THE
KINGDOM OF THE INCA EMPIRE
Cuzco,
is the archaeological capital of the Inca Empire, it is also the continent's
oldest inhabited city and the hub of the South America. Cuzco in Qechua means 'navel of the earth or 'centre of the empire'
and attracts thousands of travelers who go there not only just to visit a unique
destination but also to experience an old-age culture that is very different to
its 20th century way of life.
Cuzco,
which is also the capital of its department, has a population of 300,000
inhabitants, and is located at the altitude of 3326 meters above sea level.
Although the Department of Cuzco lies in
exceptionally beautiful Andean surroundings, its beauty is only a secondary
attraction comparing to the fact that was the heart of the once-mighty Inca
Empire and offers the most fascinating and accessible archaeological ruins on
the continent. After Columbus's first landfall in 1492, Cuzco was the thriving
& powerful capital of the Inca Empire. According to legend, the city was
founded in the 12th century by the first Inca, Manco
Capac, the son of the Sun and Mama Occllo,
the daughter of the moon, both of them materialized on the islands of the Sun
and Moon in Lake Titicaca and journeyed together
to Cuzco. By that time, Manco Capac had plunged
a golden rod into the ground untill it disappeared. This point was "the
earth's naval" in the quechua language, and it was here that he founded the
city that was to become the center of the Western hemisphere's greatest empire.
Parts
of this legend are undoubtedly based on facts, the Inca Empire definitely had
its origin around the 12th century, Cuzco did
become its capital, and Manco Capac was one of
the earliest Inca leaders, but the archaeological record shows that the area was
occupied by other cultures for several centuries before the rise of the Incas.
Very
little is known about these pre-Incas
except that some of them were involved in the Wari expansion of the 8th and 9th
centuries.
The
Incas had no written language and their history was entirely oral, passed down
through the generations. The empire's main expansion occurred prior to the
arrival of the conquistadors. As the oral records of that important period are
relatively accurate, our knowledge of Cuzco's
history dates back to about the middle of the 15th century.
Led
by Francisco Pizarro,
the Spanish reached Cuzco in the 16th century
and from that point on, written records (the so-called Chronicles) were
kept. These included accounts of Inca history as related by the Incas to the
Spanish Chroniclers. The most
famous of these accounts was written by Garcilaso de la
Vega, who was born in Peru in 1539 and was the son of an Inca princess
and a Spanish conquistador. Garcilaso lived in
the Cuzco area until the age of 21. He then
moved to Spain where he died in 1616.
Although
neither his writings nor those of the other chroniclers can be considered
entirely accurate, they do give a good overview of Inca history.
Starting
with Manco Capac, the first Inca ruler and
finishing with Huayna Capac, the 11th Inca and
the last to rule over a united empire, the reigns spanned a period from the 12th
century to the 15th century. Huayna Capac
marched to the northernmost limits of his empire, in the region today marked by
the Ecuadorian-Colombian border. He
also sired a son, Atahualpa,
who was born of a Quitan mother. However, he didn't manage to escape the
epidemic period including smallpox and the common cold that swept down from
Central America and the Caribbean so he died in such an epidemic around 1525
giving the northern part around Quito to his son Atahualpa
and the southern Cuzco area to another son, Huascar.
On
the other hand, when Francisco Pizarro became
aware of the richness of the Inca Empire, he organized his third expedition, and
in 1531 he landed on the Ecuadorian coast and began to march overland towards
Peru where he arrived in September 1532 and founded the first Spanish town
naming it San Miguel de Piura.
In
November of the same year, he reached Cajamarca,
captured the Inca Emperor Atahualpa, and
effectively put an end to the Inca Empire.
By the end of the 16th century, Cuzco was a quite colonial town. All the gold and silver was gone and many of the Inca buildings had been pulled down to make room for churches and colonial houses. Dispite this, enough Inca foundations remain today to make a walk around the heart of Cuzco a variable journey back in time. A journey that we are going to start right now , a journey that will give us the chance to tell you more about this spectacular city, its very important nature surroundings and its very famous archaeological sites including The Lost City of the Incas hanged from the clouds, Machu Picchu.
