# The Chronicle of Peru: From Caral and the great Andean civilisations to the Inca empire of Tawantinsuyu, the Spanish conquest and the silver of the Viceroyalty, independence secured at Ayacucho in 1824, the War of the Pacific, the internal armed conflict with the Shining Path, and a turbulent modern republic. History of Peru: From Caral and the great Andean civilisations to the Inca empire of Tawantinsuyu, the Spanish conquest and the silver of the… Canonical: https://terralore.co/country/PER/chronicle Updated: 2026-06-15 Founding: Independence secured at the Battle of Ayacucho — 9 December 1824. Peruvian independence was proclaimed in Lima by Jose de San Martin on 28 July 1821, but Spanish armies still held the highlands, and the cause was sealed only on the battlefield. On 9 December 1824, on the high plateau near Ayacucho, a patriot army under Antonio Jose de Sucre, the foremost lieutenant of Simon Bolivar, decisively defeated the royalist forces of the viceroy, breaking Spanish power in South America and confirming the independence of Peru and of the new republics around it. The campaign had been carried forward by Bolivar after San Martin withdrew from Peru in 1822, the two liberators having differed over the political form the country should take. Peru carries one of the deepest human pasts in the Americas, reaching back roughly five thousand years to the Sacred City of Caral-Supe and through the Chavin, Moche, Nazca and Wari cultures to the Inca empire of Tawantinsuyu, centred on Cusco and crowned by Machu Picchu. In 1532 Francisco Pizarro captured the Inca Atahualpa at Cajamarca and within two years had seized Cusco, and in 1535 he founded Lima as the capital of what became the Viceroyalty of Peru, the richest of Spain's American realms, sustained by the silver of Potosi. Independence was proclaimed by Jose de San Martin in 1821 and secured at the Battle of Ayacucho in December 1824, after which the young republic endured the disastrous War of the Pacific against Chile and a century of instability. Between 1980 and 2000 Peru was torn by an internal armed conflict launched by the Maoist Shining Path, in which the Truth and Reconciliation Commission later estimated that around 69,000 people died or disappeared, and in recent years the country has passed through repeated presidential crises while remaining a constitutional democracy. This file carries the chronicle's sourced event record — every event with its year, summary and source keys (resolved under References below). The full reading narrative lives on the canonical page. ## Caral and the Great Andean Civilisations — c. 3000 BCE - c. 1000 CE Long before the Inca, the deserts, valleys and highlands of Peru cradled some of the oldest and most sophisticated societies of the Americas, from the monumental city of Caral to the temple oracle of Chavin, the realistic potters of the Moche, the desert geoglyphs of Nazca and the expansionist Wari. - c. 3000-1800 BCE: **The Sacred City of Caral-Supe** — On the central coast the monumental city of Caral rises, with pyramids and sunken plazas, among the oldest urban centres of the Americas and the heart of the Norte Chico tradition. [unesco-caral, britannica-peru-history] - c. 900 BCE: **Rise of Chavin de Huantar** — The highland temple of Chavin de Huantar becomes a centre of pilgrimage and oracle, spreading a powerful religious art and ideology across the central Andes. [unesco-chavin, britannica-peru-history] - c. 100-700 CE: **Moche and Nazca cultures** — The Moche of the north coast create realistic pottery and adobe pyramids, while the Nazca of the southern deserts inscribe their giant lines and geoglyphs. [unesco-nazca, britannica-peru-history] - c. 600-1000 CE: **The Wari state** — From the Ayacucho region the Wari build an expansive state with roads and planned centres, prefiguring the imperial methods later used by the Inca. [britannica-peru-history] ## The Inca Empire of Tawantinsuyu — c. 1200 - 1532 From a small kingdom in the valley of Cusco, the Inca built within a few generations the largest empire of pre-Columbian America, Tawantinsuyu, the Realm of the Four Quarters, bound together by roads, terraces and a sun cult and crowned by the mountain sanctuary of Machu Picchu. - c. 1438 CE: **Pachacuti transforms the Inca state** — After defending Cusco against the Chanca, Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui