Peru historical timeline

Chronology

c. 12,500 BCE — The earliest evidence of human presence in Peruvian territory, at the Huaca Prieta settlement. Andean societies are built on agriculture using irrigation and terracing, with camelid husbandry and fishing, organised around reciprocity and redistribution rather than markets.
10th millennium BCE — The Caral–Supe civilisation, the earliest civilisation in the Americas and considered one of the cradles of civilisation. Peru has one of the longest histories of civilisation of any country, and this is where it starts.
1500–300 BCE — The Chavín culture, probably more a religious than a political phenomenon, with its centre at Chavín de Huántar. After its decline around the first century CE a series of localised, specialised cultures rise and fall on the coast and in the highlands.
1st millennium CE — The Moche reach their height, known for the irrigation that fertilised their arid ground, sophisticated ceramics, tall buildings and clever metalwork. The Chimú, a loose confederation of walled cities along the northern coast, become the great city builders of the pre-Inca world from about 1140.
1438–1533 — The Incas, who began as one of the small and relatively minor Quechua groups, build the largest empire in the pre-Columbian Americas within a century, from their capital at Cusco — from southern Colombia to northern Chile, from the Pacific to the Amazon — by conquest and by peaceful assimilation both.
1532 — In December, conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro, supported by Chanka, Huanca, Cañari and Chachapoya auxiliaries, reach Atahualpa, the last Sapa Inca, who had become emperor by defeating and executing his half-brother Huáscar in a civil war after their father's death.
1570s — The Indigenous population collapses, overwhelmingly through epidemic disease introduced by the Spanish along with exploitation and social upheaval. Viceroy Francisco de Toledo reorganises the country around gold and silver mining as its main economic activity and Amerindian forced labour as its primary workforce.
18th century — Declining silver production cuts royal income, and the Crown responds with the Bourbon Reforms: higher taxes and the partition of the viceroyalty. The new laws provoke Túpac Amaru II's rebellion and other revolts, all suppressed.
1821 — Peru, a royalist stronghold while the rest of South America fought, formally proclaims independence after the campaigns of José de San Martín — who had created the Army of the Andes and crossed the range in 21 days, then liberated Chile with O'Higgins at Chacabuco and Maipú in 1818. San Martín takes military-political command as Protector on 3 August 1821, founding the National Library and approving the national anthem.
1824 — With Bolívar in charge after the Guayaquil Conference and Sucre commanding, the Spanish are defeated at the Battle of Junín on 6 August and decisively at the Battle of Ayacucho on 9 December, completing Peru's independence and that of Upper Peru — later established as Bolivia.
1840s–1860s — A period of stability under Ramón Castilla, funded by guano exports. In 1864 a Spanish expedition occupies the guano-producing Chincha Islands, causing an international incident with lasting consequences for Peruvian politics.
1879 — On 5 April Chile declares war on Peru, beginning the War of the Pacific, which runs to 1884. The casus belli was a Bolivian–Chilean tax dispute in which Peru was implicated by its 1873 Treaty of Defensive Alliance with Bolivia. Almost five years of war end in the loss of the department of Tarapacá and the provinces of Tacna and Arica. Francisco Bolognesi and Miguel Grau are the war's national heroes, and Chile's promised referendum on Arica and Tacna was never the settlement it was meant to be.
1941 — Peru and Ecuador fight the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War, after which the Rio Protocol seeks to formalise the boundary. In a military coup on 29 October 1948 General Manuel Odría takes the presidency, in the period known as the Ochenio.
1968 — On 3 October a coup led by General Juan Velasco Alvarado brings the army to power to apply a nationalist and reformist doctrine of “social progress and integral development”, influenced by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America.
1980s–1990s — Shining Path carries out attacks across the country. Chronic inflation forces the sol to be replaced by the inti in mid-1985 and the inti by the nuevo sol in July 1991. Fujimori largely quells the insurgency by the late 1990s, but the fight is marred by atrocities committed by both sides. The armed forces had drafted the Plan Verde, which involved the genocide of impoverished and Indigenous Peruvians and the censorship of the media.
1995 — Peru and Ecuador clash again in the Cenepa War, and in 1998 both governments sign a peace treaty clearly demarcating the boundary. In November 2000 Fujimori resigns and goes into self-imposed exile, initially avoiding prosecution for human rights violations.
2020–2022 — Peru records the highest COVID-19 death rate in the world, exposing inequality that had persisted since the Fujimori years and triggering an economic crisis that led to President Vizcarra's removal by Congress — widely seen as a coup.

Verified against Wikipedia, September 2026.

