0:00:04 > 0:00:10Deep in the heart of the Peruvian Andes, there is a shrine.
0:00:10 > 0:00:14It is known as Yurak Rumi - the White Stone.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18Five centuries ago, priests
0:00:18 > 0:00:22and royalty from one of the greatest empires in the world would
0:00:22 > 0:00:26gather here to pray to the sun, to the earth, and to the stars.
0:00:29 > 0:00:35But the empire they ruled had shrunk. Once it spanned a continent.
0:00:36 > 0:00:41Now it covered barely this isolated piece of forest.
0:00:47 > 0:00:49This is the story of what happened to the Inca -
0:00:49 > 0:00:53the greatest pre-Columbian empire in the Americas.
0:00:53 > 0:00:58A land of desert temples, of palaces in the clouds
0:00:58 > 0:01:02and cities hidden deep in the forest.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05The Inca created a system of governance that was ideally
0:01:05 > 0:01:08suited to these landscapes.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11A religion that chimed with pre-existing Andean belief systems,
0:01:11 > 0:01:14but that was designed to emphasise their own special
0:01:14 > 0:01:16position in the cosmic order.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20Not only had they developed ingenious agricultural technologies,
0:01:20 > 0:01:24but an effective way of distributing them, binding people to the state.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27And their built environment, their architecture criss-crossed
0:01:27 > 0:01:31the entire territories, projecting their power to the people.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38But the Inca would meet another empire from across the ocean,
0:01:38 > 0:01:42one which played by a completely different set of rules.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45And this clash of two very different empires is still the defining
0:01:45 > 0:01:48moment in South America's history.
0:01:49 > 0:01:54I am fascinated by how the Inca succumbed to the Spanish.
0:01:54 > 0:01:57How such a powerful state was conquered by just a few
0:01:57 > 0:01:59hundred conquistadors.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03How an empire of mountains, desert, sky and forest
0:02:03 > 0:02:07was reduced to this lonely and forgotten shrine.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32The Inca were one of many societies who
0:02:32 > 0:02:37lived in the Andes during the early part of the second millennium.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41From their capital city, Cuzco, they then built an empire which
0:02:41 > 0:02:46stretched 4,000 kilometres along the western coast of South America.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49It included parts of the modern-day
0:02:49 > 0:02:54nations of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina and Chile.
0:02:56 > 0:03:02This was an empire of solutions - the Inca revolutionised agriculture.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05They had transformed food distribution.
0:03:05 > 0:03:10They bound their huge realm together with thousands of kilometres
0:03:10 > 0:03:13of roads, many of which are still in use today.
0:03:23 > 0:03:28And at their zenith, their power even reached places like this -
0:03:28 > 0:03:33Mount Ampato, high in the Andes, where rock and cloud meet sky.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49So this is the base of Mount Ampato on the left.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52That's Sabancaya - another volcano - on the right.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56At over 6,000 metres, Ampato is one of the highest mountains in Peru.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59Like many high peaks in the Andes,
0:03:59 > 0:04:03it was summited by the Inca hundreds of years ago.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07Which tells me that mountains like this played a significant
0:04:07 > 0:04:10role in the culture of the Inca Empire.
0:04:11 > 0:04:14When we talk about high-altitude archaeology,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18we're talking about 5,200 metres. The only people who did
0:04:18 > 0:04:23that before European sport climbing in the 1800s were the Incas.
0:04:23 > 0:04:27So, like, 400 years before Europeans were even reaching 22,000 feet,
0:04:27 > 0:04:31the Incas were not only reaching, consistently reaching,
0:04:31 > 0:04:36they were building structures of stone at 22,000 feet.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40For 99.9% of our lives, we live in the same
0:04:40 > 0:04:45parts of the landscape - home, work, in the pub.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48And so our behaviour in those locations is pretty
0:04:48 > 0:04:50normal for society.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52But what about that other fraction of the landscape,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55extreme locations, deep inside caves,
0:04:55 > 0:04:59under water and at the top of extremely high mountains?
0:04:59 > 0:05:02I think that the behaviour of past societies at these extreme
0:05:02 > 0:05:08locations can give us a unique insight into those cultures.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13In the minds of the Inca, inanimate objects like rocks, rivers
0:05:13 > 0:05:16or streams were often considered sacred.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19Mountains were no exception.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22They represented the origin of people's ancestors,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25or their place they went to when they died.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30Many of these mountains are active volcanoes and they still inspire
0:05:30 > 0:05:34an almost religious reverence from the people who live here today.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39When they look at the mountains,
0:05:39 > 0:05:43they kind of see a living presence, and that was brought home many
0:05:43 > 0:05:47times to me. They'd say, "You Westerners just don't understand.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49"For us, the mountains are alive."
0:05:57 > 0:06:02I'm currently at 5,500 metres, or just over 18,000 feet, above sea level.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06When you hike up to these extreme altitudes, it becomes very
0:06:06 > 0:06:09hard to breathe and there's a lack of oxygen to the brain.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11And that's really interesting,
0:06:11 > 0:06:13because it starts to play tricks on your mind.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17Your thoughts internalise very, very quickly.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20To describe it, it's almost like you're on the edge of dreaming
0:06:20 > 0:06:22but you're still awake.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25So you can see why the Inca would find it a very spiritual
0:06:25 > 0:06:28experience as they came up to these extreme places,
0:06:28 > 0:06:31why they might feel they were entering the realm of the gods.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39That's why we need to look at these mountains not simply as rock
0:06:39 > 0:06:41and ice,
0:06:41 > 0:06:43but as places which were vital to sustaining
0:06:43 > 0:06:46and explaining the Inca worldview.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49And what happened on these mountains can explain
0:06:49 > 0:06:53much about the strength and nature of Inca power.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Around the year 1450,
0:06:56 > 0:07:00a spectacular Inca procession made its way up this mountain.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03As part of the group was a 13-year-old girl,
0:07:03 > 0:07:06dressed in elaborate Inca textiles.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09But the group had a grisly purpose, because when they reached the
0:07:09 > 0:07:14summit, they smashed in the girl's skull, sacrificing her to the gods.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20For over 500 years, knowledge of this expedition,
0:07:20 > 0:07:24and the fate of the girl who was sacrificed, lay hidden in the snow.
0:07:25 > 0:07:30It wasn't till 1995, when American anthropologist Johan Reinhard
0:07:30 > 0:07:32and his climbing partner Miguel Zarate reached the summit,
0:07:32 > 0:07:36that Ampato gave up its secret.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39We initially found food and textiles,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42you know, torn, and wood pieces and stuff like that.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45When we returned later, we found statues and other things -
0:07:45 > 0:07:49boxes, little boxes, and so on, but, of course, the focus then
0:07:49 > 0:07:52became on the mummy which was just laying right out.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57Reinhard and Zarate named the mummy Juanita.
