The Rest Is History – Episode 647

The Fall of the Incas: The King in the North (Part 4)

Release Date: February 26, 2026
Hosts: Tom Holland & Dominic Sandbrook

Episode Overview

In this gripping continuation of the "Fall of the Incas" series, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook unfurl the dramatic aftermath of Atahualpa’s execution, the Spanish push toward Cuzco, the intensifying scramble for gold, and the epic civil war that tears apart what remains of the Inca empire. With trademark humor, vivid imagery, and razor-sharp analysis, the hosts examine the rivalries—both Spanish and Inca—the role of indigenous allies and enemies, and the brutal realities of conquest, culminating in the arrival of new power players and one of the era’s bloodiest battles. The story is punctuated by dark wit, offbeat tangents, and memorable asides about golden llamas, human drums, colonial hubris, and the fate of Inca royalty.

Key Themes & Insights

1. The Aftermath of Atahualpa’s Death and the Race for Gold

• [02:36] Tom Holland opens with a theatrical reading describing the gold-clad Coricancha (Temple of the Sun in Cuzco), highlighting the Spaniards' awe and greed.
• The Spanish have executed Atahualpa and begin to loot Cuzco, igniting what is arguably “the greatest gold heist in history.”
  • “This is the story of one of the greatest gold heists, surely, actually the greatest gold heist in history.” — Dominic Sandbrook [05:31]
• Arrival of more Spaniards, inspired by tales of boundless riches: “If you're young, if you fancy yourself as an adventurer, Peru is where you now go.” — Dominic Sandbrook [11:37]
• The gold rush mentality ensures the doom of the Incas as waves of Spaniards pour in, eager to claim their own fortune.

2. Reordering Power: Puppet Emperors and Divided Allegiances

• The Spaniards, after killing Atahualpa, back first Tupac Hualpa and later Manco, both relatives of the old royal line, as puppet emperors in an effort to legitimize and stabilize their conquest.
  • Intriguing parallels are drawn to late Roman emperors guarded by foreign mercenaries. [09:07]
• The Spanish strategically avoid antagonizing local Inca religion early on, focusing instead on gold extraction rather than religious conversion or destruction.
  • “It's all about the gold.” — Tom Holland [08:29]
• Internal divisions among the Incas (the Civil War between the northern Quito faction and the southern Cuzco/Huascar loyalists) critically weaken their resistance:
  • “This isn't Spanish versus Incas. It's Spanish and half of the Inca empire against the other half.” — Dominic Sandbrook [20:08]

3. The Hard March to Cuzco and Local Dynamics

• Description of the brutal, mountainous trek by the conquistadors toward Cuzco, plagued by ambushes, disease, altitude sickness, and environmental hazards.
  • “They're going 800 miles almost south across the central Andes... one of the most staggering invasions in history.” — Dominic Sandbrook [13:59]
• Some villages greet the Spaniards as liberators due to the ongoing Inca civil war:
  • “The natives all came out onto the road to look at the Christians and greatly celebrated their arrival, for they thought it would mean their escape from the servitude in which they were held by that foreign army.” — Spanish chronicler, quoted by Dominic Sandbrook [17:01]
• The Spanish military advantage in horses and steel weaponry stymies even vastly superior Inca numbers.
  • “A handful of horses can see off hundreds and hundreds of men who are terrified. And they don't know how to bring them down.” — Dominic Sandbrook [13:18]

4. Arrival at Cuzco and the ‘Wonder of the Earth’

• Cuzco’s treasures described with awe and incredulity (golden llamas, intricate city planning, ceremonial mummies).
  • “So if you imagine it, Cusco then, is now spread across the foothills... Its buildings were kind of one story, made of stone or adobe, and they were thatched. There was a grid system. It's very clean, it's very orderly.” — Dominic Sandbrook [25:59]
• Manco is crowned Sapa Inca in a fusion of Inca and Spanish ceremonial traditions, complete with the public procession of mummies:
  • “There were so many people in the parties and both men and women were such heavy drinkers that all day two wide drains ran with urine as abundantly as a flowing spring.” — Miguel de Estete, quoted by Dominic Sandbrook [35:31]
• Consequences of excessive Spanish greed and disdain for Inca religious protocols:
  • “Their only concern was to collect gold and silver to make themselves all rich without thinking that what they were doing was wrong and that they were wrecking and destroying. For what was being destroyed was more perfect than anything they possessed.” — Cristobal de Molina, quoted by Dominic Sandbrook [44:56]

5. Northern Resistance: The Human Drum and the ‘King in the North’

• Introduction of Rumiñahui, the ruthless northern Inca general, who eliminates rivals by turning them into a drum:
  • “He extracted all the bones through a certain part…leaving the skin intact and made him into a drum.” — chronicler, quoted by Dominic Sandbrook [49:16]
• The Spanish gold rush draws notorious figures from other conquests, notably Pedro de Alvarado, whose reputation for brutality stands out even among conquistadors.
• A massive, largely indigenous battle (Battle of Teocacas/Chimborazo) unfolds with huge stakes and immense bloodshed [54:52–57:33].
  • “Oviedo's account is great actually. He says it started with this sort of Lord of the Rings…charge by the Spanish cavalry. They're all shouting Santiago. And I quote: ‘they attacked fiercely, trampling the Indians under their horses and causing great bloodshed with their lances.’” — Dominic Sandbrook [55:15]

