Manco Cápac

This article is about the first Sapa Inca. For the later figure also known as Manco Cápac, see Manco Inca Yupanqui.

Drawing by Guaman Poma

Manco Cápac (Quechua Manqo Qhapaq "splendid foundation", also Manku Qhapaq) was the legendary first Sapa Inca of the Kingdom of Cusco and a figure of Inca mythology. There are several versions of his origin story, which connect him to the foundation of Cusco.

Inti legend

In one myth, Manco Cápac was a son of the sun god Inti and Mama Quilla, 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 underground caves and there built a temple in honour of their father Inti.

Colonial image of Manco Cápac

Wiracocha legend

In the Wiracocha legend, Manco Cápac (Ayar Manco) was the son of Tici Viracocha of Paqari-Tampu (today Pacaritambo, 25 km south of Cusco). He and his brothers (Ayar Anca, Ayar Cachi and Ayar Uchu) and sisters (Mama Ocllo, Mama Huaco, Mama Raua and Mama Cura) lived near Cusco at Pacaritambo, 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 young Manco jealously betrayed his older brothers, killed them, and became the ruler of Cusco.

Life

Manco Capac ruled the Kingdom of Cusco for about forty years, establishing a code of laws, and is thought to have abolished human sacrifice. The code of laws forbade marrying one's sister, but these laws did not apply to Inca nobility and so he married his sister, Mama Ocllo or Mama Cello. With her, Manco had a son named Roca who became the next Sapa Inca. Manco Capac is thought to have reigned until about 1230, though some put his death in 1107.

Manco ruled before the title of Sapa Inca was invented, so in fact his title is Capac, which roughly translates as warlord.

In fiction

The Scrooge McDuck comic book "Son of the Sun", written by Don Rosa, features Manco Cápac as the original owner of various lost treasures. The treasures serve as the comic's main plot device because Scrooge and his nephews have to search for them.

In the first sentence of the first chapter of Herman Melville's The Confidence-Man the appearance of a fictional protagonist 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.

Preceded by (none)

Sapa Inca c. 1200 CE

Succeeded by Sinchi Roca

Persondata
Name	Capac, Manco
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Date of death	1107
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