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55 DOI: 10.5876/9781607322764.c004 4 Inka Spaces and Places The Inkas in Moquegua Land and people to work it on a reciprocal basis formed a single unity which one can separate for analytical purposes but which we have to put together again if we want to understand them in Andean terms. —John Murra (1968: 134) Sometime in the late fifteenth century,the Inkas inserted themselves into the region that is now southwestern Peru. In contrast to the multiple accounts of real or legendary events of Inka imperial expansion, only one written account is known of the Inkas’ intrusion from the Titicaca basin into the Osmore valley: the 1609 Royal Commentaries of the Incas and General History of Peru by Garcilaso de la Vega, “El Inka” (1987a, 1987b: 143–45). According to Garcilaso, the conquest of this area in the Contisuyu quarter of Tawantinsuyu took place under the Inka ruler Mayta Qhapaq (Capac), whose army set out from Hatunqolla toward Cuchuna (Cochuna), the name for the lower Torata valley in what is now Moquegua. From Hatuncolla [the Inka ruler] sent the army with its four commanders westwards with orders to cross the desert1 called Hatunpuna, the edge of which had been won by the Inca Lloque Yupanqui, and to reduce to his service the tribes that might be found on the other side of [it], as far as the shores of the Southern Sea. Under no circumstances were they to offer battle to the enemy . . . With these instructions and a great store of supplies . . . the captains marched across the snowcapped range, with some difficulty since there was no road . . .They reached a province called Cuchuna, with a loosely scattered though considerable population. INKA SPACES AND PLACES 56 Hearing of the arrival of this army, the natives built a fort and shut themselves up with their wives and children.The Incas surrounded it, but out of respect for the orders of their king, were unwilling to attack it, though it was very weak . . . [The army held the people at siege “for above fifty days” . . .] But the natives were sorely pressed by hunger . . . since the sudden arrival of the Incas had prevented them from laying in provisions; nor had they thought the Incas would persist in the siege . . . the children were unable to bear it and went out to find herbs in the fields. Many [children] went over to their enemies . . .The Incas received them and fed them and even gave them a little food to take back to their parents, sending the usual messages of peace and friendship. Seeing this, the natives, who no longer hoped for relief, decided to surrender unconditionally . . . The Inca captains reported all that had happened in this conquest and asked for colonists to settle in two towns there, for the land seemed fertile and capable of supporting far more people than it held. It was proposed also to leave a garrison [presidio] there to assure the possession of what had been won, and for any emergencies that might occur.The Inca sent the required settlers with their wives and families, and the two towns were peopled. One was at the foot of the mountains where the natives had built their fort. It was called Cuchuna, the name of the mountains.The other was called Moquehua.The towns are five leagues apart. (Garcilaso de la Vega 1987b: 143–44) interrogating the account Because Garcilaso’s is the only known report of the Inka conquest of the upper Osmore drainage, it is useful to examine (or “unpack”) his account in greater detail to investigate underlying themes and processes it and its narrator contribute to a greater understanding of this moment in the region’s history. Who Was Garcilaso de la Vega, “El Inka”? Born in 1539, Garcilaso was the illegitimate son of a Spanish father, Capt. Sebastián Garcilasso de laVegaVargas,and an“Inka princess”(ñusta,palla) named Chimpu Ocllo (Livermore 1987: xx, xxii). Known by her baptismal name, Isabel Suárez Chimpu Ocllo, and also as Isabel Palla and Isabel Yupanqui, Chimpu Ocllo was a relative of the Inka ruler Wayna Qhapaq, generally thought to be his daughter (figure 4.1). However, sorting out the factual details and chronology of the Inka rulers—much less their offspring from multiple wives—is notoriously difficult (Covey 2006). Wayna Qhapaq was likely a son of the ruler Topa Yupanki,who in turn was the son and military commander of Pachacuti.All were [52.15.59.163] Project MUSE (2024...

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