Manco Cápac or also known as Ayar Manco, was the founder and first ruler of the Incas. According to a Colla legend (the legend of Manco Cápac), he was a semi-divine natural hero, being the son of the Sun God (Inti).
Before Manco Cápac arrived in Cusco, the city of Cusco was home to pre-Inca tribes. Archaeology has shown that the Cuzco area had a long history before the Inca era. Agriculture had already developed in this region, and during the Wari period there was a high population density in Cusco, sufficient for an administrative center like Pikillaqta to operate nearby.
General characteristics
Manco Cápac or Ayar Manco
Manco Cápac was a Sinchi (chief) who, after the fall of the Tiwanaku Empire, decided to lead his people’s migration toward a fertile and favorable region.
He was protected by mastery of the arts of war.
He also possessed knowledge of agriculture, metallurgy, and construction.
His overwhelming strength was fueled by solidarity among his people.
He forged a traditional connection with a distant ancestral lineage, a totem they worshiped.
Without facing resistance, he arrived in Paruro and settled there for some time; however, as he approached the place where he would find Cusco,
The native inhabitants of the newly conquered lands resisted him.
He suffered some defeats and the death of several Sinchis who followed him (as recalled in the Quechua legend of the Ayar brothers);
He defeated those from Quirumanta and Huanacauri, from Colcabamba and Huaynapata, and finally, the Gualla, Alcaviza, and Sahuasiray clans.
To strengthen his conquest, he began a policy of alliances with the people of the conquered ayllus (kinship groups) and taught the defeated the arts of peace.
He ruled for many years and died in the middle of the 13th century.
Foundation of Cusco
Cusco was founded by Manco Cápac after confronting various local lordships during the 13th century. The entire legend about the “Origins of the Incas” is linked to the struggle between different Cusco lineages for power—a conflict that ended with the victory of Manco Cápac, lord of Cusco, a city that since then became the capital of a kingdom encompassing at least the Vilcanota Valley and possibly the Urubamba Valley.
If you want to learn more about the foundation of Cusco, we recommend visiting other amazing destinations in Cusco such as the Rainbow Mountain tour, the Humantay Lake trek, or the Sacred Valley tour, which only takes one day. But if you’re staying in Peru for more days, other archaeological sites you might explore include the one-day Machu Picchu excursions from Cusco.
Legend of Mama Ocllo and Manco Cápac
In the regions near Lake Titicaca, men lived like wild animals because they had no religion, laws, or organization uniting them. These inhabitants knew nothing of agriculture and lacked textile techniques, so they walked naked. They lived in caves and survived through hunting and gathering food.
The god Inti took pity on these people and sent his son Ayar Manco along with his sister Mama Ocllo to civilize these barbaric populations and found an empire that would honor the god Inti. Ayar Manco focused on teaching men the rules of social coexistence and worshipping the god Inti. Meanwhile, Mama Ocllo taught women weaving techniques and domestic tasks.
Ayar Manco, also called Manco Cápac, first had to found a city that would become the center of the world. His father, the god Inti, gave him a golden staff to locate the promised land. He advised them to travel north of Lake Titicaca and insert the golden staff into the ground wherever they passed until they found the place where it sank easily into the earth. There they found the city of Cusco, where they established their empire.
Upon arriving in the northern region of Lake Titicaca, they were seen by locals who mistook them for gods due to the shine of their clothes and jewels. Days passed, but Manco Cápac could not find the land where the staff would sink easily.
But one day, when they reached a majestic valley surrounded by beautiful mountains, the golden staff sank into the ground, surprising Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo. Thus, they knew this place was destined to become the capital of the Inca Empire and the navel of the world.
Manco Cápac quickly began his civilizing mission in the Cusco Valley. He taught men agriculture, fishing, house construction, science, religion, and more. Mama Ocllo was entrusted with training women in domestic duties and weaving to create clothing to cover their bodies. Together, Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo were the founders of the empire that would later bring greatness to their descendants.
Interpretation of the Legend of Mama Ocllo and Manco Cápac
The legend of Mama Ocllo and Manco Cápac tells of legendary figures believed to be of celestial origin who accompanied a crucial civilizer moving from south to north across Peru.
This meaning is symbolized by the staff sinking into the earth like a plant taking root to bloom.
Clarifying this legend has solid and genuine support, as it shows that Manco Cápac spoke to an entire nation, perhaps of Tiwanaku origin, living around the sacred lake.
As is known, the most fertile lands are precisely around the lake, where at one point overpopulation and lack of arable land forced the nation to seek another rich and expansive location.
Likewise, it is argued that the province of Tiwanaku, whose capital was in Taypiqala, was destroyed by Aymara invaders from the Tucumán and Coquimbo regions in the south, forcing its inhabitants to relocate to the Qosqo Valley.
It is evident that the expansion of Tiwanaku (known as Tiawanako in Peru) provided decisive support for the development of the Tawantinsuyo Empire.
Achievements
Very little is actually known about the life and work of this figure; however, the main chroniclers attribute some notable events to him, including:
- The construction of the Inticancha, the Temple of the Sun and seat of government.
- Victory over the Huallas, Sahuasera, and Alcahuisas tribes.
- Draining of the swamps of Cuzco.
- Division of the city into four districts: Quinticancha, Chumbicancha, Sayricancha, and Yarambuycancha.
Death
Apparently, Manco Cápac died at the age of seventy and was succeeded by his son Sinchi Roca. It seems likely that he was embalmed and buried in the great Temple of the Sun in Cuzco, as was done with his descendants.
After his death, the figure of Manco Cápac I transcended historical reality to become a mythical hero, central to the narrative explaining the legendary origins of the Inca people and their monarchs. According to accounts recorded, among others, by the chronicler Garcilaso de la Vega, the Inca (1583–1613), eight children of the sun god Inti—four males (Manco Cápac, Ayar Cachi, Ayar Ucho, and Ayar Auca) and four females—emerged from underground water through a cave located in the sacred rock of Pacaritambo, approximately 30 km southeast of Cusco.
Monuments
In 1921, various foreign communities in the country joined the celebrations marking the centennial of Peruvian independence, which included the donation of commemorative monuments.
Thus, the Central Japanese Society (now the Japanese Peruvian Association), which represented Japanese immigrants, agreed to donate a commemorative work, deciding it would be a monument to Manco Cápac, as he was a symbol uniting Peru and Japan. The ancient Inca was considered the “Son of the Sun,” a concept also present in Japanese culture.
The monumental work was commissioned to sculptor David Lozano, and in 1922, the inauguration ceremony was held. Initially, the monument was placed at the intersection of Grau and Santa Teresa avenues, which later became known as Avenida Manco Cápac. Later, the monument was moved to its current location.
However, Manco Cápac still had to wait a few more years… A series of setbacks and breach of contract by the sculptor delayed the project, which was finally inaugurated on April 5, 1926.
It is said that Morimoto Ichitaro, the president of the pro-monument commission of the Central Japanese Society, upon seeing the finished work, exclaimed with tears in his eyes: “¡Por fin lo tenemos!” (“At last, we have it!”)
A monument that took three years, nine months, and twenty-one days to complete, costing approximately 113,500 soles.
