II.
Origins of the Incas
Most
of the major ideas and institutions incorporated within
Inca culture developed from a series of earlier Native American
civilizations in the Andes.
According
to legend, the people later known as Incas began as a small
group of warlike people and lived near Lake Titicaca in
southeastern Peru sometime before the 13th century.
According to Inca myth, the first Inca emperor, Manco Capac,
and his three brothers and four sisters emerged from caves
in the earth.
Around
the year 1200, Manco Capac led ten Inca ayllus, or clans,
from Lake Titicaca north to the fertile valley of Cusco.
The Incas conquered the people of the area and took it over
for themselves. They founded the city of Cusco as their
capital. Manco Capac married one of his sisters to establish
the royal Inca bloodline.
He
and succeeding emperors increased their power through marriage
alliances and the conquest of neighboring groups.
By
the reign of Viracocha Inca, the eighth emperor, the Incas
dominated an area stretching about 40 km (about 25 mi) around
Cusco.
Recent
archaeological evidence, however, shows that Inca culture
was developing in the Cuzco Valley for centruries.
-pic-
The
Incas dramatically expanded and unified their territory
after the conquest of the Chancas, under Viracocha's son,
Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui. Pachacuti (whose name means "earthquake"
or "cataclysm") reorganized the Inca social and political
system. He and his son, Topa Inca Yupanqui, were brilliant
soldiers and statesmen who extended the empire from northern
Ecuador to central Chile.
Under
their leadership, the Incas united the diverse native peoples
along 4800 km (3000 mi) of coast into a far-flung empire
with a common Quechuan language and way of life.
These
leaders brought Inca civilization to its peak: They made
the capital city of Cusco into the center of Inca society
and government, developed a state religion, and set up an
elaborate administrative system to control their widely
scattered subjects and territories.
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