Manco Capac

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Manco Capac

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Manco Capac , legendary founder of the Inca dynasty of Peru. According to the most frequently told story, four brothers, Manco Capac, Ayar Anca, Ayar Cachi, and Ayar Uchu, and their four sisters, Mama Ocllo, Mama Huaco, Mama Cura (or Ipacura), and Mama Raua, lived at Paccari-Tampu [tavern of the dawn], several miles distant from Cuzco. They gathered together the tribes of their locality, marched on the Cuzco Valley, and conquered the tribes living there. Manco Capac had by his sister-wife, Mama Ocllo, a son called Sinchi Roca (or Cinchi Roca). Authorities concede that the first Inca chief to be a historical figure was called Sinchi Roca (c.1105-c.1140). Thus the foundation for an empire was laid. Another legend relates that the Sun created a man and a woman on an island in Lake Titicaca. They were given a golden staff by the Sun, their father, who bade them settle permanently at whatever place the staff should sink into the earth. At a hill overlooking the present city of Cuzco the staff of gold disappeared into the earth. They gathered around them a great many people and founded the city of Cuzco and the Inca state.

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Manco Capac

Myths and Legends of the World | 2001 | Copyright 2001, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Manco Capac

In the mythology of the Incas, Manco Capac was the founder of their nation and a culture hero who set the Incas on the road to glory. There are several versions of his story.

The best-known source, The Royal Commentaries of the Inca by Inca Garcilaso de 1a Vega, relates that the sun god was distressed that the people of earth did not live in a civilized way. As he crossed the sky each day, he saw that they wore only leaves and animal skins for clothing, lived in caves, and gathered wild plants and berries for food. So the sun god decided to send his son Manco Capac and daughter Mama Ocllo to teach the people how to improve their way of life. He gave his children a golden rod and told them to push it into the ground wherever they stopped to rest. When they reached a spot where the rod sank completely into the ground with a single push, they should build a sacred city of the sun, to be named Cuzco.

Setting out from Lake Titicaca, Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo wandered across the land and finally came to a valley where the golden rod sank easily into the soil. There they gathered all the people from near and far and taught them how to build homes, weave cloth, make tools, and grow crops. They also taught the people how to use weapons so that they could defend themselves and defeat others.

culture hero mythical figure who gives people the tools of civilization, such as language and fire

Another version of the myth says that Manco Capac was one of six siblings who emerged from a cave near Cuzco. The siblings gained control over the people of the earth, and Manco Capac became the first ruler of the Incas. Still another tale says that Manco Capac deceived people into believing that he was the son of the sun god. He did this by standing on a mountain wearing silver plaques that shone in the sun and made him look like a god.

See also Inca Mythology.

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"Manco Capac." Myths and Legends of the World. Macmillan Reference, USA. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 25 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Manco Capac." Myths and Legends of the World. Macmillan Reference, USA. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (November 25, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3490900308.html

"Manco Capac." Myths and Legends of the World. Macmillan Reference, USA. 2001. Retrieved November 25, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3490900308.html

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Newspaper article from: Business Times (Malaysia); 4/6/2001; ; 700+ words ; ...founder of the Inca dynasty was Manco Capac and he was followed by Sinchi...Yupanqui and finally Huayna Capac. "Those who headed the Inca...including `Sapa Inca', `Capac Apu', and `Intip Cori...Cuzco region at the time of Manco C
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Magazine article from: Chungara; 7/1/2004; ; 700+ words ; ...en el cual presumiblemente naci Manco Capac, hijo de Huayna Capac. Los Inkas...Inka royal palace, where Huayna Capac planned the suppression of the Quito rebellion and where his son, Manco Capac, was bom. The sacred character...
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News Wire article from: Inter Press Service English News Wire; 6/7/1997; ; 700+ words ; ...two; while the other recounts Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo, and is a version...clan, while in the other myth, Manco Capac is a man-god who arose from Lake...hand, Mama Ocllo, the wife of Manco Capac, has a much more domestic role...
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Magazine article from: Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute; 6/1/2002; ; 700+ words ; ...whose leaders they describe as having capac status. This chapter, a necessary...this term, sometimes held by the capac Inca's sister wife and hence frequently...descent from the first Inca ruler, Manco Capac. Chapters 3 and 4 investigate in...
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Magazine article from: Americas; 9/1/2002; ; 700+ words ; ...was once the great city founded by Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo, children of the...revolt and the siege of Cuzco by Manco Inca, the brave young prince who was the son of Mama Runtu and Huayna Capac, twelfth monarch in the royal line...
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Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 11/25/2000; ; 556 words ; ...on Atahuallpa's half-brother Manco Capac. Having appointed him as puppet...for himself. It was only then that Manco gathered an army and vowed to defeat...Seven of Almagro's cronies fled to Manco for protection, and he hid them...
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Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 3/19/2002; ; 700+ words ; ...drove the Incas from Cuzco, sending rebel chieftain Manco Capac and thousands of his soldiers fleeing northeastward toward...15th century. It may have been abandoned by the time Manco Capac and his rebels headed out of Cuzco on their way to the...
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News Wire article from: Xinhua News Agency; 3/1/2007; 463 words ; ...reported on Wednesday. The project, also dubbed as Manco Capac Route, is similar to the Quetzal Route, which is backed...Peru, Bolivia and Chile were part of the same nation. Manco Capac, is the legendary founder of the Inca empire who emerged...
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