Atahualpa, Atahuallpa, Atabalipa, or Atawallpa (Quito, Pichincha, Ecuaor), was the last sovereign emperor of the Tahuantinsuyu, or the Inca Empire. He became emperor upon defeating his older half-brother Huáscar in a civil war sparked by the death of their father, Inca Huayna Capac, from an infectious disease thought to be smallpox. During the Spanish Invasion, the Spaniard Francisco Pizarro crossed his path, captured Atahualpa, and used him to control the Inca empire. Eventually, the Spanish executed Atahualpa by means of strangulation, ending the Inca Empire (although several successors claimed the title of Sapa Inca and led a resistance against the invading Spaniards). Atahualpa's mother was a Shyri (Quito Kingdom) princess named Pacha.