Peru historical timeline

Origins

Peru's Andean highlands were home to a succession of sophisticated civilizations for thousands of years before the Inca, including the Chavín, Moche, Nazca (known for the mysterious Nazca Lines), and Wari cultures.

Turning points

The Inca Empire, founded in the Cusco region in the 13th century, grew within a few generations into the largest empire in the pre-Columbian Americas. Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro captured the Inca emperor Atahualpa in 1532 and executed him despite a large ransom, ending Inca resistance. Peru declared independence in 1821, with full independence secured in 1824. A brutal internal conflict between the government and the Shining Path insurgency in the 1980s-2000s killed an estimated 70,000 people, concentrated heavily in the Andean highlands.

Influential people

The Inca built an empire administered without a written language, connected by an extensive road network across the Andes. Francisco Pizarro ended that empire within a matter of months in 1532-33. Hiram Bingham's 1911 international "rediscovery" of Machu Picchu -- already known locally -- turned the site into the symbol most associated with Peru worldwide.

Cultural evolution

Peru became the center of Spanish power in South America as the seat of the Viceroyalty of Peru, with Lima serving as one of the most important cities in the Spanish Empire for nearly three centuries, built substantially on silver mined using forced Indigenous labor. Quechua language, weaving, and highland farming traditions survived that colonial period and remain part of everyday Andean life today, not confined to archaeological sites.

Present-day significance

Peru has rebuilt as a stable democracy and one of Latin America's fastest-growing economies, with archaeological discoveries -- Machu Picchu chief among them -- remaining central to both its national identity and its economy.