A Brief History of Peru

Peru’s oldest civilization may have appeared about 6000 BC near of the borders of Chilca nd Paracas provinces and in the uplands of Callejon de Huaylas. Eventually, they were succeeded by some dominant city-states like Chancay, Cajamara, and Sipan, and empires of Chimor and Chachapoyas. These kingdoms have built up rather sophisticated methods in cultivation, pottery, gold and silver crafting, knitting and metallurgy. Soon after, the Inca Empire expanded their territory within the Andes. It reached its peak between mid-1400 and late-1500. The Incas established the largest empire of the pre-Columbian America. The Tahuantinsuyo conquered a region that included northern and southern Ecuador, a section of Colombia, northeastern Argentina, northern half of Chile and from Bolivia to the Amazonian woodlands.

In 1532, the kingdom of Spain successfully invaded Cajamarca. Francisco Pizarro sustained the apparent authority of the Inca. He and the Spanish reestablished the Inca city of Cuzco as a new Spanish colony. Lima was established as a center for many political and administrative institutions. In 1542, the Viceroyalty of Peru was built to unite Spanish royal authority over its vast territories across South America that includes Colombia, Panama, Ecuador and half of Venezuela.

Jose de San Martin of Argentina proclaimed the independence of Peru in Lima on July 28, 1821 as a result of many uprisings towards independence. But it was only in 1879 when Spain finally recognized Peru’s sovereignty. Soon after, Peru engaged in many intermittent territorial disputes conflicts with its neighbors such as Bolivia, Chile, and Ecuador. Political and economic stability were attained during the early 1900s, after the Pacific War was over and the government begun initiating numerous social reforms.