Pachacutec: Incan Emperor Who Created Machu Picchu
posted on September 11th, 2014 in Incas, Machu Picchu, Peru
Pachacutec: The Incan Emperor Who Built Machu Picchu
By Kim MacQuarrie
(Excerpt from the book, Machu Picchu: Song of Stone)
According to Inca oral history, in the early part of the 15th century an Inca king arose who would not only revolutionize the entire Andean world but who would also create some of the finest architectural monuments ever known. At the time, the Incas lived within a small kingdom centered around the valley of Cuzco, one of many such small kingdoms in the Andes and on the coast. The Incas told the Spaniards that, at the time, they were led by an old Inca king named Viracocha Inca. Faced with an approaching army from the powerful kingdom of the Chancas, the Inca ruler fled, leaving his adult son, Cusi Yupanqui, behind. The latter quickly took charge, raised an army, and somehow miraculously defeated the invaders. Cusi Yupanqui then deposed his father, arranged for his own coronation, and changed his name to Pachacutec, a Quechua word that means “earth-shaker” or “cataclysm,” or “he who turns the world upside down.” The name was a prescient one, for Pachacutec would soon turn the status quo of the Andes entirely upside down.
