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■R. ALAN COVEY
KINGSHIP, DIVINE
The Incas held that the monarch was the son of the Sun (Inti), and therefore a
divine being with a legitimate mandate to rule the world. He was simultaneously
a deity on earth, political leader, and military commander. The chronicler
Garcilaso de la Vega wrote that his titles included Sapa Inca (unique or sole
lord; see Sapa Inca), Intip Churin (son of the Sun), Capac Apu (powerful lord),
and Huaccha Ccoyac (lover and benefactor of the poor). His divinity lay at the
core of state ideology, along with the Sun’s supremacy over all other deities.
Those paired ideas allowed the Incas to assert a right to dominate relationships
between humanity and the other beings of the cosmos. Despite the apparent
inconsistency, the Incas also claimed that the ruler was a direct descendant of the
primordial brother-sister pair, Manco Capac and Mama Huaco/Ocllo (see
Myths, Origin).
The ruler was considered to have exceptional powers, especially his ability to
intervene with the Sun, and thus shower beneficence on humanity. He presided
over the empire’s most sacred activities, such as breaking the soil to inaugurate
the agricultural season, and hosted Cuzco’s daily feasts, when affairs of state
were conducted. No one was allowed to approach the ruler without offering a
gift, or to touch him, and visitors were required to keep their eyes downcast in
his presence. The ruler’s sanctity was displayed in a variety of forms. It is not
clear if his substance was thought to be present simultaneously in multiple
physical things, or if his power was simply extended through a range of other
objects. In either case, several items were treated precisely as if they were the
ruler, in both his mortal and immortal states. Each ruler had a named brother
icon (huauque) made of stone or gold. It accompanied him in life and death, and