Manco Inca
Pizarro and Manco Inca enter Cuzco
In November of 1533, Francisco Pizarro and his men discovered a seventeen year old boy. He was the son of the great Inca King Huayna Capac, and the brother of Princes Huascar and Atahualpa. His name was Manco Inca. Ever since the father Huayna Capac had died from the European disease small pox, his brothers Huascar and Atahualpa had been in a fierce civil war for control over the Inca Empire. Manco had been hiding from Atahualpa’s men so that they wouldn’t find him and kill him. Pizarro came up with an idea. He had just assassinated Atahualpa and he knew that the people of Cuzco had sided with Huascar. He also knew that the people of Cuzco had been bitterly oppressed by Atahualpa. If he could convince Manco Inca to side with him then he could enter the city of Cuzco and pretend to be a liberator.
Before long, Manco Inca became extremely suspicious of the Pizarro brothers. One night, a group of Spanish assassins killed Manco’s half-brother Atoc-Sopa. Then, soon afterward an attempt was made on Manco’s life. Next, the Spaniards began pestering Manco for more and more gold and silver. They also wanted the Inca royal women. Then one day Francisco Pizarro’s half-brother Gonzalo took an interest in Manco Inca’s beautiful wife Cura Ocllo. His advances completely scandalized Inca society. There were no laws to stop Gonzalo and he did as he pleased. Soon Manco gathered up more gold and silver and had it delivered to Gonzalo, but he insisted on having Queen Cura Ocllo.
The Killing of Manco Inca
Then, with each passing day things got worse and worse. Manco now realized that he had been totally deceived. Then in November of 1535, the Pizarro’s arrested Manco, but he soon escaped. At once he declared war on the Spanish Empire. Shortly afterward the Spaniards began sending troops into the Andes looking for him. Manco had another plan, he assembled a force of 200,000 Inca warriors around the city of Cuzco, and demanded the Spanish leave. The fighting continued for a full year until the Inca finally retreated.
Manco and his people built a new Inca capital and called it Vilcabamba. It was more than 100 miles from Cuzco, but that didn't stop the Pizarro brothers. They looked and looked for Manco, and then, in April of 1539, they reached Vilacamba. Almost immediately they captured Queen Cura and used her for target practice, firing volumes of bamboo arrows into her body. Then, Gonzalo Pizarro had her riddled body floated in a basket down the Vilcanota River where it would be eventually found by Manco.
On June 23, 1541, Francisco Pizarro was assassinated by men who were bitter that the Pizarro’s had ended up with all of the riches. Before long, the same men who killed Pizarro showed up in Manco Inca's camp seeking refuge. Manco’s men wanted them killed, but Manco welcomed them because they had killed Pizarro. Then in an attempt to win a pardon from the King of Spain they killed Manco. The Spaniards tried to flee on horseback, but they were soon hunted down by Manco's men and killed.