Modern historiography of Peru divides its history into three main periods:[2] Hunting tools dating back to more than 11,000 years ago have been found inside the caves of Pachacamac, Telarmachay, Junin, and Lauricocha.

[4][5] Cultivation of plants such as corn and cotton (Gossypium barbadense) began, as well as the domestication of animals such as the wild ancestors of the llama, the alpaca and the guinea pig, as seen in the 6000 BC dated Camelid relief paintings in the Mollepunko caves in Callalli.

[8] The remnants of this civilization, also known as Norte Chico, consists of approximately 30 pyramidal structures built up in receding terraces ending in a flat roof; some of them measuring up to 20 meters in height.

[11] Such finds show sophisticated, monumental construction requiring large-scale organization of labor, suggesting that hierarchical complex cultures arose in South America much earlier than previously thought.

[53][54][55] In 1541, Pizarro was assassinated by a faction led by Diego de Almagro II (El Mozo), and the stability of the original colonial regime was shaken up in the ensuing civil war.

As governor of Peru, Pizarro used the encomienda system to grant virtually unlimited authority over groups of native Peruvians to his soldier companions, thus forming the colonial land-tenure structure.

Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, governor of Panama settled Zamboanga City in the Philippines, where residents now speak a Spanish Creole, by employing soldiers and colonists recruited from the towns of Peru.

At the time, an economic crisis was developing due to creation of the Viceroyalties of New Granada and Rio de la Plata (at the expense of its territory), the duty exemptions that moved the commercial center from Lima to Caracas and Buenos Aires, and the decrease of the mining and textile production.

Peru's movement toward independence was launched by an uprising of Spanish-American landowners and their forces, led by José de San Martín of Argentina and Simón Bolívar of Venezuela.

The republican era of Peru is usually considered to begin after the declaration of independence or the Battle of Ayacucho in 1824, and its periods are modelled after Jorge Basadre's work, Historia de la República del Perú.

[74] During this era, the First Militarism (Spanish: Primer Militarismo), a period where several military figures held control of the country, started in 1827, with José de La Mar's presidency.

Despite the apparent end of the successful patriot campaigns, two Spanish figures refused to accept the capitulation and established themselves in Callao and Upper Peru: José Ramón Rodil and Pedro Antonio Olañeta, respectively.

In the aftermath of this battle, Bolivia occupied the south of Peru until a Peruvian resistance was established, which led to a counterattack that was ultimately successful due to the limited number of Bolivian troops.

Echenique was accused of corruption by its opponents, with some pointing out a lavish party that had been hosted by his wife, Victoria Tristán, as proof of his reckless spending, which appeared as an insult to the general poverty of the country.

Its extremely liberal nature led to a civil war headed by Pedro Diez Canseco and José Balta, which ended Prado's presidency and re-established the 1860 constitution.

Due to Iglesias' re-establishment of the indigenous tribute and abuses committed against Indians by landowners, on March 1, 1885, a rebellion in Huaraz headed by Pedro Pablo Atusparía began, with the conflict coming to an end only in 1887.

However, the country did not industrialize due to the fact that a purely economistic development perspective was formed through a rentier and primary exporter state, which increased discrimination and exploitation of indigenous peoples through Correríos, Yanaconajes and Enganches.

It was then proposed to dissolve parliament and summon the people to carry out fundamental constitutional reforms, which provoked the military uprising of Colonel Óscar R. Benavides, known as the hero of La Pedrera, who overthrew Billinghurst on February 4, 1914.

In the southern Andes, the abuses of landowners and gamonales on the native and peasant population motivated many indigenous uprisings, such as the one led in 1915 by Teodomiro Gutiérrez Cuevas, also known by his pseudonym Rumi Maqui.

In 1924, from Mexico, university reform leaders in Peru who had been forced into exile by the government founded the American People's Revolutionary Alliance (APRA), which had a major influence on the country's political life.

Elías had called a meeting where it was agreed that David Samanez Ocampo would become the new head of state, but arrangements for this never took place, as he was overthrown by Gustavo Jiménez, who had returned from Arequipa, where he had travelled to stop the revolt.

Sánchez Cerro's government was opposed by the left-wing American Popular Revolutionary Alliance, and, as a result, political repression was brutal in the early 1930s, with tens of thousands of Apristas were executed or imprisoned.

[123][124] After the National Election Board refused to accept his candidacy, he led a massive protest, and the striking image of Belaúnde walking with the flag was featured by news magazine Caretas the following day, in an article entitled "Así Nacen Los Lideres" ("Thus Are Leaders Born").

After a crisis involving the missing last page of a document signed between the Peruvian government and the International Petroleum Company, General Juan Velasco Alvarado overthrew elected President Fernando Belaúnde Terry in a successful coup d'état in 1968.

[145][146] Concerned about the economy, the increasing terrorist threat from Sendero Luminoso and MRTA, and allegations of official corruption, voters chose a relatively unknown mathematician-turned-politician, Alberto Fujimori, as president in 1990.

[148] He then eliminated the constitution; called new congressional elections; and implemented substantial economic reform, including privatization of numerous state-owned companies, creation of an investment-friendly climate, and sound management of the economy.

Fujimori's constitutionally questionable decision to seek a third term and subsequent tainted victory in June 2000 brought political and economic turmoil, including the Four Quarters March of July 26–28, which left several dead and injured, and destroyed the building of the Banco de la Nación.

Montesinos subsequently emerged as the center of a vast web of illegal activities, including embezzlement, graft, drug trafficking, as well as human rights violations committed during the war against Sendero Luminoso.

After strikes by teachers and agricultural producers led to nationwide road blockages in May 2003, Toledo declared a state of emergency that suspended some civil liberties and gave the military power to enforce order in 12 regions.

[179][180][181] Following the global economic reverberations resulting from Western-led sanctions against Russia due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine beginning in February 2022, inflation in Peru rose sharply.