The Battle of Cajamarca also spelled Cajamalca[4][5] (though many contemporary scholars prefer to call it Massacre of Cajamarca)[6][7][8] was the ambush and seizure of the Inca ruler Atahualpa by a small Spanish force led by Francisco Pizarro, on November 16, 1532. The Spanish killed thousands of Atahualpa's counselors, commanders, and unarmed attendants in the great plaza of Cajamarca, and caused his armed host outside the town to flee. The capture of Atahualpa marked the opening stage of the conquest of the pre-Columbiancivilization of Peru.[9]
^Jared Diamond Guns, Germs And Steel, Random House 2013 (p. 76), states that the Inca personnel were purely Atahualpa's personal attendants and nobles, whereas John Michael Francis (2006, Iberia and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History: a Multidisciplinary Encyclopedia, v. 1, Santa Barbara, Ca.; ABC-CLIO, p. 322) states that they were "ceremonially armed guards".
^Most sources state that no Conquistadors were killed, while others state that five or fewer were killed.(Spencer C. Tucker, 2010, Battles That Changed History: An Encyclopedia of World Conflict, Santa Barbara, Ca.; ABC-CLIO, p. 172.) Among modern sources stating categorically that no Spaniards were killed are (e.g.) Kim MacQuarrie, The Last Days of The Incas, Hachette publishing 2012, p. 84.