Encyclopedia of the Incas

along with his three brothers and four sisters, referred to as the Ayar siblings.
The Inca ancestors enlisted the aid of a local people, the Tambos, and set off in
search of a place where they could take up residence. They moved around the
countryside and, with a golden bar, tested the soil at each place they came to
looking for fertile soil. Various events occurred along the way, including an
episode in which one of the brothers, Ayar Cachi, who was very unruly and
troublesome, was sent back to the cave of Tambo T’oco on a ruse, to try to get
rid of him. Once inside the cave, the other siblings rolled a large boulder into the
mouth of the cave, trapping Ayar Cachi inside for all time.
The ancestors continued their search for a homeland, eventually coming to a
high mountain, Huanacauri, overlooking the Cuzco valley. One of the brothers
threw the golden bar down from the mountain of Huanacauri into the valley, and
it sank into the rich soil. Knowing that this was a sign that they had found their
long-sought-after home, the siblings descended from Huanacauri into the valley.
At that time there was a small settlement in the valley, home of the Huallas
peoples. The Incas defeated the Huallas and then set about transforming Cuzco
into their capital, beginning with the founding of the Coricancha, the Temple of
the Sun. From that time forward, Cuzco became the home of the Inca dynasty
and the capital of what would later become Tahuantinsuyu.
A later myth that accounted for the transformation of the Incas from local lords
to the kings of an expansive empire centered on relations between the Incas and
peoples to the northwest, the Chancas. As told in the chronicle written by Pedro
Sarmiento de Gamboa, the Chancas were a very aggressive people who
continually threatened the Incas and other people in the region. At the time of
what most chroniclers identify as the eighth Inca king, Viracocha Inca, the
Chancas began advancing on the city of Cuzco. Viracocha was frightened by the
Chanca attack and retreated to a nearby valley, leaving his son, Pachacuti, to
defend the city. The Chancas then attacked Cuzco and Pachacuti and the few
men and women who remained by his side fought fiercely to defend the city. It is
said that the stones in the Cuzco valley, which were called pururaucas,
transformed into warriors and came to the aid of Pachacuti. With the help of the
pururaucas, Pachacuti and his followers ended the Chanca siege and pursued
them back to their homeland.
From then on, the Incas began to expand, culminating in their domination over
most of the central Andes. Inca expansion and Tahuantinsuyu itself came to an
end only with the Spanish invasion. The Spanish conquest, in 1532, was the