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by Osgood Hardy
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In: The Mentor·History - Other·History - Ancient
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The deity whose worship the Incas especially inculcated, and which they never failed to establish wherever their banners were known to penetrate, was the Sun. It was he who, in a particular manner, presided over the destinies of man; gave light and warmth to the nations, and life to the vegetable world; whom they reverenced as the father of their royal dynasty, the founder of their empire; and whose temples rose in every city and almost every village throughout the land.
Besides the Sun, the Incas acknowledged various objects of worship, in some way or other connected with this principal deity. Such was the Moon, his sister-wife; the Stars, revered as part of her heavenly train, though the fairest of them, Venus, known to the Peruvians by the name of Chasca, or the “youth with the long and curling locks,” was adored as the page of the Sun, whom he attends so closely in his rising and in his setting. They dedicated temples also to the Thunder and Lightning, in whom they recognized the Sun’s dread ministers, and to the Rainbow, whom they worshiped as a beautiful emanation of their glorious deity.
In addition to these, the subjects of the Incas enrolled among their inferior deities many objects in nature, as the elements, the winds, the earth, the air, great mountains and rivers, which impressed them with ideas of sublimity and power, or were supposed in some way or other to exercise a mysterious influence over the destinies of man.
But the worship of the Sun constituted the peculiar care of the Incas, and was the object of their lavish expenditure. The most renowned of the Peruvian temples, the pride of the capital, and the wonder of the empire, was at Cuzco, where, under the munificence of successive sovereigns, it had become so enriched that it received the name of “The Place of Gold.” It consisted of a principal building and several chapels and inferior edifices, covering a large extent of ground in the heart of the city, and completely encompassed by a wall, which, with the edifices, was all constructed of stone.
The interior of the temple was most worthy of admiration. It was literally a mine of gold. On the western wall was emblazoned a representation of the deity, consisting of a human countenance looking forth from amidst innumerable rays of light which emanated from it in every direction, in the same manner as the sun is often personified with us. The figure was engraved on a massive plate of gold of enormous dimensions, thickly powdered with emeralds and precious stones. It was so situated in front of the great eastern portal that the rays of the morning sun fell directly upon it at its rising, lighting up the whole apartment with an effulgence that seemed more than natural, and which was reflected back from the golden ornaments with which the walls and ceiling were everywhere encrusted. Gold, in the figurative language of the people, was “the tears wept by the Sun,” and every part of the interior of the temple glowed with burnished plates and studs of the precious metal.
From Prescott’s “Conquest of Peru.”
Rude and destructive as were most of the Spanish conquistadores (con-kees-tä-dõ´-rays), many of them sympathized with the conquered people, and it is from the records of their impressions that we have obtained most of what we know about the Incas. Four of these Castilian diarists whose work is most valued were soldiers. Of their number, Pedro de Cieza de Leon (pay´-dro day see´-ay-sa day lay´-on) has given us the fullest and most interesting account of the ancient Peruvians. Only a boy of fourteen was he when he embarked on the Spanish Main, and he was only nineteen when, in 1538, he joined an expedition up the valley of the Cauca (kä-oo´-kä). He commenced his chronicle in 1541, and for ten years traveled from one end of Peru to the other, writing down his impressions as he went. The first part of his journal was published in 1554. Juan de Betanzos (hwän day bay-tän´-sos), another soldier, has left us but a portion of his work. We have only the record used by Friar Gregorio de Garcia (gray-go´-rio day gar-see´-a) in the first two chapters of his “Origen (o-ree´-hen) de los Indios,” and an incomplete manuscript in the Escurial (ay-skoo-ree-al). This was edited and printed in 1880 by Jimenez de la Espada (hee-may´-nes day lä ay-spä´-dä). Betanzos’ work is valuable, as he learned the Quichua (kee´-choo-a) language and was an official interpreter. Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa (pay´-dro sär-mi-ayn´-to day gäm-bo´-ä), a militant sailor, accompanied the Viceroy Toledo (to-lay´-do), and was employed by him to write a history of the Incas. Finished in 1572, it is without doubt the most authentic and reliable we possess as regards the course of events. Pedro Pizarro, a cousin of the conqueror, was also a historian of merit, finishing the “Relaciones” (rā-lä-see´-o-nays) at Arequipa (är-ay-kee´-pä) in 1571.
The writings of lawyers have been of little value, although Prescott made use of the unpublished “Relaciones” of Polo de Ondegardo (po´-lo day on-day-gär´-do), written in 1561 and 1570.
