HISTORY. Little is clearly ascertainable regard ing the early history of the Peruvian Empire, and the lists given of its early sovereigns are by no means to be trusted. Almost all we know of their early history is derived from the traditions of the people, collected by the early Spaniards. (See PERUVIAN ANTIQUITIES.) In 1453 Tupac Inca Yupa mini, the eleventh Inca, according to the list given by Garcilaso de hi Vega (q.v.), greatly,- enlarged his widespread dominions. Ile led his armies southward into Chile, marched over the terrible desert of Atacama, and, pene trating as far south as the River Jlaule, fixed there the southern boundary of Peru. While thus engaged. his son. the young lluayna Capac (q.v.), heir to the fame as well as the throne of his father, had marched northward to the Amazon, crossed that barrier, and conquered the Kingdom of Quito. In 141'5 Iluayna Capac ascended the throne, and under him the Empire of the Incas attained to its greatest extent, his sway extend ing from the valley of the Amazon to Chile and from the shores of the Pacific to the sources of the Paraguay.
About the year 1516, and ten years before the death of Huayna Capac, the first white man had landed on the western shores of South America; but it was not till the year 1531 that Pizarro (q.v.1, at the head of a small hand of Spanish adventurers, actually invaded Peru. On his death-bed the great Inca had expressed a wish that the Kingdom of Quito should pass to Ata hualpa (q.v.), one of his sons by a princess of Quito, and that all his other territories should fall to his legitimate son, Ilnasear, the heir to the crown. and who, according to the custom of the Incas, should have inherited all its dependen cies. Between these two princes, quarrels. re sulting in war. and when Pizarro entered Peru he found the country occupied by two rival factions. Atalinalpa had completely defeated the forces of his brother, had taken Ilmiscar prisoner, and was now stationed at Caxamalea, on the eastern side of the Andes, whither, with a force of 102 font soldiers and 62 horsemen and two small falconets or cannon. the dauntless Spanish leader, in September, 15:32. set out to meet him. Shortly after the execution of Ata hualpa (August, 15331 at Caxamalea the in vaders set out for Cuzco. Their strength had been inereased by rePnforeements, and they now numbered nearly 300 men, of whom about a third were cavalry. They entered the Peruvian capital November 15. 1533. having in the course of their progress toward the city of the Incas had many sharp encounters with the Indians, in all of which their armor, artillery, and cavalry gave them the advantage. At Cuzco they obtained a vast amount of gold. the one object for which the conquest of Peru was undertaken. As at Caxamalea, the articles of gold were for the most part melted down into ingots. and divided
among the hand. After stripping the palaces and temples of their treasures, Pizarro placed Blanco, a son of the great Huayna Capae, on the throne of the Incas. Leaving a garrison in the capital, he then marched west to the seactemst, with the in tention of building a town, from Ivhiell he could the more easily repel invasion from without, and which should be the future capital of the king dom. Choosing the banks of the river liimac, he founded, about six miles from its mouth, the Ciudad (le los lleycs, 'City of the Kings.' Subse quently its name was changed to Lima, the modi fied forma of the name of the river on which it was placed. The Inca Alanco succeeded in ef fecting his escape, and headed a formidable rising of the natives. Gathering around Cuzco in im mense numbers, the natives laid siege to the city, and set. it on lire. The city was relieved by the failure of provisions among the besiegers and the departure of the Peruvians for their farms. The advantages, many, though unimportant, which the Inea gained in the coarse of this siege, were Ids last triumphs. Be afterwards retired to the mountains, where he soon after perished. More formidable, however, to Pizarro than any rising of the natives, was the quarrel between himself and Almagro (q.v.), a soldier of generous dis position, but of fiery temper, who, after Pizarro, held the highest rank among the conquerors. Civil war ensued in whieli Almagro was defeated and put to death. Isis followers, however, plotted revenge, and in 1541 Pizarro fell be neath their swords. The son of Alinagro then proclaimed himself Governor, but was soon de feated in battle and put to death. In 1542 a council at Valladolid in Spain, called at the in stigation of the ecclesiastic Las Casas, who de plored the cruelties committed on the natives, framed a code of laws, known as the 'New Laws for the Indies,' for Mexico and Peru, according to which the Indians who had been enslaved by the Spaniards were virtually declared free men. It was also enacted that the Indians were not to be forced to labor in unhealthy localities, and that whenever they were desired to work in any particular locality they were to be fairly paid. Blasco Nunez Vela, sent from Spain to enforce the new' laws. rendered himself unpopu lar, and was seized and sent back to Panama. Ile had come from Spain accompanied by an audiencia of four, who now undertook the gov ernment. Gonzalo Pizarro (q.v.) was indueed to declare himself Captain-General of Peru and marched upon Lima. Ile was too 'powerful to withstand, and the andieneia elected him (1ov ernor as well as Captain-General of the country. Pizarro was overthrown by Pedro de la and put to death in 1548.