0:07:57 > 0:08:01Her sacrifice was the culmination of a whole series of carefully
0:08:01 > 0:08:05planned rituals which spread throughout the empire.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08Human sacrifice was the last event in a whole
0:08:08 > 0:08:11series of rituals that could take as long as a year before they
0:08:11 > 0:08:15reached their culmination. People, in fact, were brought to Cuzco
0:08:15 > 0:08:19and fed special foods and purified before being carried
0:08:19 > 0:08:21or themselves walking
0:08:21 > 0:08:26as far as 2,000 kilometres to get to their final sacrifice point.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32Juanita's last journey would have taken her across the whole empire,
0:08:32 > 0:08:35from desert, to coast, to forest,
0:08:35 > 0:08:39before finally reaching Mount Ampato.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Her epic journey and carefully planned death played a critical role
0:08:42 > 0:08:48in demonstrating and reinforcing Inca power to the people they ruled.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52The Inca Empire is partly held together through
0:08:52 > 0:08:55religion and ritual and activities, such as the human sacrifices on
0:08:55 > 0:09:01mountain tops or on islands, which create an integration of the empire
0:09:01 > 0:09:08through people coming from Cuzco and walking to make these sacrifices.
0:09:11 > 0:09:16And this is why Juanita was led up this mountain five centuries ago.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21Her journey to Ampato symbolised the political reach of the Inca.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25Her sacrifice emphasised the Inca control over the sacred
0:09:25 > 0:09:28landscape of the Andes.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30Above all, Juanita's death suggests to me
0:09:30 > 0:09:33an empire with an incredibly well-developed
0:09:33 > 0:09:38sense of its own mission, its own rituals and its own power.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47And yet, this huge empire of ten million souls
0:09:47 > 0:09:51fell rapidly to a small force of conquistadors.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57To find out why, I think we need to look at just how rapidly
0:09:57 > 0:10:01the Inca were expanding by the late 15th century.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05Because that rapid expansion undermined the foundations
0:10:05 > 0:10:08upon which their empire was built.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24This is the site of Quispiguanca, the great royal
0:10:24 > 0:10:28estate of Huayna Capac, the Sapa Inca ruler.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32In 1493, when construction of this site was in full swing,
0:10:32 > 0:10:34it must have been such a impressive sight -
0:10:34 > 0:10:38the estate sprawling down this beautiful Urubamba River.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40This was when the Inca were at their zenith.
0:10:44 > 0:10:50Today, Quispiguanca is in danger of being consumed by the modern
0:10:50 > 0:10:52town of Urubamba.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55But once, nearly 2,500 workers and their
0:10:55 > 0:10:59families lived on this site, tending to Huayna Capac's every whim.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04The emperor and his family lived in this massive enclosure,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07as big as seven football pitches.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10There was a forest stocked with game and deer, a lagoon,
0:11:10 > 0:11:15an artificial pond, and storehouses for clothes, food and beer.
0:11:20 > 0:11:25But all this splendour was hiding a serious problem.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29The Inca empire was fed by a constant need for growth.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33As the Inca Empire expanded and got larger,
0:11:33 > 0:11:38it was much harder to control the diversity of populations that
0:11:38 > 0:11:39were under the Inca rubric.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43I think the Inca Empire was continuously unstable,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46in as much as you were always having to persuade all
0:11:46 > 0:11:52of these different ethnic groups to remain within it, and as it became
0:11:52 > 0:11:58larger and larger, the potential of fragmentation was always there.
0:11:59 > 0:12:04Pressure to expand is common to many empires, not just the Inca.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08But expanding whilst maintaining stability, even for a powerful
0:12:08 > 0:12:12and complex empire like the Incas', is a delicate balancing act.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15I think all emperors take power with
0:12:15 > 0:12:18the idea of expanding their empire.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22It's rather a mandate when you take the crown.
0:12:22 > 0:12:28So I think Huayna Capac was expanding out, but he inherits
0:12:28 > 0:12:34the empire and it's already very large, it's already very complex.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40Huayna Capac probably spent little time enjoying Quispiguanca.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44His rule was dominated by attempts to project Inca power ever
0:12:44 > 0:12:47further from Cuzco.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51His greatest campaign would see him lead his armies north,
0:12:51 > 0:12:54into modern-day Ecuador.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02We shouldn't think of the Inca in the way we think of empires
0:13:02 > 0:13:06like Rome or Britain, where power flowed directly from military might.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10The Inca were different.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Their empire had largely grown through diplomacy
0:13:13 > 0:13:17and peaceful incorporation, rather than bloody conquest.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20It was a clever strategy, in which neighbouring societies
0:13:20 > 0:13:24were enticed to accede to Inca rule in return for sharing in the fruits
0:13:24 > 0:13:30of their rich, efficiently organised and well-fed empire.
0:13:32 > 0:13:37If you look at the history of the Inca expansion, there's relatively few major pitched battles or
0:13:37 > 0:13:40military campaigns.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46But there were limits to this strategy,
0:13:46 > 0:13:49as Huayna Capac and his armies were about to find out.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56Quitoloma is one of a series of Inca forts which mark the northern
0:13:56 > 0:13:58boundaries of the Inca empire.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02These forts occupy the high points along the ridgeline,
0:14:02 > 0:14:06nearly 4,000 metres above sea level in northern Ecuador.
0:14:06 > 0:14:10My guide today is eminent archaeologist Antonio Fresco,
0:14:10 > 0:14:15who has studied the remains of Inca forts and defences in these hills.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32For 17 years, Huayna Capac and his Inca forces
0:14:32 > 0:14:36fought against the Cayambe and Caranqui peoples who lived here.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39The highland people of Ecuador had no need of the Inca
0:14:39 > 0:14:43revolutions in agriculture and administration. Evidence shows
0:14:43 > 0:14:48that they had long enjoyed plentiful harvests and a varied diet.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52And signs of their resistance to the Inca are still visible here today.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23As the war dragged on, the Inca used their tremendous
0:15:23 > 0:15:29organisational skills to attempt social engineering on a vast scale.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33They expelled people under their control and replaced them
0:15:33 > 0:15:36with loyal settlers from other parts of the empire.
0:15:36 > 0:15:41You get several advantages in this type of colonisation.
0:15:41 > 0:15:45You are able to disperse a power which is against you
0:15:45 > 0:15:49and place them in different areas, and you're able to reward
0:15:49 > 0:15:53some of your own people with new conquered lands.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59To this day, the effects of this can be seen here. Many people in
0:15:59 > 0:16:04this part of Ecuador can trace their ancestry to Argentina and Chile.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09They are descendants of the settlers and soldiers the Inca brought here.