takes power and begins the swift expansion that turns the kingdom of Cusco into the empire of Tawantinsuyu. [britannica-pachacuti, britannica-peru-history] - c. 15th century: **Building of Machu Picchu** — The Inca raise the mountain sanctuary of Machu Picchu above the Urubamba, a masterpiece of stonework later recognised as a World Heritage site. [unesco-machu-picchu] - c. 1471-1493: **Empire at its height** — Under Pachacuti's successors the Inca extend Tawantinsuyu from present-day Colombia to Chile and Argentina, bound by roads, storehouses and the mita labour system. [britannica-pachacuti, unesco-cusco] - c. 1529-1532: **Inca civil war** — A ruinous war of succession between the half-brothers Atahualpa and Huascar divides the empire just as the Spanish appear on its coasts. [britannica-atahualpa] Figures: - Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (reigned c. 1438-1471) — Inca emperor and empire-builder. Ninth Sapa Inca, who after defending Cusco from the Chanca launched the rapid conquests that created the empire of Tawantinsuyu and is credited with the rebuilding of Cusco as a sacred capital. - Atahualpa (c. 1502-1533) — Last reigning Inca emperor. Won the civil war against his half-brother Huascar only to be captured by Francisco Pizarro at Cajamarca in 1532, held for an enormous ransom, and executed in 1533, an event that effectively ended the free Inca empire. ## Conquest and the Viceroyalty of Peru — 1532 - 1780 In 1532 a small Spanish force under Francisco Pizarro seized the Inca Atahualpa at Cajamarca, and within two years the empire had fallen; from the new capital at Lima, founded in 1535, Spain ruled the Viceroyalty of Peru, the richest of its American realms, sustained by the silver of Potosi and the forced labour of its Indigenous peoples. - 16 Nov 1532: **Capture of Atahualpa at Cajamarca** — Francisco Pizarro's small force seizes the Inca emperor Atahualpa at Cajamarca after massacring his escort, a decisive stroke in the conquest of Peru. [britannica-cajamarca, britannica-pizarro] - 29 Aug 1533: **Execution of Atahualpa** — After paying a vast ransom in gold and silver, Atahualpa is executed by the Spanish; with the emperor dead, Pizarro advances on Cusco, taken later that year. [britannica-atahualpa, britannica-pizarro] - 18 Jan 1535: **Founding of Lima** — Pizarro founds Lima, the City of Kings, on the coast; it becomes the capital of the future Viceroyalty of Peru, chosen over Cusco for its links to Spain. [britannica-viceroyalty-peru, britannica-pizarro] - 1542 CE: **Viceroyalty of Peru established** — Spain creates the Viceroyalty of Peru, second of its American viceroyalties, governing most of Spanish South America from Lima for nearly three centuries. [britannica-viceroyalty-peru] - 1545 CE: **The silver of Potosi** — The opening of the great silver mountain of Potosi makes Peru the crown's richest American realm, worked through the forced-labour mita that consumes Indigenous lives. [britannica-viceroyalty-peru, britannica-peru-history] Figures: - Francisco Pizarro (c. 1475-1541) — Spanish conquistador. Leader of the expedition that conquered the Inca empire, captor of Atahualpa at Cajamarca and founder of Lima in 1535. He was assassinated in Lima in 1541 amid feuds among the conquerors. ## Rebellion and Independence — 1780 - 1826 The great Indigenous revolt of Tupac Amaru II in 1780 shook the viceroyalty to its foundations; a generation later the wars of South American independence reached Peru, where San Martin proclaimed freedom in 1821 and the campaigns of Bolivar and Sucre sealed it at Junin and Ayacucho in 1824. - Nov 1780: **Revolt of Tupac Amaru II** — Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui, taking the name Tupac Amaru II, leads a vast Indigenous uprising against Spanish rule across the southern Andes. [britannica-tupac-amaru-ii, britannica-peru-history] - 18 May 1781: **Execution of Tupac Amaru II** — Captured by the Spanish, Tupac Amaru II is forced to witness the deaths of his family and is then executed at Cusco; the rebellion is suppressed but remembered. [britannica-tupac-amaru-ii] - 28 July 1821: **Independence proclaimed by San Martin** — Having entered Lima, Jose de San Martin proclaims the independence of Peru and becomes its Protector, though Spanish armies still hold the highlands. [britannica-peru-independence, britannica-san-martin] - 