The last Sapa Inca to ascend the throne before Spanish contact, Huayna Capac, grandson of famed emperor Pachacuti, survived multiple plots against his rule before guiding the Inca Empire through 30 comparatively peaceful years. His reign was marked by achievements in architecture and engineering, with the king widely acknowledged as a skilled diplomat. Felled by European disease before the conquest even began, his demise sounded a death knell for the once-great empire.
*Editor’s note: As the Inca had no traditional written language, all of the Inca names included here are approximations of the original Quechua, and various alternate spellings are also accepted—for example, Guayna Cápac, Wayna Kapak, and Wayna Qhapaq are accepted alternate spellings of Huayna Capac.
Born to Reign: Royal Ancestry
Born Titu Cusí Huallpa, the future Huayna Capac* was the son and heir of Túpac Inca Yupanqui, tenth Sapa Inca (“Great Inca” or Emperor) of Tawantinsuyu, the Quechua name for what is today called the Inca Empire. His mother, Mama Ocllo, was his father’s sister-wife, and his grandfather was Pachacuti, the Sapa Inca who initiated the dramatic expansion that turned the humble Kingdom of Cusco into a vast empire.
Exactly where the future king was born is a matter of debate; some scholars suggest he was born in present-day Ecuador during one of his father’s empire-building missions but was ultimately raised in Cusco, the seat of the empire. His birth year is also up for discussion, with most scholars placing the date in the mid-1460s but some as late as 1488.
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Sign up to our Free Weekly NewsletterLike many leaders, both ancient and modern, much less is known about his childhood than his time in power, but some oral histories recorded by Spanish chroniclers indicate that, unlike many young nobles, he did not participate in military campaigns—perhaps because most of the major conflicts and conquests had already ended by the time he was old enough to join in. Instead, while Túpac Inca Yupanqui traveled elsewhere to manage his empire, he left the future Sapa Inca in charge of governing Cusco, where he focused on mastering the administrative skills needed to rule his future kingdom. He was also said to enjoy hunting and to have had a special bond with his mother, whom he consulted frequently for advice.
Palace Intrigue: Huayna Capac’s Ascension
The Inca Empire was essentially a monarchy, but given the practice of kings taking multiple wives as well as concubines, succession was rarely as straightforward as planned. Though Titu Cusí Huallpa was the chosen successor of the Sapa Inca, others in the kingdom had their eye on the throne as well—perhaps unsurprising since the tenth Sapa Inca was said to have 90 illegitimate children. In fact, when Túpac Inca Yupanqui decided on his heir, one of his concubines, who wanted her son named heir, allegedly poisoned him and tried to place her son on the throne. Though she may have succeeded in killing the emperor—his exact cause of death is still debated—the plot to have her son inherit the throne was foiled by one of the empire’s leading generals.
After Tupac Inca Yupanqui’s death in 1493, some histories indicate that a regent ruled the empire because his son was not yet of age (lending credence to the claim that he was born later in the 15th century), while others claim that this person was simply an advisor, as the Sapa Inca was such a young ruler, in his early twenties. What scholars seem to agree on is that this individual, another of the young king’s own family members, also tried to usurp the throne, but the plot was again uncovered, and he was killed.
Finally, the reign of Titu Cusí Huallpa could begin. According to Spanish chronicler Pedro de Cieza de León’s account of the history of the Inca empire, at his inauguration the eleventh Sapa Inca “came forth…very richly adorned, and performed the ceremonies according to the custom of his ancestors, at the end of which his name was declared with great acclamations: ‘Huayna Capac,’” from the Quechua words wayna meaning “young” and qhapaq, “powerful.”
Tawantinsuyu Under Huayna Capac
Though the majority of the lands that would ultimately form the Inca Empire had already been conquered by his father and grandfather, Tawantinsuyu reached its greatest extent under Huayna Capac. The ruler traveled frequently to secure his lands, putting down rebellions, hardening the borders and conquering a few hold-out territories. He expanded further north, gaining additional territory in present-day Ecuador, as well as traveling to what is now Chile and Bolivia to ensure the territories conquered by his father were staying in line.
He is credited with founding Cochabamba, in present-day Bolivia, as an administrative center for overseeing the empire’s recently conquered western territories and implementing the process of mitma, a forced relocation program that incorporated conquered peoples into the more established parts of the empire, while moving groups from regions loyal to the Sapa Inca into rebellious territories.
The eleventh Sapa Inca also created a de facto secondary capital at Tomebamba near Quito in present-day Ecuador, moving his court there in order to better manage the rebellious, newly conquered territories, as well as incorporating local and military leaders into his government, a departure from previous Incas who relied almost entirely on generals and nobility from Cusco.