6. Collapse and Rivalry Among the Conquistadors

• Key Spaniards (Almagro and Pedro de Alvarado) race to claim northern riches, but only find destruction. Rumiñahui burns Quito and escapes, slaughtering sacred "Sun Virgins" rather than let them fall into Spanish hands [57:33–58:26].
• Mutual Spanish distrust turns tense as factions threaten civil strife over the spoils.
• Most Inca holdouts are destroyed or capitulate; both indigenous and Spanish leadership cycles through betrayal, disillusion, and violence.
  • “Kiskis says, you cowards. I would rather starve in the wilds than bend the knee and surrender my country...” — Dominic Sandbrook [63:15]
  • “He reminds me of Charles de Gaulle.” — Tom Holland [63:15, joking about Kiskis]

7. Transformation of Peru: Colonization and Rising Tensions

• With quarries of gold exhausted, the Spanish shift focus to distributing land and people (encomienda system), sowing seeds for settler colonialism.
  • “If you want a really good example of extractive settler colonialism, this is a very good one.” — Dominic Sandbrook [69:46]
• The native population is rapidly subjugated, and abuses proliferate despite the Crown’s official policy.
• Manco, now a puppet emperor, realizes his tenuous position as a Spanish client—his own powerbase shrinking, surrounded by predatory conquistadors and growing Spanish civil unrest.
  • “His position, of course, is incredibly insecure...there are complaints…The Spanish are behaving badly…raiding villages, they're searching for gold…” — Dominic Sandbrook [69:44]
• Hint at coming crisis and rebellion: Manco moves toward open resistance—setting up the siege of Cuzco and Pizarro’s darkest hour, which will be explored in the next installment.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the spectacle of Inca Cuzco:
  “[The] garden of the sun at Cusco—a wonder of the earth…Life-size 20 golden llamas grazing with their kids.” — Tom Holland (as De Soto in “Hunt of the Sun”) [02:36]

• On Spanish greed:
  “But the lust for more and more just seems to seize them. And the competitiveness and the fear that your gold will be taken away, I suppose that's at the back of their mind the whole time.” — Dominic Sandbrook [44:25]

• On the failure of Inca resistance:
  “The weight of Spanish technology, of numbers and also disease…Smallpox has made its entrance and will continue to decimate the populations of South America.” — Dominic Sandbrook [13:26]

• Darker humor about conquest:
  “We love an Inca warlord who turns his victims into percussion instruments. On the rest is history.” — Tom Holland [06:03]

• On Spanish legal absurdities:
  “It's this mad legal thing that the Spanish have to read—the history of the world, the story of Christ, the history of the papacy…If they don't [submit], the Spanish are legally obliged to do you ‘all the harm and damage that we can, and any deaths and losses which shall result from this are your fault.’” — Dominic Sandbrook [36:06]

• On cruelty and collapse:
  “Even the official royal chronicler of the expedition said this was cruelty unworthy of a Castilian God.” — Dominic Sandbrook [58:56]

• On lasting effects:
  “If young Manco…is watching this in his palace, he is thinking, what's happening? My empire has been given away around me.” — Dominic Sandbrook [69:44]

Timestamps – Significant Segments

• [02:36]—Tom’s dramatic description of Coricancha (Temple of the Sun)
• [05:31]—Defining the conquest as history’s greatest gold heist
• [08:29]—Spanish focus on gold over religious conversion
• [13:59]—Description of the Spanish march to Cuzco
• [20:08]—Division among Inca and Spanish manipulation of civil war
• [25:59]—Arrival in Cuzco, spectacle and layout
• [34:33–35:49]—Coronation of Manco and Inca funeral/mummy processions
• [44:56]—Moral reckoning over Spanish destruction of Inca culture
• [49:16]—Rumiñahui’s infamous “human drum” episode
• [54:52–57:33]—The battle in the north: Spanish and indigenous stakes
• [58:56]—Even royal chroniclers repulsed by Spanish cruelty in Quito
• [69:34]—Emergence of the encomienda and settler colonialism
• [70:44]—Mounting pressure pushing Manco toward rebellion

Tone & Style

The episode exemplifies Tom and Dominic’s signature blend of drama, deep research, irreverent humor, and sharply observed parallels. They move seamlessly from grand narrative and moral reckoning to playful tangents (e.g., which monarch they’d sleep with if mummified, [29:04]), always returning to the profound tragedy and consequences of the conquest. Listeners experience both the almost mythic scale of Inca civilization’s destruction and the all-too-human absurdities and ironies at the heart of history.

Preview for Next Episode

The podcast closes with a tantalizing cliffhanger: Manco, disillusioned and desperate, is about to challenge his Spanish “allies.” Civil war among the Spanish looms, and the stage is set for the dramatic Siege of Cuzco—one of the age’s greatest and bloodiest confrontations.

For exclusive early access to the next installment and bonus content, listeners are directed to join The Rest Is History Club.