Battle of Ollantaytambo

Battle of Ollantaytambo
Part of Spanish conquest of Peru
Site of the battle at the terraces of Ollantaytambo
Date January, 1537 Location Ollantaytambo, Peru 13°15′29″S 72°15′48″W / 13.25806°S 72.26333°W / -13.25806; -72.26333 Result Inca victory establishment of the Neo-Inca State
Belligerents
Remnants of the Inca Empire	Spanish Empire
Commanders and leaders
Manco Inca	Hernando Pizarro
Strength
20,000+ troops	100 Spaniards 30,000 Indian auxiliaries
Casualties and losses
Unknown	10,000+ killed
class=notpageimage| Location within Peru

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^[1] 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. Despite this victory, the arrival of Spanish reinforcements to Cusco forced Manco Inca to abandon Ollantaytambo and seek refuge in the heavily forested region of Vilcabamba, where he established the small independent Neo-Inca State which survived until 1572.