Atahualpa wasn't stupid. While he may not have realized the power of the Spanish cannons and horses, he knew what they were after: precious metals. The conquistadors weren't seeking gold and silver for their own use. In order to gain prestige back home, they had to bring back goods for the crown. There's lots of great food native to the Americas that would go on to change European cuisine (tomatoes and potatoes to name a few), but food can spoil. Gold has the virtue of not spoiling and being very valuable in Spain. Thus men like Pizarro sought it in order to gain favor with the Spanish crown.
As the immortal god-king of most of the Andes, Atahualpa had a lot of gold and silver at his disposal. It was not as valuable to the Incas as it was to the Spanish. So Atahualpa made an impressive offer to his captors: he would give them a room 22 ft by 17 ft filled with gold and two more filled with silver in exchange for his freedom. Pizarro agreed.
The city of Cusco was stripped of almost anything gold or silver. Caravans of llamas transported Cusco's
precious metals to Cajamarca from December 1532 to May 1533 when the price was
fulfilled. The gold and silver was melted and sent back to Spain. “To show his thanks, Pizarro
reneged on his promise and ordered Atahualpa garroted in the Cajamarca
town square” (Adams). Like we established earlier, Pizarro was a bastard.
Pizarro lead his forces to Cusco and took
the palace for himself. He began to rule through the puppet king, Manco Inca.
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