Battle of Ollantaytambo 1537
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 1537 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Peru | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | South America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Hispanic Monarchy, Inca Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | -13.2581, -72.2633 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Ollantaytambo (Spanish: Batalla de Ollantaytambo, IPA: [baˈtaʎa ðe oʎantajˈtambo]) took place in January 1537, between the forces of Inca emperor Manco Inca and a Spanish expedition led by Hernando Pizarro during the Spanish conquest of Peru. A former ally of the Spaniards, Manco Inca rebelled in May 1536, and besieged a Spanish garrison in the city of Cusco. To end the stand-off, the besieged mounted a raid against the emperor's headquarters in the town of Ollantaytambo. The expedition, commanded by Hernando Pizarro, included 100 Spaniards and some 30,000 Indian auxiliaries against an Inca army of more than 20,000.
There is some controversy over the actual location of the battle; according to some, it took place in the town itself, while Jean-Pierre Protzen and John Hemming argue that the nearby plain of Mascabamba better matches the descriptions of the encounter. In any case, the Inca army managed to defend against the Spanish forces from a set of high terraces and flooded their position by channeling water from the Urubamba River, which greatly hindered the Spanish cavalry. Severely pressed and unable to advance, the Spaniards withdrew by night to Cusco.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Ollantaytambo (revision 1376074803), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Jaquijahuana 1548 · 24 km
- Siege of Cusco 1536 · 42 km
- Battle of Cusco 1533 · 42 km
- Battle of Las Salinas 1538 · 46 km
- Battle of Abancay 1537 · 79 km
- Battle of Sangarará 1780 · 105 km
Other battles of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire
- Battle of Cajamarca 1532
- Battle of Cusco 1533
- Siege of Cusco 1536
All 4 battles of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire →
Browse more: battles in Peru · South America · Early modern battles