Manco Capac, who died in or around the year 1107, is
generally described as the first emperor of the Inca people who occupied much
of the western side of South America until their conquest by the Spanish
conquistadores in the 16th century.
The stories told about Manco Capac often sound as though
they belong to mythology, but he was a real person, even though various legends
have attached to him.
It is said that Manco and his three brothers and four
sisters originally lived in a cave in the valley of the Vilcamayu river. They
moved to the region of Lake Titicaca and brought civilisation to the tribes
that lived there. One of Manco’s sisters taught the women how to weave wool
threads into cloth and Manco taught the men how to farm. Manco encouraged them
to worship the Sun instead of performing human sacrifices and he outlawed
incestuous marriages between brothers and sisters.
There is some evidence that two tribes, the Inca and the Allcovisa,
did indeed settle together near Lake Titicaca in the late 11th
century and that there was a certain amount of cultural exchange between them.
However, there is no truth in the legend that Manco founded
the city of Cuzco, because this is known to have been settled during the 900s
and the Inca did not arrive there until the 1200s.
When Manco died he was succeeded by his son Sinchi Roca, and
it was he who led the Inca into the Cuzco Valley which would in due course
become the centre of the Inca Empire.
© John Welford
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