Battle of Añaquito

Battle of Iñaquito
Part of the Spanish conquest of Peru
Date January 18, 1546 Location Iñaquito, near Quito, present-day Ecuador Result Decisive victory for Nueva Castilla Defeat and death of Viceroy Blasco Núñez Vela
Belligerents
Nueva Castilla	Viceroyalty of Peru
Commanders and leaders
Gonzalo Pizarro Francisco de Carvajal	Blasco Núñez Vela † Francisco Hernández Girón
Strength
700	~300 infantry, 140 cavalry
Casualties and losses
7 dead (Pizarro's claim)	100–200 dead

Decisive victory for Nueva Castilla

After his unheard claims as governor of New Castile (Peru) following the death of his brother, Gonzalo Pizarro pressed claims to be recognized as the ruler of the land he and his brothers had conquered. After the arrival of appointed royal viceroy Blasco Núñez Vela in 1544, Gonzalo succeeded to have him repelled and sent to Panama in chains. He was released, however, and returned to Peru by sea while Gonzalo was mustering an army. The two met on January 18 at Iñaquito in the outskirts of Quito, present-day capital of Ecuador, where the superiority of the Nueva Castilla army ensured victory for Gonzalo. Blasco Núñez Vela reportedly fought bravely but fell as a victim in battle and was later decapitated on the field of defeat, a fate Gonzalo himself would share two years later at Jaquijahuana.

In 1542, The position Viceroy of Peru and the Royal Audience of Lima were created, and the next year Viceroy Blasco Núñez Vela and the new judges of the Royal Audience arrived at Peru. The said viceroy arrived with the strong intention of enforcing the recently enacted New Laws that abolished the encomienda prohibited the personal labor of the indigenous people. The encomenderos (the masters) protested and organized a rebellion, choosing Gonzalo Pizarro as leader, who was then a wealthy encomendero in Charcas (present-day Bolivia)

Gonzalo went to Cuzco, where he was magnificently received and proclaimed Attorney General of Peru to protest the New Laws before the Viceroy and, if necessary, before the Emperor Charles V himself (1544).

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