Spaniards of the treasures in Cuzco and of the subsequent siege of Cuzco by
Manco Inca, in 1536.
Pedro Pizarro was awarded several encomiendas (a grant of Native labor
and tribute) in Cuzco, Tacna, and Arequipa by Francisco Pizarro. Pedro died,
however, an impoverished man in Arequipa, in 1587, as the income from his
encomiendas dwindled because the number of available Native laborers had
decreased drastically. Although his chronicle, the Relación de los
descubrimientos y conquista de los reinos del Peru (Account of the Discovery
and Conquest of the Kingdoms of Peru) is narrated as an eyewitness account,
it was in fact written decades after the events unfolded. The manuscript was
completed in 1571 and dispatched to Spain to be presented to Philip II. Like
his fellow soldier and eyewitness Diego de Trujillo, Pizarro may have been
commissioned to write his account by Francisco de Toledo, fifth Viceroy of
Peru (1569–1581), who urged the aging conquistadors to write their memoirs.
Pizarro’s account is critical to our understanding of the behavior and stature
of Atahualpa, one claimant to the throne at the time of the Spanish invasion,
and of the deference with which Inca royalty were treated by their attendants.
He notes the obsequiousness of Atahualpa’s retainers, the food he ate and the
manner in which his retainers served him, and the clothing he wore (most
notably a cloak made of bat skins). Pizarro remarked that everything that had
been touched by Atahualpa, including his clothing, which was only worn
once, was discarded and burned. His description of the rituals in Cuzco’s
main plaza, especially the procession of the royal mummies and the food and
drink they were served by their retainers, was copied by many chroniclers,
particularly Bernabé Cobo. Pizarro also marveled at Cuzco’s storehouses and
the feather cloth he saw—passages also subsequently plagiarized by Cobo.
But most astute of all is Pedro Pizarro’s acknowledgment that if the
Spaniards had not found Tahuantinsuyu embroiled in a bloody civil war,
Francisco Pizarro and his men would not have succeeded in toppling
Tahuantinsuyu, unless “over a thousand Spaniards had come simultaneously”
(Pizarro 1921 [1571]).
Further Reading
Pizarro, Pedro. “Relation of the Discovery and Conquest of the Kingdoms of Peru.” Translated and
annotated by Philip Ainsworth Means. 1921 [1571].
https://archive.org/stream/relationofdiscov00pizauoft/relationofdiscov00pizauoft_djvu.txt.
Varón Gabai, Rafael. “Pedro Pizarro (ca. 1513–1587).” In Guide to Documentary Sources for Andean
Studies, 1530–1900, edited by Joanne Pillsbury, vol. 3, 524–28. Norman: University of Oklahoma
Press, 2008.