0:16:41 > 0:16:42As the years passed,
0:16:42 > 0:16:47the war stretched the resources of the empire to breaking point.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20This is a pretty bleak, desolate, windswept place.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23But I think it was here that the peoples of northern Ecuador
0:17:23 > 0:17:26changed the game for the Inca.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29Because what happened here at Quitoloma and the whole
0:17:29 > 0:17:32series of Inca forts along this ridgeline fundamentally altered the
0:17:32 > 0:17:36nature of Inca power, with terrible consequences for the Empire.
0:17:45 > 0:17:50The war reached a climax here at Lake Yahuaracocha -
0:17:50 > 0:17:53the ominously named "lake of blood".
0:17:56 > 0:18:00Beneath the surface, and around the edge of this lake, archaeologist
0:18:00 > 0:18:05Jose Echeverria has uncovered evidence of an immense battle.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26Jose has pieced together what happened here when Inca forces
0:18:26 > 0:18:31confronted their northern enemies by the shores of this lake.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02Sometimes empires are like supernovas -
0:19:02 > 0:19:07they expand out in tremendous speed, and often there's
0:19:07 > 0:19:13an over-extension, and I think that's what we have with the Incas.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18They are really at the end of their logistical
0:19:18 > 0:19:22abilities by the time they get up into northern Ecuador.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28And the Incas just have a hard time in controlling those different
0:19:28 > 0:19:30ethnic groups.
0:19:30 > 0:19:35Strategically, this Pyrrhic victory was a disaster for the Inca.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38Their empire in the north was not based on the same peaceful
0:19:38 > 0:19:42cooperation as it was further south.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45It was based purely on military strength.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48The Inca were now an occupying army.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51What had made the Incas
0:19:51 > 0:19:55so successful was offering solutions to people, and providing
0:19:55 > 0:19:59a stable and attractive way of life in a tough environment.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02The campaign completely undermined what had made Inca power
0:20:02 > 0:20:05so seductive and successful.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07In a sense, the Inca were following a dangerous path
0:20:07 > 0:20:11taken by other empires around the world, with their soldiers holed
0:20:11 > 0:20:14up in forts, harassed by guerrillas, and only able to maintain
0:20:14 > 0:20:20control through the application of overwhelming force and bloodshed.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26This was a profound moment in Inca history,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29and it was immediately followed by an event that would
0:20:29 > 0:20:33destabilise the Empire like never before.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36Around 1528, Huayna Capac died.
0:20:36 > 0:20:38And in the Inca system,
0:20:38 > 0:20:42royal succession was not simply decided by who was next in line.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46The Incas basically had two tracks to the throne.
0:20:46 > 0:20:50One of them was the ruler would name a co-regent
0:20:50 > 0:20:55while he was still ruler. The other one was that the most able
0:20:55 > 0:20:59son of the ruler would ascend to the throne, which invited competition.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01That's disastrous.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05It could be ruinous for a society looking for a peaceful transition.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10Previous Inca successions had been disruptive and often bloody affairs.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13This one would be no different.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15This is a world in which the descendants of the Sapa Inca
0:21:15 > 0:21:18are almost as likely to be killed in a succession
0:21:18 > 0:21:23crisis as they are of becoming the Sapa Inca themselves.
0:21:23 > 0:21:27The problem is, without an iron rule of primogeniture,
0:21:27 > 0:21:29and the emperor having lots of children by many wives,
0:21:29 > 0:21:32there's a large pool of people to claim the throne.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36It's a system that lends itself to plotting, intrigue, and bargaining,
0:21:36 > 0:21:40with inherent uncertainty in it, right from the beginning.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43So the moment of succession is a moment of upheaval,
0:21:43 > 0:21:47of vulnerability, like a shock to the system for the entire empire.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51Of course, many European kingdoms have endured this
0:21:51 > 0:21:55kind of constitutional crisis.
0:21:55 > 0:21:56But what made this one
0:21:56 > 0:22:00so dangerous was the fragile balance of power in the empire.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04The most powerful armies were in the north.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07They were not concentrated in Cuzco, they were up there
0:22:07 > 0:22:12as a potential rebellious source of power for a contender to the throne.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17When Huayna Capac died, it thrust both
0:22:17 > 0:22:19the political elite in Cuzco
0:22:19 > 0:22:22and the military elite in Ecuador into direct conflict.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26They no longer had a uniting figure everyone could get behind,
0:22:26 > 0:22:29and that put the empire into chaos.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33This was the unintended consequence of Huayna Capac's northward
0:22:33 > 0:22:34expansion.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38His two-decade-long campaign had fatally undermined the military
0:22:38 > 0:22:41and political balance of the empire.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43Combined with the uncertainty of the succession,
0:22:43 > 0:22:47the result was a devastating civil war.
0:22:47 > 0:22:52The protagonists in this Civil War were half-brothers Atahualpa
0:22:52 > 0:22:55and Huascar - both sons of Huayna Capac, but by different mothers.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59It was a rivalry that divided the empire.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02Huascar had the support of the nobles in Cuzco
0:23:02 > 0:23:04and was enthroned there.
0:23:04 > 0:23:06But Atahualpa had the support of the northern armies.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09It's unclear whether he was expecting a separate empire
0:23:09 > 0:23:13in the north or simply to move the capital from Cuzco to Quito.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16But it wasn't just a dispute between half-brothers -
0:23:16 > 0:23:21it was a war between north and south that completely split the empire in two.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27The war became a series of devastating
0:23:27 > 0:23:29battles along the length of the Andes.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33After three years of fighting,
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Atahualpa's seasoned soldiers gained a decisive upper hand.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40Atahualpa's principle general
0:23:40 > 0:23:45went into Cuzco and captured all of the royalty of Cuzco who had
0:23:45 > 0:23:48sided with Huascar and massacred them.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52Thousands and thousands of people were killed on the spot.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58This resulted in the elimination of perhaps half of Cuzco's
0:23:58 > 0:24:00royalty in the space of just a few months.
0:24:03 > 0:24:08In terms of human life, the cost of Atahualpa's victory was high.
0:24:08 > 0:24:11This bloodshed undoubtedly weakened the empire.
0:24:11 > 0:24:16But, by 1532, Atahualpa was the undisputed successor,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19and ruler of a vast realm.
