The Incas: Origins

Wiraqocha Inca

According to myth, the Incas trace back to a hill with three windows called Tampu Tocco. Three tribes came out of the hill and eventually settled in the Cusco valley and founded the Incan Empire. Anyone who has been to Machu Picchu will probably remember the Temple of Three Windows IMAGE. Hiram Bingham III, the man who introduced the modern world to Machu Picchu, believed for some time that the lost city may have been Tampu Tocco. But Machu Picchu is much too young a city to be the place where the Incas first came from.

According to Charles C. Mann, author of 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, the most likely theory about the origins of the Incas is that they were a relatively unimportant tribe in the Lake Titicaca region. Somewhere around 1200, they migrated to the Cusco valley and settled. Whether they came from Tampu Tocco or Titicaca, the Incas didn't become a real power to reckon with until the 1400s.

In 1438, the Chanka people attacked the Inca. Wiraqocha Inca*, the emperor, and three of his sons fled. But another royal son, Inca Cusi Yupanki, fought back against the Chanka. According to legend, Inca Cusi Yupanki's bravery in the fight was so inspiring that even the rocks on the ground rose up and fought for him. Historians believe this to be unlikely. The fighting rocks may have been the deciding factor; Yupanki won and skinned the Chanka leaders in celebration.

Wiraqocha and the three sons who had fled returned to Cusco. Wiraqocha, fearing that Yupanki was getting an oversized ego for someone who wasn't the chosen heir, plotted to murder his own son. Yupanki must have had good friends on the inside, because he was tipped off to the assassination plan and foiled the plot. Wiraqocha went into exile and Yupanki took over as the Inca. He renamed himself Pachacutec which means “earth shaker.” Furthermore, he proclaimed that he was the son of the sun, which was one of the chief gods in Incan cosmology. Therefore, in addition to being emperor, the Inca was also a god. The new Inca spent the next quarter century expanding his empire.

           

*The emperor of the Incan Empire took the title of “Inca.” He was the Inca. Therefore, many Incan rulers include “Inca” in their names. They also changed their names over time, which makes the history confusing. I use the most common names for any Incas mentioned just to keep things clearer.

Image Source