The Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. This historic process of military conquest was made by Spanish conquistadores and their native allies. After years of preliminary exploration and military skirmishes, 169 Spanish soldiers under Francisco Pizarro and their native allies ambushed the Sapa Inca Atahualpa (emperor of the Inca Empire) and captured him in the 1532 Battle of Cajamarca. It was the first step in a long campaign that took decades of fighting to subdue the mightiest empire in the Americas. In subsequent years Spain extended its rule over the Empire. Francisco Pizarro Gonzalez, Marquess (1471 or 1476-1541) was a Spanish conquistador, conqueror of the Incan Empire, and founder of Lima, the modern-day capital of the Republic of Peru.