Atahualpa

Everyone knows that one person who never stays true to their friends. Eventually, karma meets up with these people, and you can’t bring yourself to feel bad for them. This happened during the ancient Incan empire as well. Atahualpa was the last Incan emperor before the demise of the Incans.

Atahualpa was the younger son of the king. When the king died of smallpox, the heir should have taken the throne. However, the heir passed away as well. Since the previous king did not select a secondary heir, the kingdom was split between his two younger sons. The result of this decision was a massive, bloody civil war. Eventually, in 1532, Atahualpa won by killing his own brother for power.

Less than a year later, Pizarro arrives to Peru. Due to the civil war, the Incans were very weak, and Pizarro took advantage of this. He arrived, and he said that he wanted to meet with Atahualpa for a peaceful talk. Their first meeting went well, but soon after, Pizarro stormed the city and captured Atahualpa. A ransom was required for his release. The city provided this ransom, but Pizarro killed Atahualpa anyways. His death marked the end of the Incan empire. Moral of the story: Don’t kill your brother in a civil war, because you just might end up dead, too.

By: Taylor Brown