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Checked against Wikipedia — Peruvian territory was home to several cultures during the ancient and medieval periods and has one of the longest histories of civilization of any country, tracing its heritage back to the 10th millennium BCE Caral–Supe civilization, the earliest civilization in the Americas and considered one of the cradles of civilization, The earliest evidence of human presence in Peruvian territory has been dated to approximately 12,500 BCE at the Huaca Prieta settlement, and Andean societies were based on agriculture using irrigation and terracing, with camelid husbandry and fishing also important and organisation relying on reciprocity and redistribution, The Chavín culture developed from 1500 to 300 BCE and was probably more a religious than a political phenomenon with its religious centre at Chavín de Huántar, and after its decline around the beginning of the 1st century CE a series of localized and specialized cultures rose and fell, The Moche reached their apogee in the first millennium CE and were renowned for the irrigation system that fertilised their arid terrain, their sophisticated ceramic pottery, their lofty buildings and clever metalwork, and the Chimú were the great city builders of pre-Inca civilization, a loose confederation of walled cities along the coast of northern Peru flourishing from about 1140, In the 15th century the Incas emerged as a powerful state which in the span of a century formed the largest empire in the pre-Columbian Americas with their capital in Cusco, having originally been one of the small and relatively minor ethnic groups, the Quechuas, From 1438 to 1533 the Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America centred on the Andean mountain ranges, from southern Colombia to northern Chile, between the Pacific Ocean in the west and the Amazon rainforest in the east, Atahualpa, the last Sapa Inca, became emperor when he defeated and executed his older half-brother Huáscar in a civil war sparked by the death of their father Huayna Capac, and in December 1532 a party of conquistadors supported by Chanka, Huanca, Cañari and Chachapoya auxiliaries and led by Francisco Pizarro reached him, The Indigenous population dramatically collapsed overwhelmingly due to epidemic diseases introduced by the Spanish as well as exploitation and socio-economic change, and Viceroy Francisco de Toledo reorganized the country in the 1570s with gold and silver mining as its main economic activity and Amerindian forced labour as its primary workforce, By the 18th century declining silver production and economic diversification greatly diminished royal income, and in response the Crown enacted the Bourbon Reforms, a series of edicts that increased taxes and partitioned the viceroyalty, provoking Túpac Amaru II's rebellion and other revolts, all of which were suppressed, In the early 19th century Peru remained a royalist stronghold while most South American nations were swept by wars of independence, and independence was achieved only after the military campaigns of José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar, San Martín created the Army of the Andes and crossed the Andes in 21 days, joining Bernardo O'Higgins in Chile and liberating the country at the battles of Chacabuco and Maipú in 1818, Peru formally proclaimed independence from Spain in 1821 and completed it in 1824 following the campaigns of O'Higgins, San Martín and Bolívar and the decisive battle of Ayacucho; San Martín assumed military-political command as Protector by a decree of 3 August 1821, and the Protectorate created the National Library and approved the national anthem, With the help of Antonio José de Sucre the Spanish army was defeated at the Battle of Junín on 6 August 1824 and the decisive Battle of Ayacucho on 9 December of the same year, consolidating the independence of Peru and Upper Peru, which was later established as Bolivia, From the 1840s to the 1860s Peru enjoyed a period of stability under Ramón Castilla through increased state revenues from guano exports, and in 1864 a Spanish expedition occupied the guano-producing Chincha Islands, unleashing an international incident with great consequences in Peruvian internal politics, On 5 April 1879 Chile declared war on Peru, unleashing the War of the Pacific which lasted until 1884; the casus belli was a confrontation between Bolivia and Chile over a tax problem in which Peru was compromised by the Treaty of Defensive Alliance signed with Bolivia in 1873, and almost five years of war ended in the loss of the department of Tarapacá and the provinces of Tacna and Arica, with Francisco Bolognesi and Miguel Grau renowned heroes of the war, In 1941 Peru and Ecuador fought the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War after which the Rio Protocol sought to formalize the boundary, and in a military coup on 29 October 1948 General Manuel A. Odría became president in the period known as the Ochenio, On 3 October 1968 a coup d'état led by General Juan Velasco Alvarado brought the army to power with the aim of applying a nationalist and reformist doctrine of social progress and integral development, influenced by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, After chronic inflation the Peruvian sol was replaced by the inti in mid-1985 and the inti by the nuevo sol in July 1991, and the armed forces had drafted the Plan Verde which involved the genocide of impoverished and Indigenous Peruvians, the control or censorship of the media and the establishment of a neoliberal economy under a military junta, Fujimori's administration was dogged by insurgent groups, most notably Shining Path, which carried out attacks across the country throughout the 1980s and 1990s; Fujimori cracked down and was successful in largely quelling them by the late 1990s, but the fight was marred by atrocities committed by both sides, In early 1995 Peru and Ecuador clashed in the Cenepa War, in 1998 both governments signed a peace treaty clearly demarcating the international boundary, and in November 2000 Fujimori resigned from office and went into self-imposed exile, initially avoiding prosecution for human rights violations, The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in Peru experiencing the highest death rate from COVID-19 in the world, exposing much of the inequality that persisted since the Fujimori administration and triggering an economic crisis that led to Vizcarra's removal from the presidency by Congress, widely seen as a coup (September 2026).