Editing History of Ecuador (section)

====The Incas====
The [[Inca civilization]] expansion northward from modern-day [[Peru]] during the late 15th century met with fierce resistance by several Ecuadorian tribes, particularly the [[Cañari]] in the region around modern-day [[Cuenca, Ecuador|Cuenca]] along with the [[Quitu]], occupants of the site of the modern capital; and the Cara in the Sierra north of Quito. The conquest of Ecuador began in 1463 under the leadership of the ninth Inca, the great warrior [[Pachacuti]] Inca Yupanqui. In that year, his son Tupa took over command of the army and began his march northward through the Sierra.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rostworowski |first=María |title=Pachacútec Inca Yupanqui}}</ref>

[[File:Ingapirca_03.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Ruins of structures built with stone blocks|Incan ruins at Ingapirca]]
By 1500 Tupa's son, [[Huayna Capac]], overcame the resistance of these populations and that of the Cara, and thus incorporated most of modern-day Ecuador into [[Inca Empire|Tawantinsuyu]], or the Inca empire.<ref>{{cite book | last = Rudolph | first = James D. | title = A Country Study: Ecuador | publisher = Library of Congress | year = 1991 | location = Washington, D.C. | url = https://archive.org/details/ecuadorcountryst00hanr | lccn = 91009494 | isbn = 978-0844407302 | url-access = registration }}</ref> The influence of these conquerors based in [[Cuzco]] (modern-day Peru) was limited to about a half century, or less in some parts of Ecuador. During that period, some aspects of life remained unchanged. Traditional religious beliefs, for example, persisted throughout the period of Inca rule. In other areas, however, such as agriculture, land tenure, and social organization, Inca rule had a profound effect despite its relatively short duration.<ref>Starn, Degregori, Kirk ''The Peru Reader: History, Culture, Politics''; Quote by Pedro de Cieza de Leon; Published by Duke University Press, 1995</ref>

Emperor Huayna Capac became fond of Quito, making it a secondary capital of [[Inca Empire|Tawantinsuyu]] and living out his elder years there before his death in about 1527. He willed that his heart be buried in Quito, his favorite city, and the rest of his body be buried with his ancestors in Cuzco. Huayna Capac's sudden death and the death days later of the Incan heir apparent from a strange disease, described by one source as [[smallpox]],<ref>Lovell, W. George. ""Heavy Shadows and Black Night": Disease and Depopulation in Colonial Spanish America." Annals of the Association of American Geographers 82, no. 3, The Americas before and after 1492: Current Geographical Research (Sep., 1992): 426–443.</ref> precipitated a bitter power struggle between [[Huáscar]], whose mother was Coya (Empress) Mama Rahua Occillo, and [[Atahualpa]], whose mother was according to most sources of the [[Panakas|panaka]] of Pachacuti,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cieza de León |first=Pedro |title=El Señorio de los Incas}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sarmiento de Gamboa |first=Pedro |title=Historia de los Incas}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=de Betanzos |first=Juan |title=Suma y Narración de los Incas}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Cabello de Balboa |first=Miguel |title=Miscelánea Antártica}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=de Santa Cruz Pachacuti Yamqui Salcamayhua |first=Juan |title=Relación de las antigüedades deste Reyno del Perú}}</ref> and who was his father's favorite.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Favre |first=Henri |title=Les Incas |publisher=Presses Universitaires de France}}</ref> Huascar was chosen as emperor by the Inca nobles, but Atahualpa was very popular with the Inca armies stationed in the north.<ref name=":0" /> Huayna Capac had named another one of his sons, [[Ninan Cuyochi]], as his heir. But Ninan Cuyochi died shortly after his father from smallpox. Huáscar ordered Atahualpa to attend their father's burial in Cuzco and pay homage to him as the new Inca ruler. Atahualpa, with a large number of his father's veteran soldiers, decided to ignore Huáscar, and a civil war ensued. A number of bloody battles took place until finally Huáscar was captured. Atahualpa marched south to Cuzco and massacred the royal family associated with his brother.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rostworowski |first=María |title=History of the Inca Realm |publisher=Cambridge University Press |translator-last=B. Iceland |translator-first=Harry}}</ref>

This struggle raged during the half-decade before the arrival of [[Francisco Pizarro]]'s conquering expedition in 1532. The key battle of this [[Inca Civil War|civil war]] was fought on Ecuadorian soil, near [[Riobamba]], where Huáscar's northbound troops were met and defeated by Atahualpa's southbound troops. Atahualpa's final victory over Huáscar in the days just before the Spanish conquerors arrived resulted in large part from the loyalty of two of Huayna Capac's best generals, who were based in Quito along with Atahualpa. The victory remains a source of national pride to Ecuadorians as a rare case when "Ecuador" bested a "neighboring country" by force.