 1100s, but first in 1438, when Pachacuti (the world-shaker) took power, the small city-state of Cuzco with 40,000 Inca inhabitants founded what would later become an empire. Around 1500, the empire stretched from Tupiza and Coquimbo in central Chile to the south and to Quito and southern Colombia to the north. The capital was Cuzco (belly) in the center, from which the Sapa Inca ruled all. The empire, at its peak under Huayna Capac (1492-1527) had over 15 million inhabitants and controlled an area of more than 2 million square kilometers. However, the legacy of the Sapa Inca demanded he was the son of the former Sapa Inca and his sister, which invoked inbreeding, culminating in Huáscar.

Huáscar, who was defeated in the war between him and his brother

In 1524-1526, the Spaniards under Francisco Pizarro explored South America. What was suspected to be smallpox was taken to the continent, causing later disaster for the Incas. However, the Sapa Inca Huayna Capac went to the north to investigate about the unfamiliar men. He never met any Spaniards, but got smallpox and died in 1527. And what was worse, the eldest son and heir, Ninan Cuyochi, died shortly before him. As no one was the clear heir, the choice stood between Huáscar, oldest pure heir, Manco Inca, his younger brother, and Atahualpa. Atahualpa was Huayna Capac's favorite son but only of half noble blood, his mother was a normal woman and former mistress of Huayna Capac. Huáscar saw it as an insult that Atahualpa was up for question to inherit. Some sources say Atahualpa was offered the fringe by his father on his deathbed, if so, he refused.
The Inca Empire was, to Huáscar's great displeasure, split between him and Atahualpa. Huáscar received more than 90% of its area and some 80% of the population, capital Cusco, and its important temples. Atahualpa got the three important cities in the north, Cajamarca, Tumebamba and Quito and a small share of the area, mostly his mother's homelands.

War begins — Huáscar invades

Huáscar, supported by the nobility in Cuzco as well as the religious and political principalists and main figures, saw it as a great insult that a "bastard" had inherited Huayna Capac, though Atahualpa had received only a small part of the empire. In 1531, Huáscar demanded Atahualpa to swear him allegiance to Huáscar, to make him a puppet. He refused; this may have been an excuse for war, and the armies of Huáscar soon crossed the border.

Out of the Inca Empires standing army of 250,000, most were in Quito. However, since Huáscar alone had at least 12 million citizens under him, he could easily muster an army that outnumbered Atahualpa. Cajamarca, close to the border, was captured and shortly thereafter Atahualpa himself. However, Atahualpa escaped before Huáscar had the time to execute him, and united himself with his father's former generals in Quito, Chalicuchima and Quizquiz.

Tumebamba, called "the second Cusco", defected and switched sides; the ciizens may have had two reasons. One was that Tumebamba was Canaris (Indian tribe, not Inca) and waited for a moment to regain independence after having been defeated by Huayna Capac earlier; another was that it seemed Huáscar would win the war and that it was madness to fight on Atahualpa's side. However, in the Battle of Chimborazo, Huáscar's superior army was defeated and forced to retreat. As soon as Atahualpa reached Tumebamba, he showed no mercy but burned the city to the ground.

Empire reunited

Atahualpa was saluted as a hero; when recapturing Cajamarca, he stayed there with 80,000 troops (see Atahualpa) while his generals chased Huáscar to the south. In April 1532, only miles from Cusco, Huáscar's retreat was cut off, his army annihilated and disbanded, his family and supporters executed, Cusco seized, and himself captured (Battle of Quipaipan). This marked the reunion of the Inca empire and so the end of the Northern Inca Empire as Atahualpa with arms had taken control of it all, now on his way to Cusco to be crowned Sapa Inca and to put Huáscar to death.

The war was over by now as Huáscar was in captivity, his supporters (the Cusco nobility) and family executed, the capital held by generals Quizquiz and Chalicuchima, and Atahualpa's army of 250,000 men securing peace to the empire. However, before Atahualpa had the chance to move, he met up with conquistador Francisco Pizarro, once again on the move, and was captured by the Spaniards (battle of Cajamarca), not as a part of the finished civil war, but as a part of the Spanish conquest of Peru. He had Huáscar drowned from captivity, and was himself later garrotted at August 29, 1533.

Casualties

Out of the 15 million in the population, half were concentrated in the war area (from Cusco to Chimborazo). Hundreds of thousands of warriors participated in the two great battles, and at least 100,000 soldiers (put together) died. However, the main victims were civilians as each brother acted very harshly to the civilian population of the other brother. Lesser cities were put to ruins, Tumbes sacked and — as described above — the great town of Tumebamba destroyed and the citizens killed. An absolute minimum number of civilian killed is around 100,000, but it could be ten times higher. Captives were tortured and killed in the most gruesome way, mostly just in the name of the Sapa Inca, not fulfilling any real purpose such as terror, (as did Genghis Khan). Villagers were massacred, and just hesitating in the field of battle often led to death of the soldier. As the war were over, the invading Spaniards saw the destruction and death as they marched across the empty and often burned plainlands.