History of the Incas

It is known that Viceroy Francisco de Toledo sent King Philip II four cloths illustrating the life of the Incas, adding that the native painters didn't have the same curiosity as those from Spain.

Includes the correction by Howland Rowe, accepted by Kauffmann Doig, Ann Kendall, Alden Mason, and Robert Deviller.

After the year, they moved to a hill called Matagua, from there they looked at the valley of Cuzco, and the inhabitants and subjects of Alcaviza, who was the chief of a village with 30 houses, all thatched and very dilapidated.

Before entering his land, in a nearby town called Acamama, Mama Huaco hit a man with a bolas, killing him instantly, and then ripping out his heart, the people feared her and fled to the valley of Guallas.

This legend was told by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, a mestizo chronicler who was a descendant of Tupac Yupanqui on his mother's side.

The first stop they made was on the hill called Huanacauri, there Manco Capac tried to sink the gold rod into the ground, which very easily sank at the first blow they gave it, so much so that they no longer saw it.

Seeing that many people were following them, they ordered some to take care of feeding everyone by working the land so that hunger wouldn't spread them through the mountains again and also instructed them with the outline of how they had to build their huts and houses.

There is archaeological evidence discovered by Francis de Castelnau in 1845 and confirmed by Max Uhle that Tiwanaku was attacked when it was populated, as unfinished constructions were found.

The exact reasons for the crumbling of the Tiwanaku state may have been the speed and strength of the invasions, giving little to no time for the organization of a proper defense, the support given by the conquered chiefdoms towards the invaders, or both.

[15] It lasted from the beginning of the Inca settlement in Cusco under the rule of Manco Capac around the 13th century until the victory of Cusi Yupanqui, later known as Pachacuti, against the Chanka people c. 1438.

[16] The reigns of Manco Capac and Sinchi Roca are often called "mythical" because of their connection with the stories of the founding of Cusco, and because of the difficulty of proving their existence outside of the chroniclers' accounts based on the oral tradition of the Panakas.

The governments of the Hurin dynasty focused on consolidating the Inca presence in the surroundings of Cusco through political alliances and the conquest of smaller ayllus.

By the end of Capac Yupanqui's reign, Cusco had accumulated considerable power, although it was still behind its larger neighbours: the Ayarmacas, Chankas, Lupacas, and Collas.

His feat granted him the position of the new Sapa Inca under the name of Pachacuti, and the reforms introduced during his rule, combined with his expansionist ambitions, led to the formation of the Tawantinsuyu.

He would then send messages to the leaders of these lands extolling the benefits of joining his empire, offering them presents of luxury goods such as high-quality textiles, and promising that they would be materially richer as subject rulers of the Inca.

Thus, he carried out the first general census, distributed the forms of work (Mit'a and Minka), assigned taxes, established the mitimaes, continued the construction of roads, propagated the cult of the Sun and implanted a calendar based on it.

Although a group of curacas tried to keep the death of the Sapa Inca and his successor a secret to avoid rebellions,[23] Huascar found out from his mother Raura Ocllo, who traveled quickly from Quito to Cuzco.

[24] The plague had also killed two of the ruling Inca noblemen in the capital, leaving Huascar as the best option to succeed his father,[25] a choice that was ratified by the Cuzco nobles.

He did not oppose his remaining as governor of Quito, out of respect for the wishes of his late father, but with two conditions: that he did not carry out military campaigns to expand his territories and that he recognized himself as his vassal and paid him tributes.

[27] As relations with his half-brother progressively worsened, he traveled to Tomebamba, where he ordered the construction of several buildings supposedly in honor of Huascar, but the only thing he achieved was to increase the intrigues and mistrust of the Cuzco government.

It was clear that they had reached a wealthy land with prospects of great treasure, and after one more expedition (1529), Pizarro traveled to Spain and received royal approval to conquer the region and be its viceroy.

At the time the Spanish returned to Peru, in 1532, a war of succession between Huayna Capac's sons Huáscar and Atahualpa and unrest among newly conquered territories—and perhaps more they were said to have hidden a city or gold in a vault.

Hernando de Soto was sent inland to explore the interior, and returned with an invitation to meet the Inca, Atahualpa, who had defeated his brother in the civil war and was resting at Cajamarca with his army of 80,000 troops.

A widely disputed legend claims that Atahualpa was handed a Bible and threw it on the floor, the Spanish supposedly interpreted this action as adequate reason for war.

He attacked Jauja again after a while but was defeated by Captain Gabriel de Rojas y Córdova in command of 40 Spaniards and 3,000 Indian auxiliares (mostly Huancas, who were defending their home and had sworn allegiance to Francisco Pizarro during the capture of Atahualpa), which forced him to retreat to Huánuco Pampa and from there to the north, he had to face many hostile populations who were supporters of Cusco or saw the Spanish as liberators.

Rumiñahui seems to have maintained the need to confront the Spanish conquistadors as soon as they landed, but his astute advice, as a consummate soldier, had not been followed and Atahualpa had preferred to laugh at the opinion of his spies.

[32] When it became clear that the day had been fatal for the armies of Atahualpa, Rumiñahui gave the order to withdraw to Quito and managed to rescue his troops without suffering any loss.

The factor that most influenced the outcome of the conflict were the allies of the Spanish, the Cañari and other minor ethnic groups, who took care of all warfare, be it combat or transport of supplies.

Before Quito fell, Rumiñahui burned it down, hid the famous treasures of Atahualpa and killed 4000 pillajes, zámbizas and collaguazos indigenous people that had received Belalcázar as their liberator, who entered the city in 1534.

Manco Inca then retreated to the mountains of Vilcabamba and founded the Neo-Inca State, where he and his successors ruled for another 36 years, sometimes raiding the Spanish or inciting revolts against them.