Atahualpa: Last Inca Emperor, Captured and Executed by Pizarro

Atahualpa (c. 1500–1533) was the final sovereign ruler (Sapa Inca) of the Inca Empire. After a civil war with his half‑brother Huáscar, he encountered Francisco Pizarro’s Spanish expedition at Cajamarca in 1532.

Despite delivering a ransom of a roomful of gold and silver, Atahualpa was garroted in 1533. His death marked the effective end of the Inca Empire and the beginning of Spanish colonial rule in the Andes.