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It was the western hemisphere’s 
largest empire ever,

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with a population 
of nearly 10 million subjects.

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Over an area of more 
than 900,000 square kilometers,

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its people built massive 
administrative centers,

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temples, and extensive road 
and canal systems.

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They did so in an inhospitable, 
extreme terrain,

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all without the use of wheels, 
horses, iron, or even written language.

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Yet within 100 years of its rise 
in the fifteenth century,

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the Inca Empire would be no more.

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According to legend,

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the ancestors of the Inca rulers 
were created by the sun god Inti,

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and they emerged
from a cave called Tambo Toco.

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Leading four brothers 
and four sisters was Ayar Manco,

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who carried a golden staff 
with instructions

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to find the place where 
it would sink into the ground,

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showing fertile soil.

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After many adventures 
and extensive searching,

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Ayar Manco and his siblings 
reached the Cuzco Valley,

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where the staff pierced the ground.

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After fighting off the fierce 
local native population,

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they founded their capital,

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and Ayar Manco became Manco Capac, 
the first Sapa Inca, or king of the Incas.

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Archaeological evidence suggests

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that the Incas first settled in this valley around 1200 CE.