According to Montesinos, there were three distinct periods in the
history of Peru. First, there was a period which began with the origin
of civilization, and lasted until the first or second century of the
Christian era. Second, there was a period of disintegration, decline,
and disorder, introduced by successful invasions from the east and
southeast, during which the country was broken up into small states, and
many of the arts of civilization were lost; this period lasted more than
a thousand years. Third and last came the period of the Incas, who
revived civilization and restored the empire. He discards the
wonder-stories told of Manco-Capac and Mama Oello, and gives the
Peruvian nation a beginning which is, at least, not incredible. It was
originated, he says, by a people led by four brothers, who settled in
the Valley of Cuzco, and developed civilization there in a very human
way. The youngest of these brothers assumed supreme authority, and
became the first of a long line of sovereigns.
Montesinos gives a list of sixty-four sovereigns who reigned in the
first period. The first was Puhua Manco, or Ayar-Uchu-Topa, the youngest
of the four brothers, whose power was increased by the willing
submission of "neighboring nations." His successor, called Manco-Capac,
is described as a remarkable character; "adjacent nations dreaded his
power," and in his time the kingdom was much increased. Next came
Huainaevi-Pishua, and "during his reign was known the use of letters,
and the _amautas_ taught astrology and the art of writing on leaves of
the plantain tree." Sinchi-Cozque won victories, and "adorned and
fortified the city of Cuzco." Inti-Capac-Yupanqui, another remarkable
character, divided the kingdom into districts and subdistricts,
introduced a complete civil organization, instituted the solar year of
three hundred and sixty-five days, and established the system of
couriers. Manco-Capac II. "made great roads from Cuzco to the
provinces." These are the first six rulers named on the list.
In the next thirteen reigns nothing special is noted save attention to
civil affairs, occasional conquests, and "a great plague." The twentieth
sovereign, called Huascar-Titupac, "gave all the provinces new governors
of royal blood, and introduced in the army a cuirass made of cotton and
copper." The twenty-first, Manco-Capac-Amauta, "being addicted to
astronomy, convened a scientific council, which agreed that the sun was
at a greater distance from the earth than the moon, and that they
followed different courses." In the next twelve reigns, wars, conquests,
and some indications of religious controversy are noted. The
thirty-fourth ruler, called Ayay-Manco, "assembled the _amautas_ in
Cuzco to reform the calendar, and it was decided that the year should be
divided into months of thirty days, and weeks of ten days, calling the
five days at the end of the year a small week; they also collected the
years into decades or groups of tens, and determined that each group of
ten decades should form a sun."
Among the next twenty-nine sovereigns, Capac-Raymi-Amauta, the
thirty-eighth of the line, and Yahuar-Huquiz, the fifty-first, were
"celebrated for astronomical knowledge," and the latter "intercalated a
year at the end of four centuries." Manco-Capac III., the sixtieth
sovereign of this line, is supposed to have reigned at the beginning of
the Christian era, and in his time "Peru had reached her greatest
elevation and extension." The next three reigns covered thirty-two
years, it is said. Then came Titu-Yupanqui-Pachacuti, the sixty-fourth
and last sovereign of the old kingdom, who was killed in battle with a
horde of invaders who came from the east and southeast across the Andes.
His death threw the kingdom into confusion. There was rebellion as well
as invasion, by which it was broken up into small states. The account of
what happened says: "Many ambitious ones, taking advantage of the new
king's youth, denied him obedience, drew away from him the people, and
usurped several provinces. Those who remained faithful to the heir of
Titu-Yupanqui conducted him to Tambotoco, whose inhabitants offered him
obedience. From this it happened that this monarch took the title of
King of Tambotoco."
During the next twenty-six reigns the sway of the old royal house was
confined to this little state. These twenty-six successors of the old
sovereigns were merely kings of Tambotoco. The country, overrun by rude
invaders, torn by civil war, and harried by "many simultaneous
tyrants," became semi-barbarous; "all was found in great confusion; life
and personal safety were endangered, and civil disturbances caused an
entire loss of the use of letters." The art of writing seems to have
been mixed up with the issues of a religious controversy in the time of
the old kingdom. It was proscribed now, even in the little state of
Tambotoco, for we read that the fourteenth of its twenty-six rulers
"prohibited, under the severest penalties, the use of _quellca_ for
writing, and forbade, also, the invention of letters. _Quellca_ was a
kind of parchment made of plantain leaves." It is added that an
_amauta_, who sought to restore the art of writing was put to death.
This period of decline, disorder, and disintegration, which covered the
"dark ages" of Peru, lasted until the rise of the Incas brought better
times and reunited the country.
Rocca, called Inca-Rocca, was the first of the Incas. He was connected
with the old royal family, but did not stand in the direct line of
succession. The story of his rise to power is told as follows: "A
princess of royal blood, named Mama-Ciboca, contrived, by artifice and
intrigue, to raise to the throne her son called Rocca, a youth of twenty
years, and so handsome and valiant that his admirers called him _Inca_,
which means lord. This title of _Inca_ began with him, and was adopted
by all his successors." He appears to have had great qualities as a
ruler. Not much time passed before he secured possession of Cuzco, made
war successfully against the neighboring princes, and greatly extended
his dominions. Under his successors, the empire thus begun continued to
grow, until it was extended from Quito to Chili, and became the Peruvian
empire which the Spaniards robbed and destroyed.