Nearing the end of the Inca empire, Huayna Capac, a ruler for many years, died from a fever, believed to be smallpox. His eldest son, Ninan Cuyochi succeeded him, dying of smallpox as well. Afterwards, a major power struggle would ensue.

Huascar, and his brother Atahualpa both wanted power, and their power struggle resulted in a large civil war. Each led armies of 60,000 against each other in battle, and at the Chimborazo, Huascar was taken prisoner, and Atahualpa became the emperor of the Inca empire.

When the spanish came for the first time, Atahualpa invited them to visit the city of Cajamarca, as he didn’t view the Spanish as a threat. So, they met up in Cajamarca, and Atahualpa met with a friar, Vicente de Valverde. When he gifted Atahualpa a bible, the Incans threw it to the ground, resulting in the Battle of Cajamarca, where the Spanish defeated the Incans and took Atahualpa hostage. At the time, Atahualpa offered the Spanish 83 cubic meters of gold, which today would be worth 60 billion dollars.

Still, he was to be executed by burning. In order to stop that from happening, friar Vicente de Valverde baptized Atahualpa and converted him to catholicism, under the new name, Francisco Atahualpa, in honor of Francisco Pizarro. So, instead of execution by fire, it was an execution by garrote, which is an execution method where the victim is choked to death. In conclusion, he became the last emperor of the Inca empire, and he played a pivotal role in the conquest of the Incan empire.