In the pre-Columbian era, the location of what is now the city of Lima was inhabited by several Amerindian groups. Prior to the arrival of the Inca Empire, the valleys of the Rímac and Lurín rivers were grouped under the Ychsma polity. Their presence left a mark in the form of some 40 pyramids associated to the irrigation system of the valleys. In the 15th century, the Incas conquered the region and erected their own public buildings in places such as Pachacamac.
In 1532, a group of Spanish conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro defeated the Inca ruler Atahualpa and soon took over his Empire. As Pizarro had been named governor of the lands he conquered by the Spanish Crown, he searched for a suitable place to establish his capital. His first choice was the city of Jauja, located amid the Andes, however this location was regarded as inconvenient for its high altitude and being far from the sea. Spanish scouts reported about a better site in the valley of the Rímac, which was close to the Pacific Ocean, had ample water and wood provisions, extensive fields and fair weather. There, Pizarro founded his new capital on January 18, 1535 as Ciudad de los Reyes (City of the Kings).
In August 1536, the new city was besieged by the troops of Manco Inca, the leader of an Inca rebellion against Spanish rule. The Spaniards and their native allies, headed by Pizarro himself, defeated the rebels after heavy fighting in the city streets and its surroundings. On November 3, 1536, the Spanish Crown confirmed the founding and, on December 7, 1537, emperor Charles V granted a coat of arms to the city.
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