The Huancas, Wancas, or Wankas are a

Quechua people Quechua people (, ; ) , Quichua people or Kichwa people may refer to any of the Indigenous peoples of South America who speak the Quechua languages, which originated among the Indigenous people of Peru. Although most Quechua speakers are nativ ...

living in the

Junín Region Junín may refer to: Places Argentina * Junín Partido ** Junín, Buenos Aires *** Junín Airport * Junín Department, Mendoza ** Junín, Mendoza * Junín Department, San Luis * Junín de los Andes, Neuquén Colombia * Junín, Cundinamarca * ...

of central

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, in and around the

Mantaro Valley The Mantaro Valley, also known as Jauja Valley, is a fluvial inter-Andean valley of Junin region, east of Lima, the capital of Peru. The Mantaro River flows through the fertile valley which produces potatoes, maize, and vegetables among othe ...

Names

The southern branch of Huanca people are called the Wanka Waylla Quechua and Southern Huancayo Quechua. The Jauja Wanka are also called Wanka Jauja Quechua and Shawsha Wanka Quechua people. They gave their name to the Peruvian football team

Deportivo Wanka Deportivo Wanka is a Peruvian football club, based in the city of Huancayo in the Peruvian Andes. It was founded in 1969 and is named after the Wankas people who formerly inhabited the area and after whom the city of Huancayo is named. The curre ...

History

After fierce fighting, the Huanca people were conquered by

Pachacuti Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, also called Pachacútec (), was the ninth Sapa Inca of the Chiefdom of Cusco, which he transformed into the Inca Empire (). Most archaeologists now believe that the famous Inca site of Machu Picchu was built as an ...

in the 15th century and incorporated into

Tawantinsuyu The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The Inca civilisation rose fr ...

, the Inca Empire. The Huanca helped the

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance-speaking ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern nation-state of Spain. Genetically and ethnolinguistically, Spaniards belong to the broader Southern a ...

during the

conquest of Peru The Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, also known as the Conquest of Peru, was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. After years of preliminary exploration and military skirmishes, 168 Spaniards, ...

. They provided supplies and men to the Spanish army.

Language

The Huanca people speak Jauja Wanka Quechua and Waylla Wanka Quechua, both

Quechua I Quechua I, also known as Quechua Wáywash, or Quechua B,Alberto Escobar (comp.) '' El reto del multilingüismo en el Perú'' (1972) is one of the two branches or genealogical groups of the Quechua languages. It is composed of a great diversity of ...

languages. These languages differ significantly from the Incas' Quechua of Cusco. (see

)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huanca People Quechua Ethnic groups in Peru Indigenous peoples in Peru Indigenous peoples of the Andes Colonial Peru