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Atahualpa didn't come alone. He arrived with thousands — some accounts say 80,00
1532 Event

November 15

Pizarro Meets the Inca Emperor: The Trap Is Set

Atahualpa didn't come alone. He arrived with thousands — some accounts say 80,000 troops camped nearby — yet he walked into Cajamarca's plaza the next day anyway. Hernando de Soto rode his horse deliberately close, trying to unnerve him. Atahualpa didn't flinch. That first meeting felt like diplomacy. But Pizarro had already written the script. Within 24 hours, Atahualpa was a prisoner. The most powerful man in the Americas had walked straight into a trap he couldn't see — because nothing in his world had prepared him for Europeans.

November 15, 1532

494 years ago

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