May 13, 1532

Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire

Pizarro’s arrival at Tumbes, traditionally but insecurely dated 13 May

A document was being written at Tumbes on 12 April — more than a month before the supposed 13 May landing.

April 1532, not 13 May

Reliable modern Peruvian sources place Francisco Pizarro's arrival at Tumbes in April 1532 rather than on 13 May. He established a garrison and remained there until 16 May.

A manuscript dated at Tumbes on 12 April provides especially strong evidence that the expedition's presence there preceded 13 May.

No dependable consulted source records a fresh landing on 13 May. The date falls inside a stay already under way, shortly before the march south.

A contested landing at a damaged port

By April the expedition had overcome resistance from an Inca governor and local inhabitants, and was examining the remains of Tumbes — a port damaged during the Inca civil war and known to Pizarro from earlier reconnaissance.

An account based on early conquest sources describes the entry as contested: three Spaniards transporting baggage on a balsa were seized and killed, while Hernando Pizarro landed with cavalry farther along the shore.

What the date does not cover

The expedition left Tumbes on 16 May, reached Poechos on 25 May, and continued toward the site where San Miguel was founded later that year.

The landing, the departure, the founding of San Miguel and the entry into Cajamarca were separate events spread across months.

The familiar figure of 168 Spaniards belongs to Pizarro's force at the Cajamarca encounter in November, not to the party at Tumbes.

Sources

Researched 23 Aug 2026 7 sources not yet audited Date disputed

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet and rewritten from that sheet. This article has not yet had an independent model audit. How the pipeline works →

Date disputed. Sources disagree; the research places it at ~1532-04.

What the sources leave uncertain

The exact landing date is contested. Some older secondary works give 13 May, but Peruvian archival scholarship places Pizarro’s force at Tumbes during April, and an official Peruvian chronology says he remained there until 16 May.
A manuscript dated at Tumbes on 12 April 1532 provides especially strong evidence that the expedition’s presence there preceded 13 May.
The expedition made several landings along the coasts of present-day Ecuador and Peru, encouraging generic timelines to collapse a long coastal campaign into one ‘arrival in Peru.’