0:24:19 > 0:24:24Into this world stepped Francisco Pizarro and his conquistadors.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27They were small in number - less than 200 soldiers
0:24:27 > 0:24:32and a dozen horses - but they were battle hardened after
0:24:32 > 0:24:34years of fighting in Central America.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45From their point of view, they could not have arrived at a better time.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53Atahualpa sent emissaries down just
0:24:53 > 0:24:57to have a look at these strangers. They reported back that
0:24:57 > 0:25:00they're pretty hopeless, so he allowed them to come up
0:25:00 > 0:25:02and meet him.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04So they marched up into the mountains.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09When people discuss the European conquest of the Inca,
0:25:09 > 0:25:12they often ask a simple question - why didn't the Inca just
0:25:12 > 0:25:15snuff out the Europeans as soon as they arrived on the coast?
0:25:15 > 0:25:17They certainly enjoyed overwhelming force
0:25:17 > 0:25:20and could have kidnapped or killed them at any time.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23But I think this question slightly misses the point.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25Because this isn't a war between equals, it's a
0:25:25 > 0:25:28collision of two completely different worldviews.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31From Atahualpa's perspective, he had just taken
0:25:31 > 0:25:35control of an immense empire - the entire known world was his.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39So from his perspective, why should he be scared of some bedraggled,
0:25:39 > 0:25:43sunburned Spaniards, struggling inland?
0:25:46 > 0:25:50Although few in number, Pizarro led a band of experienced
0:25:50 > 0:25:52and skilled soldiers.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57They were the fearsome spearhead of the Spanish Empire.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01In their wake, they had brought European diseases which were
0:26:01 > 0:26:03ravaging indigenous populations
0:26:03 > 0:26:06and spreading, uncontrolled, across the Americas.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12But, ultimately, theirs was a crusading mission.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14Cloaked in the symbols of Christianity,
0:26:14 > 0:26:17its aims were simple - to accumulate for each other,
0:26:17 > 0:26:21and for the Spanish crown, as much wealth as humanly possible.
0:26:24 > 0:26:25The expedition of Spaniards
0:26:25 > 0:26:29led by Francisco Pizarro was made up of soldier entrepreneurs.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32They had invested their money with the expectation of pay-offs
0:26:32 > 0:26:35and the riches that they were going to find in the new land.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39They purported to be spreading Christianity,
0:26:39 > 0:26:43but they were just there for the money.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46Atahualpa agreed to meet Pizarro in the town square of Cajamarca,
0:26:46 > 0:26:51in northern Peru, at dusk on 16th November, 1532.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57This was the first meeting of two very different empires.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01Atahualpa had decided to turn his arrival into an elaborate
0:27:01 > 0:27:03ceremonial parade.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05He arrived being carried on a litter,
0:27:05 > 0:27:08bedecked in his finest imperial regalia of emeralds and gold.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Perhaps to intimidate the Spanish,
0:27:11 > 0:27:14or at the very least to show them who they were dealing with.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17But when he arrived, there were no Spanish to be seen.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23Pizarro had hidden his men in the barns that ringed the square.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26They had mounted their horses, and were fully armed.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29For the Inca, however, this meeting was purely ritual -
0:27:29 > 0:27:33their chance to impress the Spaniards as well as to assess them.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37The last thing Atahualpa and his men expected was a fight.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42They weren't armed - it was a sort of ceremonial parade.
0:27:42 > 0:27:48And he was on a litter being carried by 70 of his senior nobles.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52He was expecting to meet this strange stranger,
0:27:52 > 0:27:56instead of which a priest came out - Valverde.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01Valverde began lecturing Atahualpa on Christianity,
0:28:01 > 0:28:04saying that the King of Spain had sent him
0:28:04 > 0:28:07to reveal the word of God to Atahualpa and his people.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10This speech is known as "The Requirement"
0:28:10 > 0:28:12because the Spanish government required it to be read
0:28:12 > 0:28:15out before any bloodshed was resorted to by the troops.
0:28:18 > 0:28:20Valverde then gave Atahualpa a Bible,
0:28:20 > 0:28:23but Atahualpa quickly threw it down in disgust.
0:28:25 > 0:28:27Atahualpa was a semi-divine figure.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31His people believed he was descended from the sun god, Inti.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35He was treated with such reverence that few dared look him in the eye,
0:28:35 > 0:28:40and he expected similar respect from this bedraggled band of strangers.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44Yet now he was being harangued in a language he did not understand.
0:28:46 > 0:28:52Pizarro had anticipated Atahualpa's angry reaction and prepared for it.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58To the astonishment of the Inca, he ordered his men to attack.
0:28:58 > 0:29:03By then, the Inca's up on his litter
0:29:03 > 0:29:06and all these hundreds of thousands, everybody was
0:29:06 > 0:29:11squashed into this square, and then the Spaniards, by surprise, ran and
0:29:11 > 0:29:15galloped out of the houses they'd been lodged in and started killing.
0:29:18 > 0:29:22And they just slaughtered with their swords, just killing and killing.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27Thousands of Inca died in the square that afternoon.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30But not a single Spaniard was killed.
0:29:30 > 0:29:34Pizarro made straight for Atahualpa and dragged him off his litter.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37Seeing their revered emperor bundled into a barn,
0:29:37 > 0:29:39the remaining Inca tried to flee.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43What happened in Cajamarca could be explained in one way quite
0:29:43 > 0:29:47simply - that Atahualpa had just underestimated the Spanish.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50Certainly his scouts had reported back that they were
0:29:50 > 0:29:53a disorganised rabble, weak and inferior to the Inca.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56But there is another explanation that is perhaps more
0:29:56 > 0:29:58pertinent to Inca power.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01When Atahualpa was kidnapped, the Inca army fell into disarray.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04By the morning, thousands of Inca soldiers had surrendered
0:30:04 > 0:30:06meekly without a shot being fired.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09Without their all-powerful demi-god leader,
0:30:09 > 0:30:11the Inca military were paralysed.
0:30:13 > 0:30:16Pizarro wasted no time in getting down to business with his new
0:30:16 > 0:30:18prisoner.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20And then they sent to the camp
0:30:20 > 0:30:23and came back with anything that was gold or silver.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26So, Atahualpa very rapidly realised that the one thing
0:30:26 > 0:30:29they were obsessed with was gold and silver.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32Attitudes towards these precious metals crystallise
0:30:32 > 0:30:36the different world views of the Inca and Spanish empires.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39For the Spanish, gold was the Holy Grail,
0:30:39 > 0:30:43the principle reason they had travelled so far from home.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46But for the Inca, it had no monetary value whatsoever.
0:30:46 > 0:30:51To them, its value was purely ceremonial and spiritual.
