2. A Kingdom Falls

Centered in Cuzco-the "navel" of the world-the Inca empire at the time of Spanish conquest dominated the entire Andean area from Quito (Ecuador) to Río Maule (Chile). It was a highly developed civilization, and its greatness seemed undiminished in 1532, although there were fissures within. With striking good fortune, Spanish conquistadors marched into Peru precisely at a moment when the Incas were divided by a passionate war of dynastic succession. Thus began the Spanish colonial period in Peru, with its gradual and often difficult melding of Spanish and Indian cultures.