Historical Figures

Atahualpa

Citation Formats

General Reference

History Atlas. "Atahualpa." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://history.interactiveatlas.org/historical-figures/atahualpa.

APA Style

History Atlas. (n.d.). Atahualpa. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://history.interactiveatlas.org/historical-figures/atahualpa

BibTeX

@misc{historyatlas-atahualpa,
  author = {History Atlas},
  title = {Atahualpa},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://history.interactiveatlas.org/historical-figures/atahualpa},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Atahualpa, also spelled Atawallpa, was the final effective ruler of the Inca Empire, reigning from April 1532 until his execution in July 1533 as part of the Spanish conquest. Born around 1502, likely in Quito, he was a son of the Inca emperor Huayna Capac; after a civil war against his half-brother Huascar he achieved victory, but was then captured by Francisco Pizarro's conquistadors at Cajamarca in November 1532. While in captivity he arranged his brother's execution and offered a substantial ransom, but the Spanish nonetheless tried and executed him on charges of treason and murder.

Facts

Disputed

Birth Year

1502 1

Circa 1502 per Atahualpa's own deathbed declaration, a claim historians dispute; recorded here as the infobox's own approximate value, not as settled fact.

Death Date

1533-07-26 1

Cross-Tradition Connections