Battle of Ollantaytambo
Battle of Ollantaytambo | |||||||
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Part of Spanish conquest of Peru | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Remnants of the Inca Empire |
Spanish Empire Indian auxiliaries | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Manco Inca | Hernando Pizarro | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
30,000+ |
100 Spaniards 30,000 native allies | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
The Battle of Ollantaytambo (
There is some controversy over the actual location of the battle; according to some, it took place in the town itself, while Jean-Pierre Protzen and John Hemming[1] argue that the nearby plain of Mascabamba better matches the descriptions of the encounter. In any case, the Inca army managed to hold the Spanish forces from a set of high terraces and flood their position to hinder their cavalry. Severely pressed and unable to advance, the Spaniards withdrew by night to Cusco. Despite this victory, the arrival of Spanish reinforcements to Cusco forced Manco Inca to abandon Ollantaytambo and seek refuge in the heavily forested region of Vilcabamba, where he established the small independent Neo-Inca State which survived until 1572.
Prelude
In 1531, a group of Spaniards led by
For a while, Manco Inca and the
Sources
Order of battle
Manco Inca had gathered more than 30,000 troops at Ollantaytambo, among them, a large number of recruits from tribes of the
The attack was led by
Battle
The main access route to Ollantaytambo runs along a narrow valley formed in the mountains by the
Faced with these constraints, the Spanish expedition had to cross the river several times and fight at each ford against stiff opposition.[15] The bulk of the Inca army confronted the Spaniards from a set of terraces overlooking a plain by the Urubamba River. Several Spanish assaults against the terraces failed against a shower of arrows, slingshots, and boulders coming down from the terraces as well as from both flanks. To hinder the efforts of the Spanish cavalry, the Incas flooded the plain using previously prepared channels; water eventually reached the horses' girths. The defenders then counterattacked; some of them used Spanish weapons captured in previous encounters such as swords, bucklers, armor, and even a horse, ridden by Manco Inca himself. In a severely compromised situation, Hernando Pizarro ordered a retreat; under the cover of darkness the Spanish force fled through the Urubamba valley with the Incas in pursuit and reached Cusco the next day.[29]
Battle site
The actual location of the battle is the subject of some controversy. According to Canadian explorer John Hemming, Spanish forces occupied a plain between Ollantaytambo and the Urubamba River while the main Inca army was located on a citadel (the Temple Hill) overlooking the town, protected by seventeen terraces.[30] However, Swiss architect Jean-Pierre Protzen argues that the topography of the town and its surrounding area does not match contemporary descriptions of the battle. An anonymous account, attributed to Diego de Silva, claims that the Inca army occupied a set of eleven terraces, not seventeen; while the chronicle of Pedro Pizarro describes a gate flanked by walls as the only way through the terraces. Protzen thinks that these descriptions allude to a set of eleven terraces that close the plain of Mascabamba, near Ollantaytambo, which include the heavily fortified gate of T'iyupunku. At this location, when the Spaniards faced the terraces they would have had the Urubamba River to their left and the steep hill of Cerro Pinkuylluna to their right, matching the three sides from which they were attacked during the battle. If Protzen's hypothesis is correct, the river diverted to flood the battlefield was the Urubamba, and not its smaller affluent, the Patakancha, which runs alongside the town of Ollantaytambo.[31]
Aftermath
The success at Ollantaytambo encouraged Manco Inca to make a renewed attempt against Cusco. However, the Spaniards discovered the Inca army concentrating near the city and mounted a night attack, which inflicted heavy casualties.
See also
- List of battles won by Indigenous peoples of the Americas
- Encomienda
- History of Peru
- Inter caetera
- Spanish colonization of the Americas
Notes
- ^ John Hemmings, "Conquest of the Incas," Chapter 10
- ^ D'Altroy, The Incas, pp. 311–319.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, pp. 164–167.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, p. 171.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, pp. 173–183.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, pp. 185–187.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, pp. 192–196.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, pp. 199–206.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, p. 206.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, pp. 511, 532.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, pp. 181, 505, 555.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, pp. 508, 559.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, pp. 513, 559.
- ^ Vega, Incas contra españoles, p. 79.
- ^ a b Hemming, The conquest, p. 207.
- ^ D'Altroy, The Incas, p. 217.
- ^ D'Altroy, The Incas, p. 233.
- ^ D'Altroy, The Incas, p. 227.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, p. 114.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, pp. 114–115, 187.
- ^ a b D'Altroy, The Incas, p. 319.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, p. 207; Vega, Incas contra españoles, p. 78.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, pp. 109–111.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, pp. 112–113.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, p. 113.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, pp. 113–114.
- ^ Vega, Incas contra españoles, p. 78.
- ^ Protzen, Inca architecture, pp. 22–26.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, pp. 208–209.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, pp. 207–208.
- ^ Protzen, Inca architecture, pp. 22–23.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, pp. 210–212.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, p. 220.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, pp. 218–219.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, p. 222.
- ^ Hemming, The conquest, pp. 223–225.
- ^ D'Altroy, The Incas, pp. 319–320.
References
- D'Altroy, Terence. The Incas. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2002. ISBN 0-631-17677-2
- Hemming, John. The conquest of the Incas. London: ISBN 0-333-10683-0
- Protzen, Jean-Pierre. Inca architecture and construction at Ollantaytambo. New York: ISBN 0-19-507069-0
- (in Spanish) Vega, Juan José. Incas contra españoles: treinta batallas. Lima: Milla Batres, 1980. OCLC 432802179