While he was fighting in northern Ecuador, Huayna Capac received word that the Bolivian frontier had been invaded by a Guaraní-speaking group that periodically crossed the Gran Chaco from Argentina to raid Inca frontier settlements for bronze tools and ornaments made of precious metals. They were more of a nuisance than an actual threat to the empire, but Huayna Capac dispatched a general named Yasca (Yaska) to drive them from the area and to build forts along the frontier.
Meanwhile, he undertook another expedition in northern Ecuador to wipe out isolated pockets of resistance. During this campaign, he learned that an epidemic was sweeping Cuzco and the surrounding countryside. He left immediately for Quito, on the highroad to Cuzco, to deal with this crisis and arrived there about the same time the epidemic did. The pestilence had spread rapidly from Bolivia and, judging by its description, was either smallpox or measles, both of which were European diseases introduced into South America by the Spanish settlers at La Plata. The disease was probably communicated to the Andean area by the Guaraní, who had been in contact with the Spanish at La Plata. Whatever the ailment was, Huayna Capac contracted it and died about 1525, without naming a successor in the appropriate manner. This set off another struggle over the throne. Civil war on the eve of the Spanish conquest
Huayna Capac’s father had begun the custom of marrying a full sister in order to keep the royal bloodline pure and, more importantly, to prevent conflict over succession. According to this custom, one sister became the principal wife of the emperor, and one of their sons became the next ruler. As noted above, this system had failed at Huayna Capac’s succession. Nor did it work at Huayna Capac’s death because his principal wife had been childless. In this situation, the emperor could appoint any one of his sons as his successor, as long as one of them had “divine” approval registered on the lungs of a sacrificed llama. There were several candidates for the throne: Ninan Cuyuchi who was in Tumipampas with his father; Atahuallpa (’Ataw Wallpa), who was also in the north; Huascar (Washkar), who was apparently in Cuzco; Manco Inca (Manqo ’Inka), whose mother belonged to ’Iñaqa (the royal corporation of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui); Topa Huallpa (Thupa Wallpa); and Paullu Topa (Pawllu Thupa).
Huayna Capac, aware of imminent death, asked the priest to perform the divination ceremony to determine whether or not he should name Ninan Cuyuchi as his successor; if the signs were not favourable, then Huascar was to be the next candidate to be tested. The Emperor apparently died before the ceremony was performed. The priest then notified Ninan Cuyuchi that he was to be the next ruler, but the latter had contracted the same disease as his father and died shortly thereafter. The priest then named Huascar as the new emperor; this was highly irregular, because the priest apparently followed the old ruler’s wishes without performing the required ceremony. The other candidates for the throne were not pleased with the situation.
The priest brought Huayna Capac’s body back to Cuzco, while Atahuallpa remained in Quito. Huascar was so furious with the priest for leaving a rival for the throne in the north with a large army that he had him killed. This created animosity against Huascar among the members of the priest’s royal corporation. Huascar then demanded that Atahuallpa return to Cuzco, but the latter ignored him and undertook a campaign to suppress a revolt around the Gulf of Guayaquil. While he was involved in this expedition, Huascar sent an officer to remove Atahuallpa’s wives and insignias. Atahuallpa killed the officer and had a drum made out of him, which he sent to Huascar. This insult completed the breach between the two rivals, and a civil war resulted.
At this point, Huascar controlled the southern part of the empire, while Atahuallpa controlled Ecuador and parts of northern Peru. Atahuallpa won the first battle of the war, fought at Riobamba in Ecuador, and advanced to Tumipampas. There he lost to Huascar’s army and was taken prisoner. He later escaped, rallied his forces, and drove his brother’s army from the Cañari territory around Tumipampas. He then devastated the Cañari lands because he thought they had supported his brother’s faction during his imprisonment. Apparently, the Cañari wanted little to do with either Inca faction and offered minimal support to whichever group controlled Tumipampas at the moment. After their lands were destroyed, they wanted nothing at all to do with the Inca, and later they became close allies of the Spaniards.
Atahuallpa’s armies, led by the able generals Quisquis (Kizkiz) and Challcuchima (Challku-chima), marched south and won a series of decisive victories at Cajamarca, Bombon, and Ayacucho. As they moved southward, Huascar formed another army to defend Cuzco from the invaders. His forces were defeated, and he was captured a few miles from Cuzco in April 1532. The generals killed his entire family and fastened them to poles along a highway leading from the capital. They also killed a number of people in Topa Inca Yupanqui’s corporation because they had supported Huascar during the civil war; and they burned the mummy of the deceased ruler, which was venerated by the members of this group. Atahuallpa was in the north, setting up his administration, when he learned of the victory. He ordered Challcuchima to bring Huascar to the north so he could insult him properly before being crowned. The Spanish conquest
Meanwhile, the Spaniards had landed at Tumbes on the northern coast of Peru early in 1532 and were seeking an interview with Atahuallpa so that they could kidnap him. It is clear that they understood the nature of the Inca civil war and were dealing with emissaries from both factions. Their actions, however, must have seemed puzzling to Atahuallpa. On the one hand, Pizarro and his men were deposing and executing leaders who were loyal to him, and, on the other hand, they were sending messages that recognized him as the legitimate ruler of Tawantinsuyu. As the Spaniards moved toward Cajamarca, he sent them a message indicating that he was now the sole ruler of his father’s domain. Furthermore, he reminded the Spaniards that they were far from their base of supply and in a land controlled by his armies. The Spaniards replied to this veiled threat by indicating that they would come to his aid against any group that opposed his rule. Atahuallpa clearly wanted the Spaniards as allies but continually misinterpreted their intentions and underestimated their abilities—even after he was kidnapped in Cajamarca on November 16, 1532.
Atahuallpa was allowed to meet with his advisers while the Spaniards held him prisoner, and he arranged to have the ransom they demanded paid. An enormous ransom was raised, but Pizarro did not free him because it would have been too dangerous for the Spaniards. While he was in prison, Atahuallpa decided that the Spaniards were indifferent to the idea of having his brother slain and ordered Huascar’s death. The Spaniards, of course, wanted all pretenders to authority removed but later used this act to justify their execution of the Inca ruler. Realizing that Atahuallpa’s death was a mistake because it weakened their position, they approved the coronation of Topa Huallpa, a candidate whom they thought would be acceptable to both Inca factions. But the Spaniards miscalculated. Topa Huallpa had not supported Atahuallpa and, in fact, had been in hiding as long as the latter was alive. He was supported by Huascar’s group and was opposed by Atahuallpa’s following, who believed that the legitimate heir was the deceased ruler’s son in Lima. With this act, the Spaniards suddenly found themselves closely allied with Huascar’s faction and were so viewed by both Inca groups.