0:30:52 > 0:30:56Atahualpa then made a famous offer to Pizarro -
0:30:56 > 0:30:58that he would fill a room with gold,
0:30:58 > 0:31:01and twice with silver in return for his release.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04He ordered his officials to melt down jewellery, idols -
0:31:04 > 0:31:07anything they could lay their hands on.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09It's estimated that this ransom was
0:31:09 > 0:31:13worth about £200 million in today's money.
0:31:13 > 0:31:15It was the largest ransom in history.
0:31:15 > 0:31:20Every man under Pizarro's command instantly became fabulously wealthy.
0:31:22 > 0:31:26But they now had a problem - what to do with Atahualpa.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29It's hard to look into the mind of Pizarro
0:31:29 > 0:31:32and his men, but I would anticipate that they saw the power
0:31:32 > 0:31:36that one being, that living being represented for the unity
0:31:36 > 0:31:39of the Inca Empire and that once they had received that ransom,
0:31:39 > 0:31:41I bet that they did anticipate
0:31:41 > 0:31:46that killing him was the only way to save their own skins.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49Atahualpa hoped that by acceding to Pizarro's request,
0:31:49 > 0:31:51providing so much precious metal,
0:31:51 > 0:31:54he would be freed and his empire left in peace.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57But it seems that some Spanish were anxious that,
0:31:57 > 0:32:00if he was released, their small army would soon be crushed by the Inca.
0:32:00 > 0:32:05And so on the evening of 26th July, 1533,
0:32:05 > 0:32:09Atahualpa was led from his cell, into the main square of Cajamarca,
0:32:09 > 0:32:13and, after a hasty trial, he was condemned to be burned at the stake.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18In the Inca religion, bodies were
0:32:18 > 0:32:24mummified to go into the next world, but the body had to be intact.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28And so they got him to do a deathbed conversion to
0:32:28 > 0:32:34Christianity. And that was in return for not damaging his body.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37And then they even reneged on that.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40Killed him, they then set fire to his body.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56When they captured Atahualpa, the Spanish decapitated his army.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00When they killed him, they decapitated an empire.
0:33:00 > 0:33:04Well, the Sapa Inca is
0:33:04 > 0:33:08the representation of the unity of the empire. If given time to
0:33:08 > 0:33:11work out a succession system among the elite groups in Cuzco
0:33:11 > 0:33:16and in Ecuador, the Inca very well could have come up with
0:33:16 > 0:33:19a succession that would have yielded a new Sapa Inca, a new leader
0:33:19 > 0:33:23who would have unified the empire, but the Spanish short-changed that.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26They cut the legs off from under that process.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30That was probably the most strategic decision they unwittingly made.
0:33:31 > 0:33:37With the empire leaderless, the Spanish seized the initiative.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40They made alliances with the northern peoples the Incas
0:33:40 > 0:33:41had fought so long to conquer.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44And they set about destroying the remaining Inca armies
0:33:44 > 0:33:46on their way to Cuzco.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50And they brought with them a secret weapon, which the Inca were simply
0:33:50 > 0:33:51unable to deal with.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56But this wasn't the latest European technology.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58It was the horse.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05Horses had dominated European warfare for centuries,
0:34:05 > 0:34:07but they were completely alien to the Inca.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10They'd never seen anything like them before,
0:34:10 > 0:34:12and had no idea that they could be used as an offensive weapon.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14In fact, the first Inca who saw horses,
0:34:14 > 0:34:18as Pizarro moved inland, thought they could be no threat,
0:34:18 > 0:34:20because they ate grass, rather than humans.
0:34:23 > 0:34:24The only large domesticated
0:34:24 > 0:34:27mammals in the Andes are llamas and alpacas.
0:34:27 > 0:34:28Nobody ever rode them -
0:34:28 > 0:34:31they were beasts of burden who would take small packs.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35No-one had ever seen, or conceived of, that a warrior that would
0:34:35 > 0:34:39ride a large beast. And the warfare tactics that were developed were
0:34:39 > 0:34:43developed for fighting hand-to-hand with men, or projectiles with men.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45Not for fighting cavalry.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48Not for fighting men on horseback, and so it was a very, very,
0:34:48 > 0:34:50different system of warfare that they had never
0:34:50 > 0:34:53encountered before and were not prepared for, frankly.
0:34:53 > 0:34:56Horses gave the Spanish mobility and speed,
0:34:56 > 0:35:00allowing them to outflank whole armies of Inca foot-soldiers.
0:35:00 > 0:35:03And when you are up here, it's much easier to kill a man.
0:35:03 > 0:35:08You have height, you can thrust straight down into the crowd.
0:35:08 > 0:35:12The horses were almost always revered by the Inca soldiers
0:35:12 > 0:35:16because they gave the mounted Spaniards so much advantage.
0:35:16 > 0:35:23Police today, to this day, quelling a demonstration, will use horses.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29Horses were the tanks of the conquest.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32Throughout the empire, they were used to
0:35:32 > 0:35:34charge into ranks of terrified soldiers.
0:35:34 > 0:35:38To the Incan mind, it reinforced the sense that the conquistadors
0:35:38 > 0:35:40were invincible.
0:35:43 > 0:35:47A charge of horses was like modern-day "shock and awe" warfare,
0:35:47 > 0:35:50combining physical strength with psychological
0:35:50 > 0:35:53domination of the enemy, confronting them
0:35:53 > 0:35:58with something they had never seen before and struggled to comprehend.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02Barely a year after capturing Atahualpa, Pizarro had
0:36:02 > 0:36:03reached Cuzco.
0:36:08 > 0:36:11The rapid success of the Spanish traumatised the empire,
0:36:11 > 0:36:15throwing its delicate systems of government into chaos.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18And thanks to a fantastic discovery, we have a snapshot of life,
0:36:18 > 0:36:21and death, at this time.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28In 1999, Guillermo Cock and his colleagues found an Inca
0:36:28 > 0:36:33burial ground dating from the exact moment of the Spanish conquest.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36One of the people found there was a young woman,
0:36:36 > 0:36:39now known as La Senorita.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45She was born just before the conquest.
0:36:45 > 0:36:49We believe that she was born
0:36:49 > 0:36:54somewhere between 1526, 1528.
0:36:56 > 0:37:01She was not buried in a flexed position, as you notice immediately.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04She was buried extended and she was buried, no,
0:37:04 > 0:37:08with the hands on top of the chest, as a Christian.
0:37:08 > 0:37:10That means that she was baptized.
0:37:12 > 0:37:16La Senorita was born into a world of sun worship
0:37:16 > 0:37:18and of elaborate Inca religious ritual.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21But she died worshipping another god.
0:37:21 > 0:37:25And her health may have been poor. In an empire which could
0:37:25 > 0:37:29feed its people, Guillermo believes she probably died hungry.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33She was poorly fed.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36She died because of malnutrition.
