After executing Inca emperor Atahualpa, the Spanish installed his brother as a puppet ruler. This co-opted the existing power structure, making the conquest seem like a restoration of the natural order to local chiefs and smoothing the transition of power.
The Spanish horses were a decisive factor not just for their combat effectiveness but for their psychological impact. Against Inca warriors who lacked pikes or numerous bows and arrows, a handful of cavalry seemed invincible, creating a reputation that demoralized armies thousands of times their size.
Before conquering a city, the Spanish read the "Requiremento," a legal document demanding submission to the Pope and King. This ritual, incomprehensible to the Incas, served as a self-serving legal justification, placing the blame for the inevitable violence and death squarely on the victims for their non-compliance.
By sending gold and sensationalized, best-selling accounts back to Spain, the initial conquistadors created a "gold rush" narrative. This attracted waves of new adventurers to Peru, ensuring a continuous supply of manpower that made the empire's eventual fall inevitable, regardless of early setbacks.
The Spanish conquest of the Incas succeeded largely because they inserted themselves into an existing civil war. By siding with the southern Inca faction against the northern one, they gained crucial local allies, transforming the conflict from a foreign invasion into a complex, multi-sided war they could manipulate.
When encountering Inca temples, many Spanish conquistadors described them as "mosques." This was not an architectural comparison but a conceptual one, colored by their recent history of the Reconquista in Spain. Their primary frame for a non-Christian holy site was Islamic, preventing them from understanding Inca religion on its own terms.
The Spanish conquest was characterized by the systematic destruction of Inca art. Rather than preserving priceless golden artifacts like llamas and flowers, they melted them into standardized bars for easy shipment and accounting. This reflects a colonial mindset that prioritizes raw monetary value over cultural and artistic significance.
The Spanish conquest was plagued by intense internal rivalries. The promise of gold in Quito sparked a race between three separate Spanish expeditions, led by Benalcátha, Almagro, and Pedro de Alvarado. This competition nearly erupted into open warfare, showing how the lure of wealth fractured the invading force.
Once easily accessible gold was gone, the Spanish conquest of Peru transitioned from looting to institutionalized exploitation. Pizarro began granting `encomiendas`—huge tracts of land with thousands of indigenous laborers. This shifted the economic model from a short-term gold heist to a long-term colonial system based on forced tribute.