Assesment of the first part of the Royal Commentaries, succession of the Incas [II]

Abstract

José de la Riva Agüero makes a critical analysis of Inca history. He proposes the existence of an early "feudal period" where the Incas were merely chiefs of a local confederation in Cuzco, disputing power with neighboring curacas (local chiefs). The author discusses the dynastic division between Hurincuzco and Hanancuzco, noting that Inca Roca initiated the preponderance of the latter through usurpation. He defends Garcilaso's chronology of conquests but corrects the attribution of the victory over the Chancas, arguing that it was Pachacutec and not Viracocha who saved the city, suggesting a duplication of events in the chronicles. Finally, he validates the accounts of atrocities committed by Atahualpa's generals against Huascar's panaca (royal lineage) and the orejones (nobles), explaining them as a war of extermination between rival nationalities (Quito vs. Cuzco).