0:37:37 > 0:37:41If she would have lived a week more, she would have lost all of her teeth
0:37:41 > 0:37:46at the same time because of the infection that she had in her mouth.
0:37:47 > 0:37:51Guillermo hasn't been able to tell for sure whether La Senorita
0:37:51 > 0:37:54suffered from a European disease like smallpox or measles,
0:37:54 > 0:38:00because identifiable traces of these diseases can be hard to find.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03But he believes new diseases would have been present
0:38:03 > 0:38:08in the community at the time of La Senorita's death, arriving with,
0:38:08 > 0:38:12or maybe even before, Francisco Pizarro and his conquistadors.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15Chances are that, before Pizarro,
0:38:15 > 0:38:20the diseases were already here.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24With a more limited spread, but since the natives used to sail and
0:38:24 > 0:38:31trade to the north, they may have brought some of the diseases.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36These diseases spread rapidly along the Incas' extensive road network.
0:38:36 > 0:38:40These 40,000km of road, which had once held the vast
0:38:40 > 0:38:47empire together, were now aiding the spread of deadly epidemics.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50The communication networks in the Incan Empire were
0:38:50 > 0:38:54excellent, and the Inca used to move people around. And so this migration
0:38:54 > 0:38:57of population around the place would have helped to have transmitted
0:38:57 > 0:39:01disease between different, really quite remote communities.
0:39:05 > 0:39:07There were communicable diseases that
0:39:07 > 0:39:11would run riot through a population that is not prepared for it,
0:39:11 > 0:39:13that has no in-built natural resistance to it,
0:39:13 > 0:39:17so I think it's entirely possible that these diseases really
0:39:17 > 0:39:21did some of the groundwork for the invading Europeans.
0:39:21 > 0:39:23And when we start to
0:39:23 > 0:39:25think about percentages of population decrease,
0:39:25 > 0:39:29what percentage of the population was affected by European disease?
0:39:29 > 0:39:31On the coast it was terrible.
0:39:31 > 0:39:38By 1575, at least 70%, 75% of the coastal
0:39:38 > 0:39:44population was gone. And by 1610, there was another major
0:39:44 > 0:39:50counting of people - between 87 and 93% were gone.
0:39:51 > 0:39:54This represents a staggering loss of life,
0:39:54 > 0:39:58which continued for generations after the conquest.
0:39:58 > 0:40:02A whirlwind of death which would have devastated any empire,
0:40:02 > 0:40:05even one as big and well-developed as the Inca.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09La Senorita is an incredible mummy.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12She provides this wonderful window of opportunity on the European
0:40:12 > 0:40:16impact on Inca society, both culturally and physically.
0:40:16 > 0:40:20But for me, it's this question of disease which is crucial,
0:40:20 > 0:40:22because I think the Inca society would have
0:40:22 > 0:40:26continued for centuries if it wasn't for European arrival.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29But no society can survive the 50-90% of population
0:40:29 > 0:40:32decline that we think that European disease
0:40:32 > 0:40:35effected on the indigenous population.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00As individuals, we are all strong and weak
0:41:00 > 0:41:03at different times in our lives - physically, emotionally,
0:41:03 > 0:41:06politically - and it is where we are on that spectrum
0:41:06 > 0:41:09when chance meetings or key events occur that defines the decisions
0:41:09 > 0:41:14we'll make, and therefore the pathway that our lives will take.
0:41:14 > 0:41:18Societies and empires are no different. Power structures
0:41:18 > 0:41:21waxing and waning as they morph and change through time.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25Therefore, if we are weak when these key events occur,
0:41:25 > 0:41:29our vulnerability can increase exponentially.
0:41:32 > 0:41:34This is what happened to the Inca.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37Terrible new diseases had infected the people.
0:41:37 > 0:41:41In the north, their inability to build a peaceful empire had
0:41:41 > 0:41:44undermined the strategy which gave the empire its strength.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48Their failure to arrange an orderly succession had led to political
0:41:48 > 0:41:53chaos and civil war, weakening them just as the Spanish arrived.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56And as the infrastructure of empire crumbled,
0:41:56 > 0:41:59the bargain the Inca had made with the people
0:41:59 > 0:42:03they governed, that their rule would bring benefits in reliable
0:42:03 > 0:42:07food supplies and efficient social organisation, fell apart as well.
0:42:12 > 0:42:16Soon, Pizarro's small band were joined by hundreds, then thousands
0:42:16 > 0:42:22more Europeans, attracted by the promise of gold, silver and land.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25In little more than a year,
0:42:25 > 0:42:28one empire in the Andes began to replace another.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36And one of the first buildings the Spanish built in celebration
0:42:36 > 0:42:39was this beautiful church in Quito.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51Today, all that remains of the last independent Inca
0:42:51 > 0:42:54ruler are the bodies of his descendants,
0:42:54 > 0:42:57hidden away in the catacombs beneath the Church.
0:42:58 > 0:43:00So we're right underneath the Covenento Maximo de
0:43:00 > 0:43:02San Francisco de Quito.
0:43:02 > 0:43:06It's one of the earliest churches built in South America, in AD 1534.
0:43:06 > 0:43:09And why it's important is that it's a church
0:43:09 > 0:43:13built on the foundations of the palace of Atahualpa.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16So it really represents this turning point for the Inca elite as we
0:43:16 > 0:43:21see this transition from Atahualpa's palace into a Christian space.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24And what's different about the Inca noble elite living
0:43:24 > 0:43:26here at the time is that, unlike in Cuzco, where many of them
0:43:26 > 0:43:30are killed, people here live on and they adopt a Christian way of life.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36In some ways, these skulls are symbols of the final
0:43:36 > 0:43:39defeat of the Inca.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41They show an elite capitulating to the Spanish,
0:43:41 > 0:43:43converting to Christianity.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46Even their final resting place emphasises their defeat,
0:43:46 > 0:43:51underneath a Catholic Church built right on top of Atahualpa's palace.
0:43:55 > 0:43:58But despite the catastrophes which had befallen them, there was
0:43:58 > 0:44:00a resilience to the Inca.
0:44:00 > 0:44:02And it would be a mistake to think that all of them
0:44:02 > 0:44:04meekly accepted their fate
0:44:07 > 0:44:09Back in Guillermo Cock's lab in Lima,
0:44:09 > 0:44:11there are some more interesting skulls.
0:44:11 > 0:44:15The remains of 70 people found in a mass grave,
0:44:15 > 0:44:18dating from three years after the Spanish arrived.
