The rise of the Inca state

El ascenso del imperio inca

c. 1400–1533. Around 1400 Cusco was one of many small highland polities.

What happened

Around 1400 Cusco was one of many small highland polities. Within a century its rulers had built Tawantinsuyu, 'the four parts together', the largest state the Americas had seen. Inca tradition, recorded by Spanish chroniclers, makes the turning point the Chanca attack on Cusco around 1438, when the prince who took the name Pachacuti drove off the enemy, seized the throne and began conquering the Cusco valley, the Titicaca basin and beyond. He and his successors turned conquest into government: a census, tribute paid in labour, roads and storehouses, resettled populations, local heirs kept as hostages in Cusco, and Quechua spread as the language of administration. Because the state was so centralised, it fell quickly when Pizarro captured its ruler in 1532.

Events along the way

• c. 1438–1471: Pachacuti and the rise of the Inca
• between 200 and 1000: Tiwanaku on Lake Titicaca

Sources

1. Inca Civilization — World History Encyclopedia
2. Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui — World History Encyclopedia