Huáscar (;

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several Indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, an Indigenous South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language ...

: ''Waskar Inka'') also Guazcar (before 15271532) was

Sapa Inca The Sapa Inca (from ; ) was the monarch of the Inca Empire (''Tawantinsuyu'' "the region of the four rovinces), as well as ruler of the earlier Kingdom of Cusco and the later Neo-Inca State at Vilcabamba, Peru, Vilcabamba. While the origins ...

of the

Inca Empire The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

from 1527 to 1532. He succeeded his father,

Huayna Capac Huayna Capac (; Cuzco Quechua: ''Wayna Qhapaq'' ) (before 14931527) was the third Sapa Inca of Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire. He was the son of and successor to Túpac Inca Yupanqui,Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro; 2015, originally published in Sp ...

and his brother

Ninan Cuyochi Cuyochi (1490–1527) was the oldest son of Sapa Inca Huayna Capac and was first in line to inherit the Inca Empire. He died of smallpox shortly before or after the death of his father, also reportedly from smallpox, bringing about the Inca Civi ...

, both of whom died of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

during the same year while campaigning near

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

.de Gamboa, P.S., 2015, History of the Incas, Lexington,

Biography

The origin of his name is uncertain. One story is that Huáscar was named after a huge gold chain that was made to mark the occasion of his birth. "Huasca" is

for "chain". Because his father did not think "chain" was an appropriate name for a prince, he added an ''r'' to the end of the name to make "Huáscar". Another story is that his name is from his birthplace, Huascarpata. The actual events that brought about Huáscar's succession are unclear. Conflicting factions and the fact that the Spanish chroniclers' accounts stemmed from the winners of the ensuing civil war led to conflicting versions of what actually happened. Thus, although Huayna Capac named the infant Ninan Cuyochi as his first heir, sources differ as to whether the boy died first, was unacceptable because of an unfavorable divination or even if Huayna simply forgot that he had named him when asked to confirm the nomination. In any event, a second choice was requested and again sources vary. He may have named Huáscar's half-brother

Atahualpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa or Ataw Wallpa ( Quechua) ( 150226 July 1533), was the last effective Inca emperor, reigning from April 1532 until his capture and execution in July of the following year, as part of the Spanish conquest of the In ...

who then refused or named Huáscar himself or perhaps even the nobles put forward Huáscar. Whatever the truth, the result of Huáscar's accession and the dispute over it before and after led to civil war between Huáscar (made emperor by a faction based in Cuzco) and Atahualpa (backed by leaders who were based in the north with Huayna). The Spanish chronicler

Juan de Betanzos ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Phili ...

who provided information pertaining to the Huáscar-Atahualpa civil war, outlines Huáscar's tyranny. It is, however, a very biased account, as Betanzos' wife, on whose testimony much of his chronicle is based, was previously married to Atahualpa. Betanzos outlines how Huáscar would seize his lords' wives if they took his fancy. More importantly, he seized both the Lands of the Previous Incas and the Lands of the Sun. In Inca society, the lands of previous dead Incas remained part of their household to support their divine-like cult. Similarly, lands were reserved for the worship of the Sun. Thus, Huáscar's seizure represented his disrespect and insensitivity for

Inca religion The Inca religion was a group of beliefs and rites that were related to a mythological system evolving from pre-Inca times to Inca Empire. Faith in the ''Tawantinsuyu'' was manifested in every aspect of his life, work, festivities, ceremonies, ...

.Betanzos, J.; 1996, Narrative of the Incas, Austin,

University of Texas Press The University of Texas Press (or UT Press) is the university press of the University of Texas at Austin. Established in 1950, the Press publishes scholarly and trade books in several areas, including Latin American studies, Caribbean, Caribbea ...

, Huáscar then declared war on Atahualpa. The battles reported by Betanzos talk of

Quizquiz ''QuizQuiz'' (), also known as ''Quiz Quiz'', was a massively multiplayer online (MMO) quiz video game created by Nexon which used a super deformed type anime graphical style to portray the players and the few environments or non-player chara ...

(Atahualpa's commander) leading armies of 60,000 men against armies of 60,000 men supporting Huáscar. Betanzos' account also enlightens on the bloody nature of Inca wars. Atahualpa's punishment of the

Cañari The Cañari (in Kichwa: Kañari) are an indigenous ethnic group traditionally inhabiting the territory of the modern provinces of Azuay and Cañar in Ecuador. They are descended from the independent pre-Columbian tribal confederation of the ...

s saw him rip the hearts of their tribal chiefs and force their followers to eat them. Huáscar was defeated in the

Battle of Chimborazo The Battle of Chimborazo was among the first confrontations in the War of the two brothers, a struggle between Huáscar and Atahualpa for power over the Inca Empire. Atahualpa won, having the more capable generals; he drove Huáscar back onto t ...

and the

Battle of Quipaipán The Battle of Quipaipán was the decisive battle of the Inca Civil War between the brothers Atahualpa and Huáscar. After the victory at Chimborazo, Atahualpa stopped in Cajamarca as his generals followed Huáscar to the south. The second confro ...

. Huáscar was made prisoner and Atahualpa's generals Quizquiz and Chalcuchímac occupied

Cuzco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous province and department. The city was the capital of the Inca Empire unti ...

.Prescott, W.H., 2011, The History of the Conquest of Peru, Digireads.com Publishing, The war had Atahualpa in the clear ascendancy on Spanish conquistador

Francisco Pizarro Francisco Pizarro, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish ''conquistador'', best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Born in Trujillo, Cáceres, Trujillo, Spain, to a poor fam ...

's arrival. However it was partly because of the ongoing civil war that Pizarro was able to triumph. Firstly, the civil war had depleted the Inca armies. Secondly, disunity can be demonstrated by Huáscar's celebrations and in the celebrations of the province of Cuzco (loyal to Huáscar) at Atahualpa's capture. Furthermore, Atahualpa had Huáscar killed so that he was not in a position to offer Pizarro a larger ransom of gold than Atahualpa was offering for his own release.Pizzaro, P.; 1571, Relation of the Discovery and Conquest of the Kingdoms of Peru, Vol. 1-2, New York, Cortes Society, RareBooksClub.com, Atahualpa stated: "How shall my brother get so much gold and silver for himself; I would give twice as much as he can, if they would kill him and leave me as lord."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huascar Year of birth unknown 1532 deaths 16th-century Sapa Incas Inca emperors Dethroned monarchs 16th-century murdered monarchs

Biography

See also

References