Atahualpa, son of the Inca Huayna Capac, was born in Cuzco although his lineage was from Quito. That is why he enjoyed the sympathy, affinity and inclination of the ethnic groups cayambes, carangues, pastures and the mitmas , Incas residing in Quito and Carangue. At the death of his father, he did not accompany the funeral procession that was heading to Cuzco carrying the emperor's mummy, a fact that his brother Huáscar did not like. He was also not present at the act of vassalage that the lords subjugated and members of the Inca elite did when the Inca was enthroned. Instead he sent ambassadors with gifts. This attitude was taken as an act of rebellion because only the Inca could initiate reciprocal relations through the distribution of gifts. As expected, Huáscar ordered the emissaries to be killed and some of them he freed, after mutilating them. Then the war broke out and each one prepared his army; In those days the Cañaris rose up against Atahualpa , deciding for the cause of Huáscar.
There was a first battle in the vicinity of Tumipampa and Atahualpa was taken prisoner, but escaped thanks to the help of a mysterious woman named Quella who, taking advantage of the drunkenness of his guards, entered the prison and gave Atahualpa a crowbar, with which he was able to make a hole through which he escaped. This fact was mythologized in favor of Atahualpa saying that he had escaped with divine help by becoming a snake (amaru), which increased his prestige before the Cuzco panacas. The clashes resumed, the Cuzco troops had already reached the north, clashed in Riobamba and Ambato with the triumph of the atahualpistas. Atoe, general brother of Huáscar, and Ulco Colla were captured on the battlefield and cruelly killed. Atahualpa had Atoe's skull made into a gold-plated vessel and drums out of his skin. After this first campaign he ventured into Cane territory, destroying towns and applying cruel punishments. To ridicule that ethnic group, he chose Tumipampa for capital, right there he took the royal tassel and proclaimed himself Inca. Meanwhile in the south, Huáscar organized a second army with people who came from Collao, Canchis, Canas, Charcas, and the command was entrusted to his brother Huanca Auqui , who went to Tumipampa.
Atahualpa also began his march towards Cuzco, advanced to Huamachuco where he destroyed the temple of the god Catequil and liquidated the priest because he had predicted that he would lose. From Huamachuco he sent an army to defeat the Chachapoyas and it was then that he received swift Tallan posts, who informed him that strange men had come from the sea. He cautiously decided not to advance towards Cuzco, delegating command of part of his army to Quizquiz and Chalcuchimac and he ordered them to continue the march towards the imperial city. The Atahualpa forces successively won Cochagailla, Pumpu and Jauja . Desperate for the continuous defeats, he organized a third army of 30 thousand men from Contisuyo, under whose command he decided to go himself. The decisive battle took place in the surroundings of Huánuco Pampa, the Cuzco army was finally killed and Huáscar captured. Atahualpa, who was in Huamachuco waiting for news at the time, celebrated the victory but did not go to Cuzco to officially enthrone himself, but ordered Huáscar to be brought to Cajamarca where he would await the foreigners who had just arrived in his domain.
On November 15, 1532, he was in the thermal baths of Pultamarca, while his undefeated troops continued to wait until they took and subjugated Cuzco. There in Pultamarca he received the entourage headed by Hernando de Soto whom he treated coldly; instead he gave preferential treatment to Hernando Pizarro upon learning that he was the brother of the head of the visitors. This one, when saying goodbye to him, charged with his horse towards the court of Atahualpa, whose members retreated fearfully. Atahualpa did not flinch and, once the Spaniards had withdrawn, he ordered the throats of all those who had shown fear, saying that he did not want cowardly vassals. On November 16, his procession entered Cajamarca, where he received the Dominican Fray Vicente Valverde, accompanied by an interpreter. Valverde's purpose was to peacefully capture the Inca, for which he told him about God, the Pope and the King to whom he had to submit. He handed him a bible and Atahualpa threw it into the crowd. Given this, Valverde returned screaming, the signal was given and an arquebus shot sounded. The soldiers came out of the rooms that surrounded the square and attacked the indigenous crowd that was desperately struggling to get out, trampling each other to the point of knocking down a wall under pressure.
Atahualpa was taken prisoner by Francisco Pizarro himself , and promised to fill a room with gold and silver in exchange for his life and freedom, ordering that such treasure be brought from the most remote regions of the empire. In order to speed up the shipment, Pizarro sent two expeditions:one to Pachacamac, near where the city of Lima would later be founded, and another to Cuzco. This last group stumbled on the road with the sad entourage that led the ousted Inca Huáscar prisoner, who managed to talk with the Spanish and offered them a greater amount of gold and silver. Atahualpa fearful that there was an understanding between the Spaniards and his brother, he secretly had him killed from his golden prison.
With the arrival of a new Spanish contingent under the command of Almagro , there were pressures of all kinds to assassinate the prince, alleging that they were gathering legions of indigenous people who would come to the rescue of Atahualpa. Only Hernando de Soto and Hernando Pizarro defended him and were of the idea that he be sent to Spain. So they had to be removed. The first was sent on a reconnaissance mission and the second to Spain carrying the royal fifth. A mock trial was made and among the charges made against Atahualpa was the murder of his brother, conspiring against the Spanish. He was sentenced to the stake and since in the Incas this punishment was applied only to thieves, he agreed to be baptized, changing the penalty for that of the club. Tied to a chair, with a club around his neck, a Spanish witness saw him cry and entrust his children to Pizarro. Fray Vicente Valverde warned him to forget his children and convert to Christianity. In response he cried again while with his hands he indicated the size of his sons. Thus ended Atahualpa on July 26, 1533. The next morning, with great solemnity, he was buried in the Catholic church they had built in Cajamarca. Days later, his body was mysteriously removed and taken to the north, where he had spent most of his life.