The Inca’s Ruling Period
Around
1200-1572
Taken from Loren McIntyre "The Incredible Incas and Their Timeless Land"
LORDS OF CUZCO
MANCO CAPAC:
Son of the Sun, mythical founder of dynasty.
SINCHI ROCA
(son of Manco Capac): Designed forehead fringe that denoted royalty.
LLOQUE YUPANQUI (son of Sinchi Roca): Threatened by other
tribes coexisting in Cuzco valley, begot late in life.
MAYTA CAPAC
(son of Lloque Yupanqui): Child prodigy, Hercules of Inca legend.
CAPAC YUPANQUI (son of Mayta Capac): First to exact
tribute from tribes beyond Cuzco valley.
INCA ROCA
(son of Capac Yupanqui): Organized schools for boys of imperial class,
first to use "Inca" as a noble title.
YAHUAR HUACAC
(son of Inca Roca): Kidnaped as a child, cemented relations with
neighboring tribes by marriage.
VIRACOCHA (son of Yahuar Huacac): Took name of lord creator, began conquest beyond Cuzco valley. (Not to be confused with "Viracocha" the sun god).
EMPERORS
OF TAHUANTINSUYU, FOUR QUARTERS OF THE WORLD
PACHACUTI
(son of Viracocha): First emperor, mighty conqueror, creator of the Inca
Empire by conquest. 1438-1471
TUPA INCA
(son of Pachacuti): Second emperor, one of history's farthest-ranging
conquerors. 1471-1493
HUAYNA CAPAC
(son of Tupa Inca): Third emperor, expanded empire northward, died of
plague amid bad omens. 1493-1527
HUASCAR
(son of Huyana Capac): Fourth emperor, overthrown by civil war, executed
by Atahuallpa. 1527-1532
ATAHUALLPA
(son of Huyana Capac): Captured and executed by Francisco Pizarro.
1532-1533
INCAS
AFTER THE SPANISH CONQUEST
TUPA HUALLPA
(son of Huyana Capac): Crowned by Spaniards, possible poisoned. 1533-1533
MANCO INCA
(son of Huyana Capac): Crowned by Spaniards, rebelled in 1536, set up Inca
jungle state. 1533-1545
PAULLU INCA
(son of Huyana Capac): puppet Inca, ruled Cuzco, commanded Indian troops
supporting Spaniards. 1537-1549
CARLOS INCA
(son of Paullu Inca): Puppet Inca, ruled Cuzco, married Spanish lady.
1549-1572
SAYRI TUPA INCA (first son of Manco Inca): Succeeded Manco
Inca as ruler of Inca jungle state. 1545-1558
TITU CUSI
(second son of Manco Inca): Ruled in Inca jungle state, defied Spaniards.
1558-1571
GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION OF INCA NAMES
(accented syllables in all capital letters)
Manco
Capac - MAHN-ko KAH-pahk
Sinchi Roca - SIN-chee RO-kah
Lloque Yupanqui - YO-kay Yu-PAHN-kee
Mayta Capac - MAHY-ta KAH-pahk
Capac Yupanqui - KAH-pahk Yu-PAHN-kee
Inca Roca - IN-kah RO-kah
Yahuar Huacac - YAH-war WAH-kahk
Viracocha - Wir-ah-KO-chah
Pachacuti - Pah-chah-KOO-tee
Tupa Inca - TU-pah IN-ka
Huayna Capac - WHAY-nah KAH-pahk
Huascar - WAHS-kar
Atahuallpa - Ah-tah-WAHL-pah
Tupa Huallpa - TU-pah WAHL-pah
Manco Inca - MAHN-ko IN-kah
Paullu Inca - POWL-yu IN-kah
Carlos Inca - CAR-los IN_kah
Sayri Tupa Inca - SAHY_ree TU-pah IN-kah
Titu Cusi - TEE-too KOO-see
Tupa Amaru - TU-pah Ah-MAH-roo