Editing Manco Cápac

{{Short description|Legendary founder of the Inca civilization}}
{{Expand Spanish|topic=bio|Manco Cápac|date=January 2023}}
{{About|the first Sapa Inca|the later figure also known as Manco Cápac|Manco Inca Yupanqui|the 2020 Peruvian film|Powerful Chief}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name        = Manqu Qhapaq
| image       = Brooklyn Museum - Manco Capac, First Inca, 1 of 14 Portraits of Inca Kings.jpg
| caption     = Manco Cápac, mid–18th century painting, anonymous.
| image_size  = 220px
| alt         = Manco Cápac
| succession  = [[Sapa Inca]] of the [[Kingdom of Cusco]]
| reign       = {{circa|1200}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Covey |first=R. Alan |date=January 2006 |title=Chronology, Succession, and Sovereignty - The Politics of Inka Historiography and Its Modern Interpretation |journal=[[Comparative Studies in Society and History]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=169–199 |doi=10.1017/s0010417506000077|s2cid=145472763 }}</ref> - {{circa|1230}}
| predecessor = [[Inti Mayta Cápac Pachacuti]] (Pre-Incan king)
| successor   = [[Sinchi Roca]]
| birth_date  = before {{circa|1200}}
| birth_place = Tamputoco, [[Cusco]], [[Inca Empire]]
| death_date  = {{circa|1230}}
| death_place = Cusco, Inca Empire
| father      = Apu Tambo<ref name="father">Arturo Gómez Alarcón, [http://losincas.blogspot.com/2005/04/manco-cpac.html ''Los Incas, Manco Cápac'']</ref>
| spouse      = [[Mama Uqllu]]
| issue       = [[Sinchi Roca]]
}}

'''Manco Cápac''' (before {{circa|1200}}{{spnd}}{{circa|1230}}; [[Quechua language|Quechua]]: ''Manqu Qhapaq'', "the royal founder"), also known as '''Manco Inca''' and '''Ayar Manco''', was, according to some historians, the first governor and founder of the [[Inca]] civilisation in [[Cusco]], possibly in the early 13th century.<ref name="Prescott">Prescott, W.H., 2011, The History of the Conquest of Peru, Digireads.com Publishing, {{ISBN|9781420941142}}</ref> He is also a main figure of [[Inca mythology]], being the protagonist of the two best known legends about the origin of the Inca, both of them connecting him to the foundation of Cusco. His main wife was his older sister, [[Mama Uqllu]], also the mother of his son and successor [[Sinchi Ruq'a]]. Even though his figure is mentioned in several chronicles, his actual existence remains uncertain.

== Biography ==
=== Origin ===
Manco Cápac was born in Tamputoco, which according to some<ref>Pedro Cortázar, ''Documental del Perú: Cusco'', p. 148</ref> is located in the present-day [[Paruro Province|province of Paruro]], in Peru. The city usually served as a refuge for many people escaping the [[Aymara people|Aymaran]] invasions<ref>Soriano, 1990, p. 36</ref> of the [[Altiplano]]. His father was named Apu Tambo.<ref name="father" /> Manco Cápac and his family lived a nomadic lifestyle.<ref name="LosIncas47">Soriano, 1990, p. 47</ref>

=== Foundation of Cusco ===
[[File:Colcampata.jpg|thumb|260px|Walls of Colcampata, which served as Manco Capac's palace.]]

After the death of his father, Manco Capac had to succeed him as the head of the [[ayllu]], to which belonged several dozens of families.<ref>Soriano, 1990, p. 41</ref> The members of the ayllu were nomads, and the trajectory of their journeys through the Altiplano resembles the journey described in the legend of the Ayar brothers. Upon arriving in the Cusco valley, they defeated three small tribes that lived there; the Sahuares, Huallas and Alcahuisas,<ref name=LosIncas47 /> and then settled in a swampy area between two small streams, that today corresponds with the [[Plaza de Armas (Cusco)|main plaza]] of the city of [[Cusco]].<ref>Incan city of Cusco, [http://ciudadinca.perucultural.org.pe/mcapac.htm, ''The foundation and actions of the Manco Capac government''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602042501/http://ciudadinca.perucultural.org.pe/mcapac.htm |language=es |date=2 June 2011}}</ref> The recently founded city was divided into four districts; Chumbicancha, Quinticancha, Sairecancha and Yarambuycancha.<ref>[[Víctor Anglés Vargas]], ''Historia del Cusco incaico'', p. 290</ref>

Manco Cápac's tribe, or ayllu, only occupied a small fraction of the Cusco valley, the rest of it being inhabited by larger and more powerful tribes, who often would threaten the city. Located north of the city there was a confederated lordship of [[Ayarmaca]]s and Pinaguas. All these tribes regarded Manco Cápac and his ayllu as invaders and would often attack them. Manco Cápac, and later his son and successor [[Sinchi Roca]], would often have to defend the city against the other tribes.<ref>Soriano, 1990, p. 51</ref>

=== Death ===
[[File:Templo del Sol Titicaca.jpg|thumb|260px|Temple on [[Isla del Sol]] (as seen in 1887) where the mummified body of Manco Cápac came to rest.]]

