Topa Inca Yupanqui or Túpac Inca Yupanqui (), also Topa Inga Yupangui, erroneously translated as "noble Inca accountant" (before 14711493) was the tenth

Sapa Inca The Sapa Inca (from ; ) was the monarch of the Inca Empire (''Tawantinsuyu'' "the region of the four rovinces), as well as ruler of the earlier Kingdom of Cusco and the later Neo-Inca State at Vilcabamba, Peru, Vilcabamba. While the origins ...

(1471–1493) of the

Inca Empire The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

, fifth of the Hanan dynasty. His father was Pachacuti, and his son was

Huayna Capac Huayna Capac (; Cuzco Quechua: ''Wayna Qhapaq'' ) (before 14931527) was the third Sapa Inca of Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire. He was the son of and successor to Túpac Inca Yupanqui,Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro; 2015, originally published in Sp ...

. Topa Inca belonged to the ''Qhapaq Panaca'' (one of the clans of Inca nobles). His quya (principal wife) was his older sister, Mama Ocllo.de Gamboa, P.S., 2015, History of the Incas,

Biography

His father appointed him to head the

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

army before his reign as emperor, granting him the title of Auqui, or crown prince, at a young age. Topa Inca launched multiple large-scale expeditions to the north during his period as Auqui, subduing regions such as Hatun Xauxa, the Bombon Plateau, and Huaylas. Cities and sites the army he commanded besieged and captured at this time include Curamba, Huaylla-Pucara, Canta, and, most importantly, Chan Chan. He extended the realm along the Andes through modern Ecuador,Prescott, W.H., 2011, The History of the Conquest of Peru, Digireads.com Publishing, and developed a special fondness for the city of

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

, which he rebuilt with architects from

Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...

. During this time his father Pachacuti reorganized the kingdom of Cusco into the ''Tawantinsuyu'', the "region of four provinces". Topa Inca led extensive military conquests to extend the Inca empire across much of Southern America. He became Sapa Inca (sole ruler) in his turn upon his father's death in 1471, ruling until his own death in 1493. He conquered Chimor, which occupied the northern coast of what is now Peru, the largest remaining rival to the Incas. He conquered the province of

Antisuyu Antisuyu ( , ; ) was the eastern part of the Inca Empire which bordered on the modern-day Upper Amazon region which the Asháninka, Anti inhabited. Along with Chinchaysuyu, it was part of the ''Inca Government#Organization of the empire, Hanan ...

and subdued the

Qulla people The Qulla ( Quechuan for ''south'', Hispanicized and mixed spellings: ''Colla, Kolla'') are an Indigenous people of western Bolivia, northern Chile, and the western portions of Jujuy and Salta provinces in Argentina. The 2004 Complementary ...

. He imposed rules and taxes, creating two Suyuyoc Apu (Governor Generals), one in Jauja and the other in

Tiwanaku Tiwanaku ( or ) is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia, near Lake Titicaca, about 70 kilometers from La Paz, and it is one of the largest sites in South America. Surface remains currently cover around 4 square kilometers and in ...

. The fortress Saksaywaman, established by Pachacuti on the high plateau above Cusco, was constructed throughout Topa Inca Yupanqui's reign. Topa Inca died about 1493 in Chincheros, leaving two legitimate sons and 90 illegitimate sons and daughters. Chuqui Ocllo, one of the wives of Topa Yupanqui, convinced him that his son Capac Huari would succeed him, however, Topa Inca Yupanqoi changed his mind and decided on his son Titu Cusi Hualpa (who would later become emperor

). This provoked anger in Chuqui Ocllo and she poisoned Topa Inca. She and her favorite son were both killed soon after Topa Inca's death.

The Pacific Expedition

Original account

Topa Inca Yupanqui is also credited with leading a roughly 10-month-long voyage of exploration into the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

around 1470, under the reign of his father, reportedly visiting islands he called ''Nina Chumpi'' ("fire belt") and ''Hawa Chumpi'' ("outer belt", also spelled ''Avachumpi, Hahua chumpi''). The voyage is mentioned in the ''History of the Incas'' by

Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa (1532–1592) was a Spanish adventurer, author, historian, mathematician, and astronomer. He was named the governor of the Strait of Magellan by King Philip II of Spain, Philip II in 1580. His birthplace is not certain ...

, as well as in the works of

Martín de Murúa Martín de Murúa, O. de M., ( in Gipuzkoa, Spain – in Spain) was a Basque Mercedarian friar and chronicler of the Spanish conquest of the Americas. He is primarily known for his work ''Historia general del Piru'' (written ), which is conside ...

and Miguel Cabello de Balboa. Pedro Sarmiento described the expedition as follows:

:...there arrived at Tumbez some merchants who had come by sea from the west, navigating in balsas with sails. They gave information of the land whence they came, which consisted of some islands called Avachumbi and Ninachumbi, where there were many people and much gold. Topa Inca was a man of lofty and ambitious ideas, and was not satisfied with the regions he had already conquered. So he determined to challenge a happy fortune, and see if it would favour him by sea... :The Inca, having this certainty, determined to go there. He caused an immense number of balsas to be constructed, in which he embarked more than 20,000 chosen men... :Topac Inca navigated and sailed on until he discovered the islands of Avachumbi and Ninachumbi, and returned, bringing back with him slaves, gold, a chair of brass, and a skin and jaw bone of a horse. These trophies were preserved in the fortress of Cusco until the Spaniards came. The duration of this expedition undertaken by Topa Inca was nine months, others say a year, and, as he was so long absent, every one believed he was dead. :�
"¿Viajaron los Incas por Oceanía?"
Revista Enraizada, in Spanish, 2020.

Analysis

Historians and anthropologists such as María Rostworowski, Waldemar Espinoza, José Antonio del Busto Duthurburu and Jean Hervé Daude, believe that the two islands mentioned by the chroniclers are

Mangareva Mangareva is the central and largest island of the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. It is surrounded by smaller islands: Taravai in the southwest, Aukena and Akamaru in the southeast, and islands in the north. Mangareva has a permanent p ...

and

Easter Island Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...

, where oral traditions have claimed that a group of long-eared '' hanau eepe'' came to the island from an unknown land.The "Hanau Eepe", their Immigration and Extermination
Rongorongo. Some historians, however, are skeptical that the voyage ever took place.

References

External links