The Inca

Rival Chancas attack

Jan 20, 1438

When the rival Chancas attacked circa 1438, Viracocha Inca retreated to a military outpost while his son, Cusi Inca Yupanqui, successfully defended Cusco. Taking the title of Pachacuti, Inca Yupanqui became one of the Inca’s most influential rulers. His military campaigns extended the kingdom to the southern end of the Titicaca Basin, and hundreds of miles north to subject the Cajamarca and Chimu kingdoms.

Where they lived

Mar 15, 1438

The Inca live in and around the city-state of Cuzco. During this period of time they do not try to expand their area of control. 1438 AD - Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui becomes the leader of the Inca. He begins to conquer nearby tribes and expand the control of the Inca Empire.

Manco Capac

Oct 2, 1438

The man who established the Inca Empire was Manco Capac in 1438. Manco Capac declared himself Sapa Inca, divine son of the Sun. He was a skilled warrior and leader who exercised absolute power.

Atahualpa

Sep 8, 1502

Born in 1502, Atahualpa was the younger son of Inca ruler Huayna Capac. At Huayna death, the kingdom was divided between his sons. This lead to a bloody civil war, which Atahualpa won in 1532. Before he could celebrate, he was captured by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro.

Spanish explorers come to visit

Jun 6, 1525

Meanwhile, the arrival of Spanish explorers had already triggered the collapse of the state. The Spanish carried such alien diseases as smallpox, which wiped out a huge chunk of the population before killing Huayna Capac and his chosen successor around 1525. That sparked a civil war as would-be emperors battled for power, with Atahualpa eventually outlasting his half-brother, Huascar, to grab the throne

Francisco Pizarro

Aug 16, 1533

When Francisco Pizarro arrived, the Inca Empire was just ending a civil war. A civil war is a war between people of the same country. ... To gain his freedom, Atahuallpa promised Pizarro enough silver and gold to fill a whole room. After the Incas provided Pizarro with the silver and gold, Pizarro had Atahuallpa killed.The Inca came to an end in 1533.

Atahualpa

Nov 16, 1533

Atahualpa was the last Inca ruler, executed by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1533, marking the end of the Inca empire. Hearing legends of the great wealth of an Indian civilization in South America, Francisco formed an alliance with fellow conquistador Diego de Almagro in 1524 and sailed down the west coast of South America from Panama. The first expedition only penetrated as far as present-day Ecuador, but a second reached farther, to present-day Peru.

On the remote Peruvian island of Taquile

Aug 19, 1568

On the remote Peruvian island of Taquile, in the middle of the great Lake Titicaca, hundreds of people stand in silence on the plaza as a local Roman Catholic priest recites a prayer. Descended in part from Inca colonists sent here more than 500 years ago, the inhabitants of Taquile keep the old ways. They weave brilliantly colored cloth, speak the traditional language of the Inca, and tend their fields as they have for centuries

Trying to keep the peace

Jul 8, 1572

Attempting to keep the peace, the Spanish installed a young prince named Manco Inca Yupanqui as a puppet king, a move that backfired during a spirited rebellion in 1536. However, Manco Inca Yupanqui and his men were eventually forced to retreat to the jungle village of Vilcabamba, which remained the last stronghold of the empire until 1572.

Uncovering the Origins

Aug 16, 1980

Bauer, a wiry 54-year-old in a battered ball cap and blue jeans, first came to Mamallacta in the early 1980s to uncover the origins of the Inca Empire. At the time most historians and archaeologists believed that a brilliant, young Andean Alexander the Great named Pachacutec became the first Inca king in the early 1400s, transforming a small collection of mud huts into a mighty empire in just one generation. Bauer didn't buy it.