Manqu Qhapaq died of a natural death and left his son, Sinchi Roca, as his successor in Cusco. His body was [[mummy|mummified]] and remained in the city until the reign of [[Pachacuti]], who ordered its removal to the Temple of the Sun on [[Isla del Sol]]. In Cusco there remained only a statue erected in his honor.

== Mythological origin ==
Manco Cápac is the protagonist of the two main legends that explain the origin of the [[Inca Empire]]. Both legends state that he was the founder of the city of [[Cusco]] and that his wife was [[Mama Uqllu]].

=== Legend of the Ayar brothers ===
In this legend, Manco Cápac (Ayar Manco) was the son of [[Viracocha]] of [[Paqariq Tampu]] (six [[league (unit)|league]]s or 25{{nbsp}}km south of Cusco). He and his brothers (Ayar Auca, [[Ayar Cachi]] and Ayar Uchu) and sisters ([[Mama Ocllo]], Mama Huaco, Mama Raua and Mama Ipacura) lived near [[Cusco]] at Paqariq Tampu, and they united their people with other tribes encountered in their travels. They sought to conquer the tribes of the Cusco Valley. This legend also incorporates the golden staff, thought to have been given to Manco Cápac by his father. Accounts vary, but according to some versions of the legend, the Manco got rid of his three brothers, trapping them or turning them into stone, thus becoming the leader of Cusco.  He married his older sister, Mama Ocllo, and they begot a son named [[Sinchi Roca]].<ref name="Gamboa">de Gamboa, P.S., 2015, History of the Incas, Lexington {{ISBN|9781463688653}}</ref>

=== Legend of Manqu Qhapaq and Mama Ocllo ===
In this second legend, Manco Cápac was a son of the sun god [[Inti]] and the moon goddess [[Mama Killa]], and brother of [[Pacha Kamaq]]. Manco Cápac himself was worshipped as a [[fire]] and a Sun [[God]]. According to the Inti legend, Manco Cápac and his siblings were sent up to the earth by the sun god and emerged from the [[cave]] of [[Pacaritambo]] carrying a golden staff, called ''tapac-yauri''. Instructed to create a [[Temple]] of the Sun in the spot where the staff sank into the earth, they traveled to Cusco via caves and there built a temple in honour of their father Inti.

However, given the absence of a written tradition recounting this tale before the publication of ''[[Comentarios Reales de los Incas]]'' by [[Garcilaso de la Vega (chronicler)|Garcilaso de la Vega]] in the year 1609, the authenticity of this legend as a legitimate Incan legend is questioned.

== In fiction ==
''[[The Son of the Sun]]'' (1987), the first [[Scrooge McDuck]] [[comic book]] story written and drawn by [[Don Rosa]], features Manco Cápac as the original owner of various lost [[treasure]]s.

In the first sentence of [[Herman Melville]]'s novel ''[[The Confidence-Man]]'' (1857) the sudden appearance at sunrise on 1 April of a mysterious fictional character is compared to Cápac's appearance out of [[Lake Titicaca]].

In [[P.B. Kerr]]'s ''Eye of the Forest'', the fifth book in the ''[[Children of the Lamp]]'' series, Manco Cápac is said to be a powerful [[Djinn]] who took his place as a god amongst the Incas by displaying his power of matter manipulation.

In British author [[Anthony Horowitz]]'s fantasy-thriller book series ''[[The Power of Five]]'', Manco Cápac is the son of Inti and one of five children destined to keep the universe safe from the forces of evil. Cápac is reincarnated in the 21st century as a Peruvian street beggar called Pedro.

Kuzco, the main character from ''[[Emperor's New Groove]]'', in the first version of the movie ''Kingdom of the Sun'' was supposed to be named Manco Cápac.

== Heritage ==
The [[car float]] ''Manco Capac'' operates across [[Lake Titicaca]] between [[PeruRail]]'s railhead at [[Puno]] and the port of [[Guaqui]] in [[Bolivia]].<ref>Wikipedia Foundation, [[PeruRail]], accessed 19 February 2020</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Kingdom of Cusco]]
* [[Inca Empire]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
{{Commons category}}
* {{cite book |last1=Soriano |first1=Waldemar Esponoza |title=Los Incas - Economia, Sociedad Y Estado En La Era Del Tahuantinsuyo |date=1990 |publisher=Amaru Editores |isbn=84-7090-300-4}}
* Pugh, Helen; ''Intrepid Dudettes of the Inca Empire''; (2020) {{ISBN|9781005592318}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{succession box
|before = [[Inti Mayta Cápac Pachacuti]]<br /><small>'''(Pre-Incan king)'''</small>
|title  = [[Sapa Inca]]
|years  = {{circa|1200}} – {{circa|1230}}
|after  = [[Sinchi Roca]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Sapa Incas}}
{{Inca Empire topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capac, Manco}}
[[Category:1230s deaths]]
[[Category:Inca gods]]
[[Category:Solar gods]]
[[Category:Fire gods]]
[[Category:Inca emperors]]
[[Category:Mythological kings]]
[[Category:13th-century Sapa Incas]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]