The Great Inka Road:
Engineering an Empire

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Inka Universe
The city of Cusco is the principal one of all the cities and is the residence
of the nobles, and is so great and beautiful that it would be worthy of Spain.

—Pedro Sancho de la Hoz, secretary to Francisco Pizarro, 1534

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    Wanakauri, Cusco, Peru, 2011. Photo by Ramiro Matos, NMAI.

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Cusco

The Empire Builders

  • QUECHUA
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    Select highlighted words to hear them spoken in Quechua.

    The Inka spoke the Quechua language, which is still spoken today in the Andes.

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Between 1470 and 1532, three Inka rulers led ambitious military campaigns to expand Inka territory. The kingdom of Cusco became the empire Tawantinsuyu.

Their goals were to acquire the resources of neighboring territories, and to bring order and religion to all the world, as Inti (the sun) had commanded of their ancestor Manco Capac.


Chancay-Inka headband
Ica-Inka headband
Inka tunic
Tunic with Diamond Band
Inka eight-pointed star tunic
Chancay-Inka tunic

Expansion of the Inka Conquerors

From agricultural products and llama herds to gold and silver to the skills and labor of the people, the resources of outlying territories were a powerful lure for the Inka.


Inka Expansion map
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    Pachacutic, 9th Shapa Inka

    Pachacutic means "earth shaker." He transformed the Inka state and made Cusco the center of an extensive empire.

    Pachacutic, 9th Shapa Inka and wife

    Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala (Quechua, ca. AD 1535–1616). Portraits of Pachacutic, 9th Shapa Inka (1438–1471), and his coya (queen), 1615. The First New Chronicle and Good Government, The Royal Library, Copenhagen, GKS 2232 4°.

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    Huayna Capac, 11th Shapa Inka

    The empire grew to its greatest size under Huayna Capac. He extended the empire as far as Pasto in Colombia. He also founded the city of Tomebamba in Ecuador and modeled it after Cusco. While trying to pacify rebellions among conquered peoples in the north, he died of smallpox.

    Huayna Capac, 11th Shapa Inka and wife

    Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala (Quechua, ca. AD 1535–1616). Portraits of Huayna Capac, 11th Shapa Inka (1493–1527), and his coya (queen), 1615. The First New Chronicle and Good Government, The Royal Library, Copenhagen, GKS 2232 4°.

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    Tupac Inka Yupanqui, 10th Shapa Inka

    Tupac Inka Yupanqui, the son of Pachacutic, led the Inka army during his father's reign and conquered new territories. He extended the empire and the Qhapaq Ñan southward, into Chile and Argentina. After he became Shapa Inka, he expanded the empire north along the coasts of Peru and Ecuador.

    Tupac Inka Yupanqui, 10th Shapa Inka and wife

    Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala (Quechua, ca. AD 1535–1616). Portraits of Tupac Inka Yupanqui, 10th Shapa Inka (1471–1493), and his coya (queen), 1615. The First New Chronicle and Good Government, The Royal Library, Copenhagen, GKS 2232 4°.

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