Atahualpa

Who was Atahualpa?

Atahualpa, Atahuallpa, Atabalipa or Atawallpa was the last Sapa Inca of the Tawantinsuyu before the Spanish conquest. Atahualpa became emperor when he defeated and executed his older half-brother Huáscar in a civil war sparked by the death of their father, Inca Huayna Capac, from an infectious disease.

During the Spanish conquest, the Spaniard Francisco Pizarro captured Atahualpa and used him to control the Inca Empire. Eventually, the Spanish executed Atahualpa, effectively ending the empire. Although a succession of several emperors, who led the Inca resistance against the invading Spaniards, claimed the title of Sapa Inca, the empire began to disintegrate after Atahualpa's death.