The Coya

The coya was the sapa inca’s principal wife, often his full-blooded sister, and mother of the chosen heir to the throne. The coya maintained her own household and court, complete with ladies-in-waiting. The grounds around her palace often featured a small botanical garden and a modest zoo.

While the sapa inca was the “son of the sun,” the coya was in charge of the cult of the moon. Commoners often called the coya ma-manchic, which means “our mother” in Quechua.

The coya dressed in long robes of soft vicuna wool, gathered at the shoulder with a decorative pin. Servants carried a feathered canopy over her as she walked upon a runner of fine wool. Her meals, like that of the sapa inca, were served on gold and silver plates, although the food was the same fare eaten by all Inca subjects.

Although she had no direct ability to rule and could never become sapa inca, she did have general authority over the women of the empire. She also influenced daily politics through her kinship ties in other royal lineages. Some coyas played greater roles in the Inca Empire than others. The

Most influential may have been the wife of Mayta Capac, Mama Cuca. Botany, landscaping, and other natural sciences fascinated her. After studying agronomy (a branch of agriculture dealing with field-crop production), she experimented and introduced new strains of vegetables for farmers. She arranged plantings around the palaces. Mama Cuca also recognized the value of fishing to provide food and promoted successful fishing techniques among commoners. To help the military, she found ways of extracting venom from snakes and using the poison to coat arrowheads and spearheads.

Secondary wives could not become the principal wife or empress of the sapa inca if the coya died. This rule kept the coya and her children safe from jealous and ambitious secondary wives-for the most part. Clearly the policy did not work in the case of Capac Yupanqui’s coya, Cusi Hilpay. A secondary wife, Cusi Chimbo, arranged for both the sapa inca and the crown prince to be murdered so that Inca Roca, her own son, could be named the new ruler. Chimbo wed Inca Roca and became the coya through her second marriage.