0:44:19 > 0:44:22At first, we thought they were poor people
0:44:22 > 0:44:28but then we realised that many of the individuals have injuries,
0:44:28 > 0:44:31and pretty bad injuries.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34This person, and those dumped in the grave with them,
0:44:34 > 0:44:37died a violent death.
0:44:37 > 0:44:41We have a powerful hit on the head,
0:44:41 > 0:44:45on the left side, that has been produced by something
0:44:45 > 0:44:47sharp in a 45-degree angle.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50We have clear evidence there.
0:44:50 > 0:44:54We have also a smash on the side of the head with something very,
0:44:54 > 0:44:58very powerful. The right arm, the left arm,
0:44:58 > 0:45:02the bones in the chest, shows the evidence of combat.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04You don't have to be a genius!
0:45:04 > 0:45:05HE LAUGHS
0:45:05 > 0:45:08- No, it's pretty clear evidence. - It's very clear.
0:45:08 > 0:45:11These deaths occurred after the Spanish arrived.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14In other words, these men and women were rebelling against Spanish
0:45:14 > 0:45:18rule, resisting them in the new colonial capital, Lima.
0:45:20 > 0:45:21We are 100% sure
0:45:21 > 0:45:24they are all indigenous, they are all also from the same area.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28And many of them joined the Inca troops
0:45:28 > 0:45:32and went in to the siege of Lima, and they were killed there.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35The leader of the rebellion was Manco Inca,
0:45:35 > 0:45:37another son of Huayna Capac.
0:45:37 > 0:45:42In 1533, the Spanish had installed him as Sapa Inca in Cuzco,
0:45:42 > 0:45:45with all the pomp and ceremony of his predecessors.
0:45:52 > 0:45:55Manco Inca hoped that, by cooperating with the Spanish,
0:45:55 > 0:45:57he could maintain his empire.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00But he soon realised he had been tricked.
0:46:00 > 0:46:02As he sat in his palace, here in Cuzco,
0:46:02 > 0:46:06he received reports of his empire falling apart, its administration
0:46:06 > 0:46:10in disarray, and the ruthless plundering by the conquistadores.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15There had been personal slights, too -
0:46:15 > 0:46:18Spanish officials pestering him for jewellery and gold.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21Pizarro's brother had even stolen his wife.
0:46:21 > 0:46:25Only two years after being installed by Pizarro, Manco Inca
0:46:25 > 0:46:28decided to rebel.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31Under the noses of the Spanish, he assembled a huge army
0:46:31 > 0:46:34and prepared to re-take Cuzco.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40The Incan army surrounded the city, covering the hills and plains.
0:46:40 > 0:46:42It must have been a magnificent sight,
0:46:42 > 0:46:47but a horrifying one for the Spanish holed up in the city centre.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50One Spaniard described the Incan army as a "black carpet"
0:46:50 > 0:46:54by day, and "a clear sky filled with stars" at night,
0:46:54 > 0:46:56as their campfires lit up the landscape.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01There were fewer than 200 Spaniards in Cuzco
0:47:01 > 0:47:04when Manco Inca arrived at the gates.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07They desperately sent messages to Lima for help.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10Messages which didn't arrive.
0:47:11 > 0:47:14The Incas had developed one tactic that did seem
0:47:14 > 0:47:16to be able to kill Spaniards.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20Peru is very mountainous, so they trapped them in...
0:47:20 > 0:47:24where they knew a road was going through - a narrow gorge.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26They trapped them at either end
0:47:26 > 0:47:29and then rolled huge stones down on them.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33And they managed to kill most of those relief expeditions in that way.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37It looked like the Spanish empire in Peru was about to come to
0:47:37 > 0:47:39an abrupt end.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43But despite the Incas' overwhelming numerical advantage,
0:47:43 > 0:47:45the attack stalled.
0:47:45 > 0:47:49Manco Inca's rebellion illustrates some of the strengths
0:47:49 > 0:47:51and weakness of the Inca empire.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54On the one hand, he was able to assemble a vast
0:47:54 > 0:47:58army of over 100,000 loyal warriors, right under the nose
0:47:58 > 0:48:02of the Spanish whilst essentially under military occupation.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05But on the other, he was unable to take the swift and decisive
0:48:05 > 0:48:09military action necessary, against an army far inferior in number.
0:48:09 > 0:48:12And that's because when they arrived at the battlefield, they spent
0:48:12 > 0:48:16days feasting, doing ceremonies, and consulting the oracles.
0:48:16 > 0:48:21Anything, that is, except actually attacking.
0:48:21 > 0:48:26Inca battle tactics had consisted of a vast show of force designed
0:48:26 > 0:48:28to persuade their enemies not to resist.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31This had worked for previous Sapa Incas,
0:48:31 > 0:48:34allowing them to build an empire with minimal bloodshed.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37But these tactics didn't impress the Spanish,
0:48:37 > 0:48:40who used the delay to dig in and wait for help.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47It seems to me that what underpins Inca power is fundamentally
0:48:47 > 0:48:51a shared understanding of the way the world should work.
0:48:51 > 0:48:55And when an empire arrives who play by a completely different
0:48:55 > 0:48:57set of rules, they become powerless.
0:48:57 > 0:48:59I think the failures of Manco Inca
0:48:59 > 0:49:01and Atahualpa can be explained by this.
0:49:01 > 0:49:04From a military perspective, Manco Inca wastes days before he
0:49:04 > 0:49:08attacks the Spanish, following his customs and elaborate ceremonies.
0:49:08 > 0:49:10And Atahualpa - for him
0:49:10 > 0:49:13it's completely inconceivable that during an imperial delegation
0:49:13 > 0:49:16to meet Pizarro he might be attacked and kidnapped.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19After months of bloody skirmishes around the city,
0:49:19 > 0:49:23Spanish reinforcements finally arrived.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26Manco Inca realised his rebellion had failed.
0:49:26 > 0:49:28He had no choice but to retreat -
0:49:28 > 0:49:31as far away from the Spanish as he could.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46His destination was the remote, mountainous region of Vilcabamba.
0:49:54 > 0:49:57Although only a few days' march from Cuzco, this area
0:49:57 > 0:50:00was difficult for the Spanish to penetrate.
0:50:03 > 0:50:07Protected by steep mountainsides and encircled by rivers, the Vilcabamba
0:50:07 > 0:50:11region offered protection to Manco Inca and his shattered people.
0:50:16 > 0:50:19The Inca arrived here in 1537.
0:50:19 > 0:50:23Five years earlier, the empire had stretched across a continent.
0:50:23 > 0:50:28Now it was reduced to a small patch of mountainous forest.
0:50:28 > 0:50:32Its centre, the new Cuzco, was the town of Vitcos.
