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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.

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They remained a small kingdom until 1438,

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when they were nearly overrun 
by the neighboring Chanka tribe.

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The Inca king at this time, Viracocha, 
and his designated heir fled in fear,

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but one of his other sons remained

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and successfully rallied 
the city’s defenses.

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For his military skill, he became 
the ninth Inca ruler,

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assuming the name of Pachacuti, 
or "Cataclysm."

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Pachacuti expanded Inca rule 
throughout the Andes mountains,

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transforming the kingdom into 
an empire through extensive reforms.

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The empire’s territory was reorganized 
as Tahuantinsuyu, or "four quarters,"

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with four divisions ruled 
by governors reporting to the king.

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Although the Inca had no writing,

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they used a complex system 
of knotted strings called quipu

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to record numbers 
and perhaps other information.

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A decimal-based bureaucracy 
enabled systematic

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and efficient taxation 
of the empire’s subjects.

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In return, the empire provided security, 
infrastructure, and sustenance,

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with great storehouses containing 
necessities to be used when needed.

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Great terraces and irrigation works 
were built

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and various crops were grown in 
at different altitudes

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to be transported all over the empire.

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And it was during Pachacuti’s reign

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that the famous estate 
of Machu Picchu was constructed.

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Pachacuti’s son Topa Inca continued 
the empire’s military expansion,

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and he eventually became ruler
in 1471 CE.

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By the end of his reign, the empire 
covered much of western South America.

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Topa’s son Huayna Capac 
succeeded him in 1493.

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But the new ruler’s distant military 
campaigns strained the social fabric.

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And in 1524, Huayna Capac 
was stricken by fever.

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Spanish conquistadors had arrived 
in the Caribbean some time before,

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bringing diseases to which 
the native peoples had no resistance.

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Millions died in the outbreak,

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including Huayna Capac
and his designated heir.

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The vacant throne ignited a civil war
between two of the surviving brothers,

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Atahualpa and Huascar,

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greatly weakening the empire.

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In 1532, after finally winning 
the Inca civil war,

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Atahualpa and his army 
encountered the European invaders.

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Although greatly outnumbered,

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Francisco Pizarro 
and his small group of conquistadors

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stunned the king’s much larger force 
with guns and horses,

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neither of which they had seen before.

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Atahualpa was taken captive 
and killed about a year later.

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The Spanish conquerors 
were awed by the capital of Cuzco.

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Pizarro described it as so beautiful that
“it would be remarkable even in Spain.”

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Though the capital had fallen

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and the native population had been
destroyed by civil war and disease,

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some Incas fell back to 
a new capital at Vilcabamba

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and resisted for the next 40 years.

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But by 1572, the Spaniards had destroyed 
all remaining resistance

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along with much of the Incas’ physical 
and cultural legacy.

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Thus, the great Inca empire fell 
even faster than it had risen.