Deaths on July 26

Atahualpa, Inca emperor abducted and murdered by Francisco Pizarro (b. ca. 1500)

Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa (Quechua), Atabalica, Atahuallpa, Atabalipa (c. 1502 – 26 July 1533) was the last Inca Emperor. After defeating his brother, Atahualpa became very briefly the last Sapa Inca (sovereign emperor) of the Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu) before the Spanish conquest ended his reign.

Before the Inca Emperor Huayna Capac died in Quito in 1524 (possibly due to smallpox, a disease brought by Europeans), he had appointed his son Ninan Cuyochi as his successor. Ninan died of the same disease. Huáscar, another son of Huayna, was named Sapa Inca by the Cusquenian nobles and he appointed his brother Atahualpa as governor of Quito. The Inca Civil War began in 1529 when Huáscar declared war on Atahualpa, for fear that he would try to carry out a coup d'état against him. Atahualpa became Inca emperor in May 1532 after he had defeated and imprisoned Huáscar and massacred any pretenders to the throne.

The Spaniard Francisco Pizarro captured Atahualpa in November 1532 and used him to control the Inca Empire. While imprisoned by the Spaniards, Atahualpa gave orders to kill Huáscar in Jauja, thinking Huáscar would use the Spaniards as allies to regain his throne.The Spanish eventually executed Atahualpa, effectively ending the empire. A succession of emperors, who led the Inca resistance against the invading Spaniards, claimed the title of Sapa Inca as rulers of the Neo-Inca State, but the empire began to disintegrate after Atahualpa's death.