0:50:49 > 0:50:51I really love this site of Vitcos.
0:50:51 > 0:50:53It's on this beautiful promontory with
0:50:53 > 0:50:57valleys on either side, surrounded by high mountains covered in mist.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00There are some real parallels with Machu Picchu.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03But whereas that site is visited thousands of times every
0:51:03 > 0:51:06single day, hardly anyone ever comes here.
0:51:06 > 0:51:08And this site really tells the important
0:51:08 > 0:51:12story about the end of the Inca empire.
0:51:25 > 0:51:26THEY SPEAK IN SPANISH
0:51:31 > 0:51:34Miriam Dayde Araoz Silva is one of the few archaeologists who
0:51:34 > 0:51:37has excavated this remote site.
0:52:10 > 0:52:13Vitcos had been built during the first flush of empire,
0:52:13 > 0:52:16as the Inca expanded from Cuzco.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19But now this isolated region would be the base for the resistance,
0:52:19 > 0:52:24the location from which Manco Inca hoped to rebuild Inca power.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32When Manco Inca first pulls into Vilcabamba,
0:52:32 > 0:52:35there's armed conflict back and forth.
0:52:36 > 0:52:39Manco Inca saw the Inca empire at its height,
0:52:39 > 0:52:46and he knew what he was losing and he was wanting to fight back.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49But in 1545, Manco Inca died.
0:52:49 > 0:52:53His was the last serious rebellion against Spanish rule.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57And after his death, his small Inca dominion was increasingly
0:52:57 > 0:53:00encroached upon by Spanish officials and missionaries.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42One part of their diminished empire that the Inca wanted to keep
0:53:42 > 0:53:46safe from the Spanish was this - Yurak Rumi, the White Stone.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54It had been a shrine at the height of empire.
0:53:54 > 0:53:58But now it had become one of the last places on Earth
0:53:58 > 0:54:01where the Inca could worship openly.
0:54:01 > 0:54:05Today, it is a place of extraordinary serenity.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14These elaborately carved rocks are an iconic
0:54:14 > 0:54:16feature of the religious landscape of the Inca.
0:54:16 > 0:54:20And this one shows how the ideology is persisting,
0:54:20 > 0:54:23even here at Vitcos, right at the end of the empire.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26In front of this rock would have been carried out elaborate
0:54:26 > 0:54:29ceremonies, and over there you can see structures remaining that might
0:54:29 > 0:54:32have housed the priests who controlled access to the site.
0:54:32 > 0:54:36And that, ultimately, was too much for the Spanish.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39In 1570, missionaries and their converts held
0:54:39 > 0:54:43an exorcism of this shrine, before setting fire to it.
0:54:43 > 0:54:47It proved to be the prelude to a larger attack on the entire
0:54:47 > 0:54:49Vilcabamba region.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52The Spaniards send a diplomatic
0:54:52 > 0:54:58mission into Vilcabamba and that mission is killed by the Incas.
0:54:58 > 0:55:01When the Spanish learn the ambassador has been killed,
0:55:01 > 0:55:05they launch a massive raid into Vilcabamba.
0:55:08 > 0:55:10The Inca had preserved an independent state
0:55:10 > 0:55:13here for nearly 40 years.
0:55:13 > 0:55:15But the destruction of Yurak Rumi signalled
0:55:15 > 0:55:18the end of the Inca as an independent people.
0:55:18 > 0:55:22The empire's cities and shrines were left to fall into ruin.
0:55:26 > 0:55:27In many ways,
0:55:27 > 0:55:30the story of this shrine reflects that of the Inca empire.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33It was founded in the mid-1400s during one of the early Inca
0:55:33 > 0:55:37expansions and its fateful end came when it was razed to the ground
0:55:37 > 0:55:43in 1570 by Christians who saw it as symbolic of the Inca resistance.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45But there's a story that I really like,
0:55:45 > 0:55:48and that's an archaeologist who was working here only a few years
0:55:48 > 0:55:52ago, who saw people coming here to make offerings of maize and coca.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55So I think the symbolic power of this place is still alive
0:55:55 > 0:55:57amongst the population today.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02And you can still sense the power of the Inca as you travel
0:56:02 > 0:56:05through the lands that made up their empire.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08Modern highways follow Inca roads.
0:56:08 > 0:56:13Incan agricultural terraces are being restored and reused.
0:56:13 > 0:56:18And respect for the earth, for this incredible landscape,
0:56:18 > 0:56:21is strong among the people who live here today.
0:56:21 > 0:56:25Indigenous groups within the Andes have been
0:56:25 > 0:56:29battered by colonial
0:56:29 > 0:56:34and republican forces for all the period since the Inca empire.
0:56:35 > 0:56:39But today I think the ideals of the Inca empire are used by some
0:56:39 > 0:56:43of those indigenous groups to fight and say that, "We deserve the voice
0:56:43 > 0:56:48to be able to run our communities as we wish, and that we have had
0:56:48 > 0:56:54the force to construct a society that is as sophisticated as anything
0:56:54 > 0:56:59else in the world and we can do that again within our own society today.
0:57:02 > 0:57:06The ingenuity of the Inca lay ultimately in their incredible
0:57:06 > 0:57:10achievements in agriculture, architecture, diplomacy
0:57:10 > 0:57:12and nation-building.
0:57:12 > 0:57:16Achievements which combined to give their empire a very distinct
0:57:16 > 0:57:19and unusual source of power.
0:57:19 > 0:57:22The source of power in many of the Andean
0:57:22 > 0:57:25nations still harkens back to the memory of the Inca
0:57:25 > 0:57:28and the great unity that they were able to provide over very
0:57:28 > 0:57:31diverse environments and very diverse populations.
0:57:31 > 0:57:34And so Andean leaders, I think, still look at the Inca
0:57:34 > 0:57:42as a source of unification and a means of emulating what they did.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51The Inca empire may have flourished comparatively fleetingly,
0:57:51 > 0:57:54but I think it's one of the most intriguing empires the world
0:57:54 > 0:57:56has ever seen.
0:57:56 > 0:57:59Not just because of the astonishing way in which the Inca
0:57:59 > 0:58:02developed an empire of such magnitude and complexity,
0:58:02 > 0:58:06nor because of their ingenious innovations in agriculture,
0:58:06 > 0:58:08architecture and engineering.
0:58:08 > 0:58:11But for me, it's because they offer a completely different
0:58:11 > 0:58:15perspective on how to live our lives, and at a time when Peru,
0:58:15 > 0:58:20South America, and the world faces some pretty major challenges to
0:58:20 > 0:58:24our way of life, I think we have a huge amount to learn from the Inca.