The+Battle+of+Cajamarca

**The Battle of Cajamarca** **By Mia K-F** The battle of Caj amarca was a battle between Francisco Pizarro’s 184 Spanish soldiers, or “Conquistadors” (Conquerors), and 3,000-8,000 Incas, led by their ruler Atahualpa in the city of Cajamarca in 1532 AD. The population of the Incan empire was possibly millions, and they ruled from the coast of Peru into the Amazon Basin. The Conquistadors had been travelling the world in search of fame and gold. When the Spaniards arrived on Friday November 15, an Incan noble into the heart of the city of Cajamarca welcomed them. The city had been emptied of Incas, before the Spanish arrived. Atahualpa planned to march in triumphantly at the right time. That evening, Pizarro invited the Incas to come meet them in Cajamarca the following day, then he gathered his men to make a battle plan. The Spaniards were so scared that night that in their diaries they wrote: “We urinated in our pants in sheer terror”. The next day, Atahualpa came, with 3000-8000 unarmed followers and lightly armed guards. The Inca emperor did not believe that the tiny army of bedraggled Spaniards could do him any harm. When he arrived in Cajamarca, the Spaniard's friar, Vincente de Valverde, demanded that the Incas accept Catholicism. Atahualpa refused, so Valverde presented the bible to Atahualpa, which he flung to the ground. The friar gasped, and said: “Spaniards, see what this arrogant swine has done. He has thrown down the holy word of God!” As planned, the Conquistadores rushed out of their hiding places. By sunset, the Conquistadores had slaughtered 2000 Incas and had taken 5000 Incas prisoner with only 5 Conquistadors dead and 1 wounded. This was a significant event because it showed that civilisations that possess horses, steel, and guns could easily conquer those who didn't, even when greatly outnumbered. Events like the Battle of Cajamarca continued for the next 400 years.