Inca Civil War

The Inca Civil War was fought from 1529 to 1532 between the half-brothers Huascar and Atahualpa, sons of the Inca emperor Huayna Capac, over succession to the Inca throne after their father's death around 1527. Huascar, based in the imperial capital of Cusco, claimed the throne with the backing of much of the Cusco nobility, while Atahualpa, who commanded the northern provinces around Quito and enjoyed the support of experienced generals such as Quizquiz and Ruminahui, refused to accept a divided inheritance and led an armed rebellion. Atahualpa's forces proved tactically superior in a series of battles across the empire, ultimately capturing Cusco, taking Huascar prisoner and executing his family and supporters. The civil war left the Inca Empire divided and exhausted just as the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro arrived on the coast in late 1532, a fatal coincidence of timing that historians widely credit with helping enable the rapid Spanish conquest that followed.