The Inca Empire, also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire, was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The Inca civilization arose from the Peruvian highlands sometime in the early 13th century. Its last stronghold was conquered by the Spanish in 1572.
Cusco, often spelled Cuzco[ˈkusko], is a city in southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the seventh most populous in Peru and, in 2017, had a population of 428,450. Its elevation is around 3,400 m (11,200 ft).
Manco Cápac, also known as Manco Inca and Ayar Manco was, according to some historians, the first governor and founder of the Inca civilization in Cusco, possibly in the early 13th century. He is also a main figure of Inca mythology, being the protagonist of the two best known legends about the origin of the Inca, both of them connecting him to the foundation of Cusco. His main wife was his older sister, Mama Uqllu, also the mother of his son and successor Sinchi Ruq'a. Even though his figure is mentioned in several chronicles, his actual existence remains uncertain.
In Inca mythology, Mama Ocllo, or more precisely Mama Uqllu, was deified as a mother and fertility goddess. In one legend she was a daughter of Inti and Mama Killa, and in another the daughter of Viracocha (Wiraqucha) and Mama Qucha. In all of them she was the older sister and wife of Manco Cápac, whom she established the city of Cusco with. In some variations, she also bore him a son, Sinchi Roca, though all Incan rulers after Manco Cápac were believed to be their descendants.
Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui was the ninth Sapa Inca (1418–1471/1472) of the Kingdom of Cusco which he transformed into the Inca Empire. Most archaeologists now believe that the famous Inca site of Machu Picchu was built as an estate for Pachacuti.
Sinchi Roca, Sinchi Rocca, Cinchi Roca, Sinchi Ruq'a or Sinchi Ruq'a Inka was the second Sapa Inca of the Kingdom of Cusco and a member of the Hurin dynasty.
The Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, also known as the Conquest of Peru, was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. After years of preliminary exploration and military skirmishes, 168 Spanish soldiers under conquistador Francisco Pizarro, his brothers, and their native allies captured the Sapa Inca Atahualpa in the 1532 Battle of Cajamarca. It was the first step in a long campaign that took decades of fighting but ended in Spanish victory in 1572 and colonization of the region as the Viceroyalty of Peru. The conquest of the Inca Empire, led to spin-off campaigns into present-day Chile and Colombia, as well as expeditions towards the Amazon Basin.
Manco Inca Yupanqui was the founder and monarch of the independent Neo-Inca State in Vilcabamba, although he was originally a puppet Inca Emperor installed by the Spaniards. He was also known as "Manco II" and "Manco Cápac II". He was one of the sons of Huayna Capac and a younger brother of Huascar.
Vitcos was a residence of Inca nobles and a ceremonial center of the Neo-Inca State (1537-1572). The archaeological site of ancient Vitcos, called Rosaspata, is in the Vilcabamba District of La Convención Province, Cusco Region in Peru. The ruins are on a ridge overlooking the junction of two small rivers and the village of Pucyura. The Incas had occupied Vilcabamba, the region in which Vitcos is located, about 1450 CE, establishing major centers at Machu Picchu, Choquequirao, Vitcos, and Vilcabamba. Vitcos was often the residence of the rulers of the Neo-Inca state until the Spanish conquest of this last stronghold of the Incas in 1572.
The Incas were most notable for establishing the Inca Empire in pre-Columbian America, which was centered in what is now Peru from 1438 to 1533, and represented the height of the Inca civilization. The Inca state was known as the Kingdom of Cuzco before 1438. Over the course of the Inca Empire, the Inca used conquest and peaceful assimilation to incorporate the territory of modern-day Peru, followed by a large portion of western South America, into their empire, centered on the Andean mountain range. However, shortly after the Inca Civil War, the last Sapa Inca (emperor) of the Inca Empire was captured and killed on the orders of the conquistador Francisco Pizarro, marking the beginning of Spanish rule. The remnants of the empire retreated to the remote jungles of Vilcabamba and established the small Neo-Inca State, which was conquered by the Spanish in 1572.
Inti is the ancient Incan sun god. He is revered as the national patron of the Inca state. Although most consider Inti the sun god, he is more appropriately viewed as a cluster of solar aspects, since the Inca divided his identity according to the stages of the sun. Worshiped as a patron deity of the Inca Empire, Pachacuti is often linked to the origin and expansion of the Inca Sun Cult. The most common story says that he is the son of Viracocha, the god of civilization.
The Inca army was the multi-ethnic armed forces used by the Tawantin Suyu to expand its empire and defend the sovereignty of the Sapa Inca in its territory.
The Chanka people are a Quechua people ethnic group living in the regions of Apurimac, Ayacucho and Lamas of Peru. Enemies of the Incas, they were centered primarily in Andahuaylas, located in the modern-day region of Apurímac. The Chankas were divided into three groups: the Hanan Chankas, or the Upper Chankas, the Urin Chankas, or the Lower Chankas, and the Villca, or Hancohuallos. The Hanan Chankas had their center in Andahuaylas, the Urin Chankas in Uranmarca, and the Villca in Vilcas Huaman, Ayacucho.
The Kingdom of Cusco was a small kingdom based in the city of Cusco, on the Andean mountain ranges that began as a small city-state founded by the Incas around the start of 13th century. In time, through warfare or peaceful assimilation, it began to grow and was succeeded by the Inca Empire (1438–1533).
The Battle of Ollantaytambo took place in January 1537, between the forces of Inca emperor Manco Inca and a Spanish expedition led by Hernando Pizarro during the Spanish conquest of Peru. A former ally of the Spaniards, Manco Inca rebelled in May 1536, and besieged a Spanish garrison in the city of Cusco. To end the stand-off, the besieged mounted a raid against the emperor's headquarters in the town of Ollantaytambo. The expedition, commanded by Hernando Pizarro, included 100 Spaniards and some 30,000 Indian auxiliaries against an Inca army more than 30,000 strong.
Huchuy Qosqo,, is an Incan archaeological site north of Cuzco, Peru. Its name is Quechua for "Little Cuzco." It lies at an elevation of 3,650 meters, overlooking the Sacred Valley and 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west and above the town of Lamay at an elevation of 2,920 metres (9,580 ft). The site received its name in the 20th century; previously it had been known as Caquia Xaquixaguana, or Kakya Qawani.
Inca mythology includes many stories and legends that attempt to explain or symbolize Inca beliefs.
Pocras were the ancient Wari culture inhabitants of the modern-day city of Huamanga, Peru before the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, bounded on the northwest by the Warivilcas, and on the southeast by the Rucanas and the Soras and on the east by the Mayonmarka near the Andahuaylas in La Mar (Chungui) in the current Peruvian province of Ayacucho. This culture was developed in the Middle Horizon and Late Intermediate cultural periods of Peru, from about CE 500 to 1000. Culturally the Pocras were outstanding in pottery, especially that found in Conchopata, Akuchimay, and behind Los Caballitos on the banks of Piñawa, Tenería or contemporary Alameda.
Ayar Cachi or Ayar Kachi was one of the brothers of Manco Cápac, who emerged from the cave at Paqariq Tampu. He could shoot down hills with a single shot of his sling.
The Neo-Inca State, also known as the Neo-Inca state of Vilcabamba, was the Inca state established in 1537 at Vilcabamba by Manco Inca Yupanqui. It is considered a rump state of the Inca Empire (1438–1533), which collapsed after the Spanish conquest in the mid-1530s. The Neo-Inca State lasted until 1572, when the last Inca stronghold was conquered, and the last ruler, Túpac Amaru, was captured and executed, thus ending the political authority of the Inca state.
