The Incas: The Royal Commentaries of the Inca

443 Pages·67.448 MB·English

by  Garcilaso de la Vega (Jolas trans from Gheerbrant)

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GARCILASdOel VEaG A
Transblya ted
MARIAJOLAS
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ALAGIHNE ERBRANT
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A DISCUS BOOK/PUBLISHED BY AVON BOOKS
AVON BOOKS
A division of
The Hearst Corporation
959 Eighth Avenue
New York, New York 10019
Copyright© 1961 by The Orion Press, Inc.
Published by arrangement with the Orion Press, Inc.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 61-14189.
ISBN: 0-380-45542-0
All rights reserved, which includes the right
to reproduce this book or portions thereof in
any form whatsoever. For information address
The Orion Press, Inc., 125A East 19th Street,
New York, N.Y. 10003.
First Printing (Avon Library Edition), November, 1964
Third Printing (Discus Edition), June, 1971
Fifth Printing
l>ISCUS TIIADEMAlllt IU!O, U.S. PAT, OPP. AM> IR
OTHER COlJNTIUES, MAJICA IIE<ilSTLt.DA, Bl!CHO 1!11
11.s.&.
Printed in the U.S.A.
CONTENTS
LIST OF Il.LUSTRATIONS b:
INTRODUCTION xi
BOOOKNE Which treats of the origin of the Incas; of
the life, wvrks, and conquests of their first
king, Manco Capac, and of the founding
of the imperial city of Cuzco 41
BOOTWKO Which treats of the life, works, and con­
quests of Sinchl Roca, second king of
Peru, and of the third king, Lloque Yu­
panqui; together with the administrative
divisions of the Empire, and the knowl­
edge acquired by these lords in astrology,
medicine and pharmacy, geometry, geog­
raphy, arithmetic, music, philosophy, and
poetry 54
BOOK THREE Which treats of the life works, and con­
quests of Maita Capac, fourth king oi. the
Incas, and of Capac Yupanqui, their fifth
king, with the description of a famous
bridge on the Apurimac river; and that of
the very famous temples of Cusco and
Titicaca It
BOOK FOUR Which treats of the life, works, and con­
quests of Inca Roca, sixth king of Peru,
and of his rnccessor, Yahuar Huacac, sev­
enth king. With the life and status of the
virgins dedicated to the Sun; and the cus­
toms relative to marriage, birth, family
life, and child education. Also the dis­
grace of the crown prince, the vision that
comes to him, and the revolt of the
Chancai. 127
BOOK FIVE Which treats of the life, works, and con­
quests of the Inca Viracocha, eighth king
of Peru. With the laws and customs of
the Incas concerning land division and
their manner of tillage; taxes, benefits,
and statute labor; rules and regulations
covering public and private estates; the
Inca Viracocha's great victory, and how
he predicted the coming of the Spaniards
155
BOOK SIX Which treats of the life, works, and con­
quests of the Inca Pachacutec, ninth king
of Peru. With a description of the royal
mansions; of the funeral ceremonies of
the kings; of the hunting season; posts
and messengers; Empire archives ..nd ac­
counts kept with cords called quipus; the
great Sun festival; divinatory sacrifices
and ceremonies; the manner in which the
young Incas were knighted; schools; and
, subjugation of the great Chimu 189
BOOK SEVEN Which treats of the Inca Ypanqui, tenth
king of Peru. With a description of the
third feast of the Sun, and also of the
fourth, during which the city of Cuzco
was purified of its diseases. Description
of the imperial city of Cuzco, with its
quarters, its streets, its palaces, and its
schools; and its prodigious Sacsahuaman
fortress 257
BOOK EIGHT Which treats of the Inca Tupac, eleventh
king of Peru, who conquered the Canaris
and the kingdom of Quito. With a de­
scription of these rich provinces; and the
exploits of the young Prince Huaina Ca­
pac, until his three marriages 295
BOOK NINE Life, government, and death of the great
King Huaina Capac, twelfth sovereign of
Peru. With the surrender of the people of