The priests were the most diligent inquirers respecting the native religion, rites, and ceremonies. Vincente de Valverde (vis-ayn´-tä day väl-vayr-day) was the first priest to come to Peru, but he stayed only a short time and wrote very little. The best known clerical author is Josef de Acosta (hos´-ayf day ä-cos´-tä), who was in Peru from 1570 to 1586, and traveled over the greater part of the country. Cristoval Molina’s (krees-to´-väl mo-lee´-nä) “Report on the Fables and Rites of the Incas,” written previous to 1584, is also valuable, for he was a master of the Quichua language. Fernando Montesinos (fayr-nän-do mon-tay-see´-nos), who, with his amazing list of kings, traced Inca ancestry back to Noah, was until recently given little consideration. But lately his work, “Ophir de España, Memorias Historiales (o-feer´ day ay-spän-yä may-mo´-ree-äs ees-tor-ee-a´-läs) y Políticos del Peru (po-lee´-tee-cos dayl pay-roo´),” written about 1644, has been given more credence, since it seems probable that much of it was based on the writings of Blas Valera (bläs vä-lay-rä). The premature death of the latter and the disposal of his valuable manuscripts is described by Markham as the most deplorable loss that Inca civilization has sustained. His work was used extensively by Garcilaso de la Vega (gär-see-lä´-so day la vay-gä), a grandnephew of the Inca Huayna Ccapac (wy´-nä k-kä´-päk). He is the most famous of all the historians, and is quoted some eighty times by Prescott.
The works of many of these authors and of others less famous are available today in English, as a result of the indefatigable efforts of Sir Clements Markham, whose translations have been published by the Hakluyt Society. There are still many interesting and valuable old manuscripts reposing in the archives of Madrid (mäd-reed´) and Seville (say-veel´-yay), which have yet to be discovered, edited, and given to the world. Of the Spanish historians who have been engaged in this work, Dr. Marcos Jimenez de la Espada is probably the best known. An excellent bibliography of Peruviana has been prepared by Markham and is published in “The History of the Incas,” Publications of the Hakluyt Society, Series II, Vol. XXII, Cambridge, England.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 6, No 3, SERIAL No. 151 COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
The Inca sovereigns about whom tradition tells us enough so that they may be considered historical personages are twelve in number. The first of these, Sinchi Rocca (seen´-chee rok-kä), or Rocca the Great, was the first ruler after the return of the Incas to Cuzco (coos´-ko) at the close of their long exile in Tampu-tocco (täm-poo-tok´-ko). He reigned from 1134-1197, according to the chronology of Dr. Gonzales de la Rosa (gon-sä-lays day lä ro´-sä), the most eminent of modern Peruvian historians. Rocca owed his position to a cleverly executed plot contrived by his mother. She dressed him in glittering gold apparel, and hid him in the Chingana (cheen-gä´-nä) Cave on Sacsahuaman (säk-sä-wä´-män) Hill. At intervals for several days excited Cuzqueñans (koos-kayn-yäns) beheld a golden vision moving on the fortress heights. Eventually, after their curiosity and fanatical credulity had been sufficiently aroused, the vision descended into the city. It gave itself over to the crowd, allowed itself to be conducted to the temple, and there proclaimed itself the adopted son of the Solar Deity. Under Rocca, the Temple of the Sun was enlarged and the city greatly improved.
There is some question among historians as to the acts of Rocca’s successors, Lloque Yupanqui (lyo´-kay yoo-pän´-kee) and Mayta Ccapac (my´-tä k-kä´-päk), who reigned from 1197-1246, and 1246-1276, respectively. Garcilaso (gär-see-lä´-so) records their conquering the Cana (kä´-nä) and Colla (kol´-yä) people in the southwest, building a Sun Temple at Hatun-Colla (ä-toom-kol´-yä), carrying on warfare along the shores of Lake Titicaca (tee-tee-kä´-kä), and Lake Aullagas (aul-yä´-gas), and on the west, going as far as Lake Parinaccochas (pär-een-äk-ko´-chäs) and Arequipa (a-ray-kee´-pä). But the majority of historians represent the first three Incas as confining themselves more or less to the Cuzco Valley, and gradually, by diplomatic means, extending their influence over the surrounding inhabitants.
Ccapac Yupanqui (yoo-pän-kee), 1276-1321, made the region to the southeast the theatre of his operations, and Garcilaso credits him with reaching Potosi (po-tos´-ee). Inca Rocca, 1321-1348, improved the water supply of Cuzco (would that he might come again), founded schools, and militariwise, attempted to penetrate the Amazonian forests. His son, Yahuar-Huaccac (yä´-wär-wäk´-käk) (weeping-blood), 1348-1370, was rather a nonentity. His name was acquired as follows, says tradition: While a child he fell into hostile hands. At the point of death he was seen to be weeping tears of blood. This so affected his enemy that he was permitted to live; he eventually escaped to his own people after a life of hardship among some shepherds.
He was followed by Uiraccocha (weer-äk-ko´-chä), 1370-1425, in whose reign occurred the invasion of the Chancas (chän´-käs). The invaders were finally driven out, chiefly through the bravery of his son, Pachacuti (päch-ä-koo´-tee), who reigned from 1425-1478. Under this rule and that of his successors, Tupac Yupanqui, 1478-1488, and Huayna Ccapac (wy´-nä k-kä´-päk), 1488-1525, the Inca dominion grew from a comparatively small confederation to the great, imperial state found by the Spaniards. Huascar (wäs´-kär), the successor of Huayna Ccapac, was overthrown and taken prisoner by his natural brother, Atahuallpa (ä-tä-wäl´-pä), about the time that Pizarro entered Peru. When the latter heard of the quarrel between the two brothers he determined to settle it. Fearful lest the decision should go against him, Atahuallpa had Huascar murdered, and this act provided Pizarro with an excuse for the execution of Atahuallpa.
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