The Inca civilization flourished in the Andes mountains of South America during the 1400s and early 1500s ce. At the center of Inca religion and mythology was the worship of the sun, believed to be the ancestral father of the Inca people. For this reason, sun worship was closely linked to ancestor worship, and many of the myths of the Incas focus on their origins. The Incas tailored their mythology to glorify their own culture and to reinforce the idea that they were a superior people destined to rule others.
Based in the city of Cuzco (pronounced KOOZ-koh) in what is now Peru, the Incas were one of many small groups who lived in the Andes (pronounced AN-deez) mountains in the 1300s. Gradually, the Incas expanded and absorbed the surrounding peoples, peacefully at first and later by conquest. In 1438 a strong leader named Pachacuti (pronounced pah-chah-KOO-tee) became their king. He and his descendants made the Inca state into a vast empire that stretched from southern Colombia south into Chile and covered much of modern Bolivia and part of Argentina. Throughout this great empire the Incas built a network of roads as well as temples, fortresses, and other public buildings.
As the empire grew, the Incas absorbed the myths and legends of the cultures they conquered. They often reworked the old stories of others to give them a new, pro-Inca twist. Although they allowed their subjects to continue to worship their own gods, they expected everyone in the empire to participate in the state religion and to worship the Inca deities or gods. The Incas had no written language so they did not record their myths in writing. Instead, a class of professional storytellers and performers recited the official state history, which contained both fact and myth.
In 1531 the Incas came under attack by Spanish conquistadors. The following year their empire fell. The Spanish began converting the Indians to Christianity and wiping out non-Christian traditions and practices. However, some Spanish military and religious personnel recorded what they learned about Inca mythology, as did a few of the
Macchu Picchu, located high in the Andes mountains in Peru, was a holy city of the Incas. The site contains the ruins of a temple where the Incas worshiped their sun god. JORGE PROVENZA/ART RESOURCE, NY.
Newly Christianized and educated Incas. Though somewhat colored by European and Christian views and values, these accounts offer a glimpse into the mythology of the Incas’ mountain empire. Much of what we know about Inca mythology comes from the writings of Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (1539-1616), the son of a Spanish conquistador and an Inca princess. He learned the Inca legends from his uncles, who were members of the nobility. Moving to Spain as an adult, Garcilaso turned his early notes on Inca history and culture into The Royal Commentaries of the Inca.
World History