Tumbez, and of the island of Puna; the
story of the great gold chain the said king
had made, how and why; that of the re­
bellion and punishment of the Chacha­
puyas and the Caranques; that of the
giants who landed and lived on the sea­
coast. How Huaina Capac made his son
Atahualpa king of Quito; how he was
warned of the arrival of the Spaniards;
the predictions he made in his testament,
and his last will. Huascar Inca becomes
king of Peru. His brother Atahualpa
makes odious war upon him, and by his
cruel actions, prepares the fall of the Em­
pire and of the dynasty of the Incas 313
BOOK TEN How the Spaniards discover Peru, land
there and take possession of it. Pizarro
makes Atahualpa a prisoner. Atahualpa
has his brother Huascar executed and
promises an unbelievable ransom in ex­
change for the freedom that is not grant­
ed him. Sentence and death of Atahualpa,
which put an end to the tragic history of
the Incas. The author's conclusions 363
ILLUSTRATIONS
The Drawings of The Author ( Guaman Poma)
Guaman Poma en route to the City of Lima 62
Idolatry, Witchcraft, and the
Interpretation of Omens 110-112
The Months and Their
Occupations 203-205
The Great Officials of the
Empire 235-237
The Months and the Festivals 277-279
Huaina Capac Leaving to
Undertake the Conquest of
the Cafiaris 306
The Arrival of the Spaniards 330-331
The Poor Indian 368
The Spaniards and the
Incas in Peru 394-396
The Clergy in Peru 408-410
Map Extension of the Inca Empire between
1438 and 1525 based on a map by John
H. Rowe in the Handbook of South
American Indians, vol. 2 126
The designs at the beginnings of :aooks I,
ill, V, VIII are drawn after figures taken
from the Sun Door at Tiabuanaco. The
designs at the beginning of Books VII,
IX, X are Trujillo in origin. The one at
the beginning of Book IV is Mocbica in
origin. Those of Books II and VI are Tia­
huanaco and Pacasmayu, respectively, in
origin.
ix
INTRODUCTION
GAROLASO "EL INCA"
Today, when the annual feast of the Sun is revived in the
ancient Inca city, a feast that is a source of joy for
tourists and of emotion for the Indians, it is no exaggera­
tion to say that the entire population talks of the Inca
Garcilaso, whom they piously and rather naively as­
sociate with the greatest figures of the past. The Calle
Garcilaso is one of the principal avenues of the new
city, between the Calle Manco Capac and the Calle Pacha­
cutec. Here, two steps from the hotel where Americans usu­
ally stay, is the "old Cuzco Bazaar" which sells postcards of
the Sun, and tapestry or terra cotta likenesses of the
Incas. The young "Cuzceiios" get their sports training at
the "Garcilaso Stadium" and, at school, they are taught
the story of the Inca Garcilaso, Peru's leading writer.
Finally, in the heart of the old town, no visitor should
miss the casa Garcilaso, where our author himself will
act as guide and let us attend the bullfights given four
hundred years ago, on the main square of the city.
At that time..:......that was in 1553, Garcilaso was there­
fore fourteen years old-the fratricidal struggles of the
first conquistadors had ended in bloodshed, like those of
Huascar and Atahualpa. Indeed, it looked as though,
from the last Incas to the first Spaniards, the same tragic
story had repeated itself. The reigns of Pizarro antl
Almagro had been quite as ephemeral as those of Huaina
Capac's sons; hardly had they thought they held the Em­
pire in their hands, when it had eluded them, with their
lives. They had been superseded by men of haughty mien.
sparing of gesture and word, from a legal rather than a
military background. Under their rod of iron, thousands
and thousands of Indians were digging in the mountains
and scraping the beds of the rivers, in order that thou­
sands and thousands of cargos of gold and silver might
keep moving towards the coast, where they were awaited
by the potbellied galleons of H.M. Charles V, supreme
xi