The Mascapaicha or Maskaypacha (

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

: "Maskhay", ''search'' and "Pacha", ''space'' or ''time'') was the royal

crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

of the Emperor of the

Tahuantinsuyo The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

, more commonly known as the Inca Empire.

Description

The Mascaipacha was the imperial symbol, worn only by the Sapa Inca as King of Cusco and

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

of the Tahuantinsuyo. It was a chaplet made of layers of many-coloured braid, from which hung the ''latu'', a fringe of the finest red wool, with red tassels fixed to gold tubes. It was decorated with gold threads and a tuft bearing two or three upright feathers from the

mountain caracara The mountain caracara (''Phalcoboenus megalopterus''), (Spanish: corequenque) is a species of bird of prey in the family Falconidae. It is found in puna and páramo in the Andes, ranging from northern Ecuador, through Peru and Bolivia, to northe ...

, a sacred bird called Corequenque in Spanish, it was the physical expression of ultimate political power in the Inca Empire. In some ceremonies the Sapa Inca carried the Mascaipacha in his hand, while he wore a war head-dress (a feather-decorated helmet).Baudin, p. 73

Ceremonial

Only the Sapa Inca could wear the mascapaicha, which was given to him by the ''Willaq Uma'', the high priest of the Empire. The coronation ceremony was carried out when the predecessor Sapa Inca died and it was necessary for the '' auqui'' (

crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wi ...

) to assume his functions as the new sovereign.

References

*Baudin, L. (1961) ''Daily Life in Peru under the Last of the Incas'', Macmillan. *Gustavo Pons Muzzo, ''Historia del Peru'', Editorial Universo S.A., Lima 1981. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mascapaicha Inca Empire Crowns (headgear)

Description

Ceremonial

See also

References