Manco Capac
Manco Cápac (in Quechua, Manqu Qhapaq, 'Royal founder') or Ayar Manco, according to some chroniclers, was the first governor and founder of the Inca culture in Cuzco (beginning of the 13th century). He is the protagonist of the two best-known legends about the origin of the Incas. His main wife was Mama Ocllo (with whom he fathered his successor Sinchi Roca) and other wives such as Mama Huaco, who is said to be a brave woman. Although her figure is mentioned in chronicles and is used as the basis for the historical explanation of the origin of the Incas, their real existence is not entirely clear.
Controversy
Some historians consider Manco Cápac a mythical character, thus casting doubt on his existence as a historical figure. However, most authors consider him a real character and base his arguments on evidence such as the descent of his royal family called Chima Panaca , which maintained his place in the nobility. Inca until the Spanish conquest. They are also based on archaeological evidence such as his own palace, the Inticancha (now Coricancha), both prevail in modern Cuzco and according to the chronicles were made by Manco Cápac.
Therefore, the official history accepts that Manco Cápac was a historical figure, chieftain and religious leader of an ancient nomadic or migrant tribe, ancestor and founder of a lineage attested in Cuzco. Although many features of his epic are obviously legendary, the truth is that, according to the historian María Rostworowski, all peoples preserve in their epics and legends, in a metaphorical way, the truth of their distant memories of him.
Mythical prominence
Manco Cápac is the protagonist of the two main legends that explain the origin of the Inca civilization. Both legends agree that he was the founder of the Inca ethnic group in Cuzco, that his main wife was Mama Ocllo.
Legend of the Ayar brothers
The legend of the Ayar brothers is a legend in the Inca oral tradition in which it is said that four brothers with their four wives come out of the window called Capatoco, the central window of the Temple of the three windows on Tamputoco hill, the who was in the town of Paucartambo, sent by his father the Sun god (Inti) to civilize the people who lived very wildly. The Peruvian writer Abraham Valdelomar contributes to this legend by creating vicissitudes and conflicts for the brothers, turning it into a magnificent story called Los hermanos Ayar, which is found in his account & # 34; The children of the Sun & # 34;. Finally, one of these four brothers, Ayar Manco, would come to found the Inca city of Qosqo (present-day Cuzco), thus becoming the first ruler of the Inca culture called Manco Cápac ever since.
Legend of Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo
Legend in which it is said that Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo, married couple and brothers sons of the sun god, are born from the foam of Lake Titicaca, receiving the order to head north carrying a golden rod, with the mission to found the capital of the future empire in a fertile place. The foundation site would be marked by the place where Manco Cápac's sacred staff would sink, which happened in the valley of the Huatanay River, on the slopes of Cerro Huanacaure, in Cuzco.
However, lacking a written tradition, only the one that began with the publication of "Comentarios reales de los Incas", the work of the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, the authenticity of this legend as Inca legend is called into question. Some even affirm that Garcilaso was the intellectual author of this legend around the year 1609.
Manco Cápac is the protagonist of two more well-known legends about the origin of the Incas; however, the official history has its own version based on chronicles.
These two legends coincide in indicating a migration route from south to north (from the Peruvian highlands), where the search for fertile land becomes evident. It is likely that the founders of the Inca culture have been expelled from the highlands. Another point in common is the idea of the "ordering" of the world: the mythical founders ordered Cuzco, a place that was in a situation of chaos due to the struggle between the ethnic groups that lived there.
Biography
Origin
According to the evidence found in Cochapata, Manco Cápac was born in Tamputoco, which according to some specialists is located in the current province of Paruro, Cuzco region. The village used to serve as a refuge for many people who escaped from the Aymara invasions of the Altiplano. His father was called Apu Tambo, and his mother is the subject of discussion, many say that she was the wife of Apu Tambo, Pachamach but it is most likely that she is Mama Huaco, although Mama Huaco was also his half sister since she was the daughter of Apu Tambo. Manco Cápac and his family lived a nomadic lifestyle.
Foundation of the Inca curacazgo
After the death of his father, Manco Cápac had to succeed him as head of the ayllu, to which several dozen families belonged. The members of the ayllu were nomads, and the trajectory of their travels resembles the journey described in the legend of the Ayar brothers, but not in the time it took them to do it.
When his son Sinchi Roca reached the age of 20, Manco Cápac engaged him to Mama Coca, daughter of Surik Huaman Lord of Sannon (today San Sebastián).
Upon reaching the valley of Cuzco, the Incas defeated three small ethnic groups (Sahuares, Huallas and Ayar Uchos or Alcahuisas).
The land that the Incas initially occupied in Cuzco was around where the Plaza de Armas of Cuzco is today. At that time, it was a swampy area crossed by two streams.
In Cuzco, Manco Cápac founded four neighborhoods called: Chumbicancha (weavers' neighborhood), Quinticancha (hummingbird's neighborhood), Sairecancha (tobacco neighborhood) and Yarambuycancha (alisal's neighborhood?).
He taught men to hunt and farm, and founded the Curacazgo of Cuzco ruled by the Hurin Qusqu (Lower Cuzco in Spanish) dynasty founded by himself and called the first Cápac Inca.
The Laws
Manco Cápac made many humane and wise laws, condemning homicide, adultery and theft with capital punishment; he ordered each one to take a wife from his own family, but never before the age of 20; He proposed the cult of Inti as the first divinity and built a temple for it in Cuzco and a house next to it for the virgins consecrated to that deity, who must have been of the royal blood of the Incas.
Struggle for Prevalence
Once established in Cuzco, Manco Cápac and his ethnic group occupied only a small fraction of the territory of the Cuzco valley, other more powerful ethnic groups occupied the same valley and even from the north a confederate state of Ayamarcas and Pinaguas threatened. All these ethnic groups saw the Incas as an invading ethnic group and they certainly were. Manco Cápac during his stay in government had to fight and defend himself against the continuous attacks of these ethnic groups. On some occasions, his successor Sinchi Roca had to fight himself in defense against these ethnic groups.
Death
After a natural death, Manco Cápac was mummified and kept in the Inticancha until the reign of Pachacútec, who ordered his transfer to the Titicaca temple, his birthplace. In Cuzco there was only one statue in his honor. It was also Pachacútec who invented and spread the legends of the origin of the Incas as an attempt to "divinize" the Inca feats and to promote the identity and therefore the unification of their empire.
Dates
The years in which Manco Cápac lived and reigned are involved in great doubt and debate among historians and chroniclers, almost as much as whether he is a historical figure or a mythical one. The dates given by the various scholars vary even by several centuries, such as the dates of Sarmiento de Gamboa (in 1572), the historian refers to the fact that the first Inca was born in the year 521 and that he reigned between 565 and 656; that is, he lived for 135 years and reigned for 91 years. According to Cabello Balboa, (in 1586) he reigned between 945 and 1006; that is, for 61 years. Other sources speak of a 41-year reign, between 1021 and 1062. According to Huamán Poma de Ayala, he lived 160 years. According to other historians, he reigned for 28 years, between 1150 and 1178. According to Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, he reigned for 30 years between 1200 and 1230. The latest figures speak of a 30-year reign, between 1226 and 1256.
Works
- It is attributed to the construction of the Inticancha, current Coricancha.
- His palace, called Colcampata, was used after his death as a food store, then went there where Sayri Túpac stayed.
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