The great leader had an active family and personal life as well. In addition to numerous concubines, he took at least three wives, including two sister wives and Princess Paccha Duchicela of Quito, heir to a local chief, in a marriage likely designed to cement Inca leadership in newly conquered territories in Ecuador. He had a number of legitimate sons and potential heirs and, by some accounts, 200 or more illegitimate children. Like each Sapa Inca before him, Huayna Capac commissioned the building of a great personal estate, known as Quispiguanca, in the Sacred Valley—and engaged his many thousands of laborers in the Herculean task of re-routing the Urubamba River to do so.
While the extant records from the period primarily focus on the Sapa Inca’s military conquests, the empire flourished in many ways under Huayna Capac, with notable advancements in engineering and architecture. Shortly after taking power, the Sapa Inca personally began to inspect the lands around Cusco, noting necessary repairs for its roads, bridges, and canals and mandating their undertaking. He carried out similar inspections in other provinces, sometimes assigning new governors, likely trying to root out any remaining hint of conspiracy against him.
He also oversaw the expansion and improvement of the empire’s famed network of roads, building qullqa, storehouses, alongside roadways to ensure rapid delivery of supplies, and is also credited with the construction of numerous temples, including the Temple of Wiracocha, and huacas, or sacred places, remodeling the shrine system established during his grandfather’s reign.
Writing in the late 16th century, Spanish missionary José de Acosta described the great leader in glowing terms:
“He was very prudent and imposed great order everywhere in the land; he was determined and brave and very fortunate in war, and achieved great victories….Even today many buildings and roads and forts, and notable works of this king are seen…”
Biological Warfare: Huayna Capac’s Death
Scholars are unsure of the exact year, but shortly after the conquistadors first set foot in South America, Huayna Capac contracted an unknown illness while in present-day Ecuador. Early scholarship laid the blame on smallpox, while later researchers contend it was likely measles or another disease introduced by the Europeans, against which the native population had no immunity. The exact virus is less important than the result: Huayna Capac, the Sapa Inca, died quickly and unexpectedly, ending his reign somewhere between 1525 and 1530.
A series of unfortunate events ensued. By some accounts, the disease that felled the Sapa Inca also quickly killed his designated heir; other historians suggest that he failed to name a successor, and so the Sapa Inca’s death created a power vacuum, with rival factions from the newly established Tomebamba outpost and the traditional capital Cusco jockeying to take over. Regardless of the cause, the kingdom descended into civil war. Two of Huayna Capac’s sons, Huascar and Atahualpa, battled for control of the vast Inca territory as European diseases spread; the previously well-maintained empire fell into chaos.
While Atahualpa ultimately prevailed over his brother, his victory came at a great price, and his rule was short-lived. He inherited a populace weakened by both disease and war, a once-strong governing system in disarray, and the challenge of ruling over subjects who did not believe he was the rightful king, including those who supported Huascar, as well as the rebellious communities most recently conquered and subdued by his father.
Enter the Conquistadors.
Francisco Pizarro could not have picked a better time to try to conquer the continent’s native population. Even if the native weaponry had been a match for Spanish guns and horses, the combination of political strife and a disease-weakened population put the Inca at an immediate disadvantage.
Atahualpa was captured and executed. The Spanish put a puppet Sapa Inca into power, a brother of Huayna Capac, who fell ill and died within months. His successor, Manco Capac, another son of Huayna Capac, was also chosen as a puppet king and attempted to coexist with the Spanish.
Ultimately realizing he could never satisfy their demands for gold and outraged by their treatment of the Inca royal women, he declared war on the colonizers. He retreated to rule first from Ollantaytambo, Pachacuti’s personal estate, and then from Vilcabamba. However, he managed to hold the Spanish at bay for only a few years before the empire ultimately fell.
Huayna Capac’s Life After Death & Final Resting Place
For most leaders, death would be the end of the story, but Huayna Capac, like the Sapa Incas before him, remained in service to the Inca Empire even after his death. Immediately following his passing, his body was embalmed, dressed in fine clothes, and carefully carried back to Cusco. A slew of wives and servants were said to have been sacrificed to serve him in the afterlife. As civil war raged, his mummy, or yllapa, continued to reside at his estate, tended to by family and accompanied by an oracle who would relay his messages from the beyond.
Despite Spanish efforts to destroy most Indigenous customs and practices, the family managed to keep Huayna Capac’s mummy safe and sound until 1559, when colonial officials, fed up with their ancestor worship, rounded up the mummies of numerous Sapa Incas, including Huayna Capac. For a time, they were put on display for curious Spanish eyes at the Hospital Real de San Andrés (Royal Hospital of Saint Andrew) and then ultimately buried either there or somewhere else in Lima. Unfortunately, their burial location remains unknown and as yet undiscovered, a fate unbefitting the last true king of the mighty Inca.