6 Aug 1824: **Battle of Junin** — Bolivar's forces win a cavalry battle at Junin, opening the way to the final campaign against the royalists in the Peruvian sierra. [britannica-peru-independence] - 9 Dec 1824: **Battle of Ayacucho** — Antonio Jose de Sucre defeats the main royalist army and captures the viceroy at Ayacucho, sealing the independence of Peru and the new South American republics. [britannica-ayacucho, britannica-peru-independence] Figures: - Tupac Amaru II (c. 1740-1781) — Leader of the Indigenous revolt. Cacique and self-proclaimed descendant of the last Inca who led the great Andean rebellion of 1780 against Spanish abuses. Captured and brutally executed at Cusco in 1781, he became an enduring symbol of resistance. - Jose de San Martin (1778-1850) — Liberator and Protector of Peru. Argentine general who, after liberating the south, entered Lima and proclaimed Peruvian independence in 1821, then withdrew in favour of Bolivar after their meeting at Guayaquil. - Simon Bolivar (1783-1830) — Liberator of South America. Venezuelan soldier and statesman who took over the Peruvian campaign and, with his lieutenant Sucre, secured independence at Junin and Ayacucho in 1824; Bolivia is named for him. ## The Young Republic and the War of the Pacific — 1826 - 1948 Independent Peru struggled through decades of caudillo rule and a brief, deceptive prosperity built on guano, before the catastrophic War of the Pacific against Chile cost it the nitrate-rich south; reconstruction and the rise of mass politics, above all the Aprista movement, shaped the early twentieth century. - c. 1840s-1870s: **The guano boom** — Exports of coastal guano as fertiliser bring the Peruvian state a vast but poorly managed windfall, funding reforms including the abolition of slavery in 1854. [britannica-peru-history] - 1879-1883: **War of the Pacific** — Allied with Bolivia, Peru fights Chile over the nitrate-rich Atacama; Chilean forces occupy Lima in 1881 and Peru is defeated. [britannica-war-pacific, britannica-peru-history] - 20 Oct 1883: **Treaty of Ancon** — Peru cedes Tarapaca to Chile and loses control of Tacna and Arica, a humiliating settlement whose final terms were not fixed until 1929. [britannica-war-pacific] - 1919-1930: **The Leguia era** — Augusto Leguia governs Peru for eleven increasingly authoritarian years, promoting public works and a new constitution before falling in the Depression. [britannica-peru-history] - 1924 CE: **Founding of the Aprista movement** — Victor Raul Haya de la Torre founds the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA), a mass movement for social reform that shapes Peruvian politics for decades. [britannica-peru-history] Figures: - Victor Raul Haya de la Torre (1895-1979) — Founder of the Aprista movement. Intellectual and politician who founded APRA in 1924, championing social reform, Indigenous dignity and Latin American unity. Repeatedly persecuted and barred from the presidency, he remained a central figure of Peruvian politics for half a century. ## Reform, the Shining Path, and Modern Peru — 1948 - present After mid-century dictatorships and a radical military reform government, Peru returned to democracy only to be plunged into a brutal internal armed conflict with the Maoist Shining Path; the violence was largely contained in the 1990s, but the new century has brought economic growth alongside chronic corruption and a cascade of presidential crises. - 1968-1975: **Velasco and the military reforms** — General Juan Velasco Alvarado leads a leftist military government that enacts sweeping agrarian reform and nationalisations before being eased from power. [britannica-peru-history] - 1980 CE: **Shining Path launches its insurgency** — As civilian democracy is restored, the Maoist Shining Path under Abimael Guzman begins an armed insurrection in the Ayacucho highlands, opening two decades of internal conflict. [britannica-shining-path, britannica-guzman] - 12 Sept 1992: **Capture of Abimael Guzman** — Police capture the Shining Path leader Abimael Guzman in Lima; he is sentenced to life imprisonment and the insurgency is broken. [britannica-guzman, britannica-shining-path] - 28 Aug 2003: **Truth and Reconciliation Commission report** — The Commission estimates that some 69,000 people died or disappeared in the 1980-2000 conflict, attributing