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South Peru Inca
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Peru
had a rich cultural life thousands of years before Pizarro turned up
in funny clothing. Wander around colonial cities that echo the
legacy of Spanish conquistadors, explore the ancient Inca capital of
Cusco, visit the lost city of Machupicchu and ponder the enigma of
the Nazca Lines. Peru
also boasts some of the most spectacular scenery in South America.
The beautiful Peruvian Andes issue a siren's call to top-class
trekkers. These mountains are also home to squillions of indigenous
highlanders, who still speak the ancient language of Quechua and
live a traditional way of life. Peru also has the three natural
regions coast, highland and the jungle. Peru's population is 28th
Million. |
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Photo Gallery |
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Spanish Rule
In 1532 the Spanish soldier and adventurer Francisco Pizarro landed in Peru with a force of about 180 men. Conditions were favorable to conquest, for the empire was debilitated by a just-concluded civil war between the heirs to the Inca throne, Atahuallpa and Huascar, each of whom was seeking to control the empire. This internal dissension, plus the terror inspired by Spanish guns and horses—unknown to the indigenous peoples until then—made it relatively easy for only a handful of Spaniards to conquer this vast empire. The Spaniards met Atahuallpa, the victor in the civil war, and his army at a prearranged conference at Cajamarca in 1532. When Atahuallpa arrived, the Spaniards ambushed and seized him, and killed thousands of his followers. Although Atahuallpa paid the most fabulous ransom known to history—a room full of gold and another full of silver—for his freedom, the Spaniards murdered him in 1533. The Spanish destroyed many of the irrigation projects and the north-south roads that had knit the empire together, speeding the disintegration of the empire. By November 1533 Cusco had fallen with little resistance. In addition, the indigenous population declined rapidly as a result of new diseases brought by the Spaniards, diseases to which the Inca had no immunity. Members of the Inca dynasty took refuge in the mountains and were able to resist the Spaniards for about four decades. However, by 1572 the Spaniards had executed the last Inca ruler, Tupac Amaru, along with his advisers and his family. In 1535 Pizarro founded on the banks of the Rímac River the Peruvian capital city of Ciudad de los Reyes (Spanish for "City of the Kings"; present-day Lima). Subsequently, disputes over jurisdictional powers broke out among the Spanish conquerors, or conquistadors, and in 1541 a member of one of the conflicting Spanish factions assassinated Pizarro in Lima. |
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