Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui
d. 1471
Inca Emperor
Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui was not only the first Inca emperor whose dates and existence are firmly established in history; he is also widely considered the greatest Inca ruler—if not one of the greatest leaders in world history. An empire builder who began with a kingdom of perhaps 25 square miles (65 sq. km) and shaped it into a vast realm, Pachacutec created a system of roads and a highly organized, efficient government. These were particularly impressive achievements in light of the fact that the Inca had not discovered the wheel; had no pack animals other than the diminutive llama; and possessed no system of writing.
Pachacutec, whose name meant "he who transforms the earth," was born the son of Viracocha, a semi-legendary ruler whose name was taken from that of the principal Inca deity. But he was neither the first nor the favorite son. At some point in the 1430s, the Incas were attacked by a neighboring tribe, and both Viracocha and his designated heir fled the capital at Cuzco for the safety of the mountains. Pachacutec, however, held his ground, and marshalled his army to drive back the invaders. With victory secured, he took the throne in 1438. The latter year is the beginning of Inca history, inasmuch as events after that point can be dated with relative certainty.
Pachacutec set about first strengthening his hold on the region around Cuzco. Then he extended his reach to parts of the Amazon valley, and to the Andean highlands as far as Lake Titicaca. Rather than simply fighting battles of conquest, Pachacutec was pursuing a clearly defined strategy aimed at building a strong and unified empire. Wherever possible, he and his advisors won over neighboring tribes through diplomacy; if this failed, the Inca army—by far the most powerful in the region—won victory by force. Most tribes wisely agreed to bloodless conquest by the Inca.
As a means of ensuring that his ever-widening empire developed a common culture, Pachacutec saw to it that the Inca language, Quechua, became the regional lingua franca. To reduce threats from potentially hostile groups, Pachacutec sometimes ordered tribes to relocate, thus separating them from homelands where they might develop a base of support for future resistance. In line with his policy of not making Inca rule too harsh on the conquered peoples, however, Pachacutec's government pursued its relocation policy with care. For instance, he avoided moving people from the lowlands to the high mountains where the thin air and cold climate might cause deaths.
Roads were another key element of Pachacutec's program to solidify his empire. Under his reign, the Inca constructed some 2,500 miles (4,000 km) of stone roads, many of them across high mountain passes and others through steaming swamps. Though these were extremely well-built, with tightly fitted stones, they were not roads as Europeans would understand them: most were only about three feet (1 m) wide, which was sufficient to accommodate pedestrians or load-bearing llamas.
Along with the roads, the Inca built way stations placed at intervals equal to a day's travel, so that travelers could rest and obtain supplies. Trained runners traversed the road system, keeping the emperor abreast of events throughout his empire. Compared to the slow postal system of Europe (which, like that of the Inca Empire, was only for the use of the government, not ordinary citizens), the Inca messenger service was extraordinarily fast and efficient. Thanks to the relay runners, who could transport a message at the rate of 140 miles (224 km) a day, Pachacutec's army was never caught unaware by rebellions on their borders. In addition, the emperor kept troops stationed throughout the empire, ready to go into action whenever the alert was sounded.
Particularly impressive was the means by which the Inca overcame the limitations imposed by illiteracy. In place of written records, Pachacutec's bureaucrats used the quipu, an ingenioussystem of strings in varying lengths and colors, for recording numerical information. For mathematical calculations, they made use of the abacus.
After years of administering his empire, Pachacutec turned over the reins of leadership to his son Topa. He continued to be actively involved in governmental affairs, however, particularly a program to rebuild Cuzco from the devastation or earlier attacks. He created a plan for the city, and initiated vast building projects, including a huge central plaza surrounded by temples. By the time of Pachacutec's grandson Huayna Capac (r. 1493-1525), the Inca controlled an area equal to that of the U.S. eastern seaboard, with some 16 million subjects, a number equal to the population of France at the time.
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