most deaths to the Shining Path while also documenting state abuses. [britannica-shining-path, britannica-peru-history] - 7 Dec 2022: **Impeachment of Pedro Castillo** — President Pedro Castillo is impeached and detained after attempting to dissolve Congress; Vice President Dina Boluarte succeeds him amid deadly protests. [britannica-peru-history, britannica-peru-government] Figures: - Abimael Guzman (1934-2021) — Founder of the Shining Path. Former philosophy professor who founded the Maoist Shining Path and led its violent insurgency from 1980. Captured in 1992 and imprisoned for life, he died in custody in 2021. - Alberto Fujimori (1938-2024) — President of Peru. President from 1990, who defeated the Shining Path and tamed hyperinflation but ruled with growing authoritarianism, staging a self-coup in 1992. He was later convicted of corruption and human-rights crimes. Machine-readable claims — every event above as an addressable claim ID (TL:PER:event::) with its sources and a ready citation string: https://terralore.co/country/PER/chronicle.claims.json ## References - [britannica-peru-history] Peru: History — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/Peru/History - [britannica-peru-independence] Peru: Achievement of independence — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/Peru/Achievement-of-independence - [britannica-peru-government] Peru: Government and society — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/Peru/Government-and-society - [britannica-pachacuti] Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Pachacuti-Inca-Yupanqui - [britannica-atahualpa] Atahuallpa — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Atahuallpa - [britannica-pizarro] Francisco Pizarro — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Francisco-Pizarro - [britannica-cajamarca] Battle of Cajamarca (1532) — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Cajamarca-1532 - [britannica-viceroyalty-peru] Viceroyalty of Peru — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/place/Viceroyalty-of-Peru - [britannica-tupac-amaru-ii] Tupac Amaru II — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tupac-Amaru-II - [britannica-san-martin] Jose de San Martin — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jose-de-San-Martin - [britannica-bolivar] Simon Bolivar — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Simon-Bolivar - [britannica-ayacucho] Battle of Ayacucho — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of-Ayacucho - [britannica-war-pacific] War of the Pacific — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/event/War-of-the-Pacific - [britannica-shining-path] Shining Path — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shining-Path - [britannica-guzman] Abimael Guzman — Encyclopaedia Britannica · https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abimael-Guzman - [unesco-caral] Sacred City of Caral-Supe — UNESCO World Heritage Centre · https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1269/ - [unesco-chavin] Chavin (Archaeological Site) — UNESCO World Heritage Centre · https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/330/ - [unesco-nazca] Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Pampas de Jumana — UNESCO World Heritage Centre · https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/700/ - [unesco-cusco] City of Cuzco — UNESCO World Heritage Centre · https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/273/ - [unesco-machu-picchu] Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu — UNESCO World Heritage Centre · https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/274/ - [wikipedia-peruvian-independence] Peruvian War of Independence — Wikipedia · https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peruvian_War_of_Independence - [statedept-peru] A Guide to the United States' History of Recognition: Peru — U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian · https://history.state.gov/countries/peru Citation template: Terralore, "The Chronicle of Peru: From Caral and the great Andean civilisations to the Inca empire of Tawantinsuyu, the Spanish conquest and the silver of the Viceroyalty, independence secured at Ayacucho in 1824, the War of the Pacific, the internal armed conflict with the Shining Path, and a turbulent modern republic.", terralore.co/country/PER/chronicle, retrieved .