The Inca conquest began during the reign of Viracocha Inca in the early part of the 15th century. Up to this time, neighbouring ethnic groups were conquered and their lands taken, but no garrisons or Inca officials were placed among them. They were left undisturbed until the Inca felt it necessary to attack them again. This pattern of raiding and plundering changed during Viracocha Inca’s reign. He planned to establish permanent rule over these groups and was ably assisted by his uncles, Vicaquirao and Apo Mayta, who developed military tactics that made permanent conquest possible. Their victory over the Ayarmaca kingdom in the southern Cuzco Valley provided a model for many subsequent campaigns. They first conquered lands in the upper part of the Urubamba Valley that lay behind the Ayarmaca territory. They then successfully attacked the Ayarmaca from two directions—one force coming from Cuzco and the other from the Urubamba Valley.
Urubamba River valleyUrubamba River valley, near Cuzco, Peru.© Boggy/Fotolia
This was a relatively small-scale campaign, but it made the Inca a political power in the Urubamba Valley, an important passageway between Cuzco and the Lake Titicaca Basin. As a result of their conquest, the Inca were invited to interfere in a conflict between two Aymara-speaking kingdoms, the Colla and the Lupaca, in the northern part of the Titicaca Basin. The Inca allied themselves with the Lupaca, probably because the Colla were located between themselves and the Lupaca. But before the Inca could attack, the Colla attacked the Lupaca and were defeated. The battle was over by the time the Inca arrived; they joined in a victory celebration with the Lupaca but did not share in the booty.
During the early 15th century a group called the Chanca was emerging as a political power in the area west of the Inca territory. Presumably, they too may have been feeling the effects of diminishing food resources and were trying to maintain their standard of living by acquiring land outside their home territory. They moved from their place of origin in Huancavelica and conquered the Quechua, a large group whose lands lay immediately west of those controlled by the Inca. In about 1438 the Chanca attacked the Inca. One of the major effects of the Chanca invasion was to foment a civil war among the Inca. Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui Internal division and external expansion
For some time there had been palace intrigue in Cuzco over who would succeed Viracocha Inca to the throne. The Emperor chose Inca Urcon (’Inka ’Urqon) as his successor, but the two generals Vicaquirao and Apo Mayta preferred another son, Cusi Inca Yupanqui (Kusi ’Inka Yupanki). As the Chanca approached Cuzco, Viracocha Inca and Inca Urcon withdrew to a fort near Calca, while Cusi Inca Yupanqui, the two generals, and a few nobles remained to defend the city. They defended it successfully, and after their allies joined them they inflicted two heavy defeats on the Chanca. Cusi Inca Yupanqui then attempted to resolve the differences between his faction and that of his father; but the negotiations failed, and he set himself up as emperor, taking the title of Pachacuti (Pachakuti). At this point, there were two Inca states, one in Cuzco, headed by Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, and the other in Calca, headed by Viracocha Inca. As the power and prestige of the Cuzco group increased, many people left the Calca faction to join Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui.
Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui had to deal simultaneously with two enemies—the Chanca and his father’s forces. The Cuzco faction had made some gains during their two encounters with the Chanca; they took some Quechua lands from the Chanca and formed an alliance with the Quechua, who supported them against the Chanca. They then entered into an agreement with the Chanca that permitted either group to make independent military advances or gains as long as the other was not attacked. At this point, the Cuzco faction moved its army eastward to the edge of the tropical rain forest, thereby encircling the lands controlled by the Calca faction. By this maneuver, the Cuzco faction prevented the possibility of attack coming simultaneously from two directions. Viracocha Inca died about this time, leaving Inca Urcon as leader of the Calca faction. The latter was killed shortly thereafter in a skirmish with the Cuzco group. As a result, the differences between the two factions were resolved, and the Inca were reunited under a single leader.
The Inca forces crossed the Quechua territory and attacked the provinces of Vilcas and Soras, southwest of the area controlled by the Chanca. In about 1445, Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui sent his brother Capac Yupanqui (Qhapaq Yupanki) to explore the south coast, marking the first time the Inca reached the ocean. Returning to Cuzco, Capac Yupanqui passed through Chanca territory and captured a few of their villages. The Chanca retaliated by outflanking the Inca and conquering the Colla in the Lake Titicaca Basin.
The Chanca’s action increased the tension between the Inca and the Chanca, but no fighting broke out. Instead, they decided to undertake a joint invasion of the area north of Vilcas. Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui appointed Capac Yupanqui to lead the Inca contingent, warning him of Chanca treachery and instructing him to go no farther than Yanamayo. As the expedition moved northward, the Chanca distinguished themselves in battle, to the embarrassment of the Inca. When Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui heard of this, he feared that the Chanca contingent might revolt and ordered his brother to kill the Chanca leaders. The Chanca, learning of this command, fled to the tropical rain forest near the headwaters of the Huallaga River before the order could be carried out.
Capac Yupanqui pursued the Chanca well beyond the Yanamayo, the limit set by his brother, before giving up the chase. Seeing that his forces were considerably overextended, he turned northward toward the rich province of Cajamarca, which was an ally of the powerful kingdom of Chimú on the north coast. Capac Yupanqui stormed and captured Cajamarca and left a small garrison there as he set out for Cuzco.
Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui was furious at this turn of events. His orders had been blatantly disobeyed, and he was apprehensive about his brother’s intentions. Perhaps fearing that Capac Yupanqui would usurp the throne, Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui had him killed before he arrived in Cuzco. The Inca still had to contend with the Chanca and with the possibility of attacks from hostile groups in the north, including the kingdom of Chimú, which had set out on a campaign of conquest.
To alleviate this situation, Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui organized two expeditions: one to conquer the peoples of the Titicaca Basin and protect their exposed southern flank and the other to subdue the area to the north. According to Sarmiento de Gamboa, the Titicaca campaign was led by two of his older sons. They had subjugated the Colla earlier and now turned their attention to the Lupaca and their allies. When the campaign was over, the Inca controlled all of the territory between Cuzco and the southern end of the lake basin.
The northern expedition was led by another son, Topa Inca Yupanqui (Thupa ’Inka Yupanki), who subjected the territories of the Quechua and the Chanca. Topa Inca Yupanqui marched north through the highlands toward Cajamarca, subduing and pacifying the country as he went. After relieving the garrison at Cajamarca, which was being threatened by the kingdom of Chimú, he conquered as far north as Quito (Ecuador) in an attempt to outflank the Chimú armies. Frustrated during this drive by his ignorance of the geography of the region, he came out of the Ecuadorian mountains near Manta, north of the Gulf of Guayaquil; the local residents told him that he could not proceed southward along the coast because the mountains came down to the sea. So he returned to the highlands and sent a small force along the shores of the Gulf of Guayaquil toward the northern border of Chimú. As a result, the Inca were still able to attack the Chimú armies simultaneously from several different directions. After a brief but bitter battle, the Inca sacked the Chimú capital at Chan Chan and then advanced southward along the coast as far as Pachacamac, bringing the area under Inca control. Administration of the empire