Tumebamba, Tomebamba (hispanicized spellings), or Tumipampa ( Kichwa for "''Knife Field''", Tumi: ''Knife'',

Pampa The Pampas (; from Quechuan languages, Quechua 'plain'), also known as the Pampas Plain, are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentina, Argentine Provinces of Argentina, provinces of Buenos Aires Pro ...

: ''Field'') was a former main regional city in the

Inca Empire 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 History of the Incas, Inca ...

. Tumebamba was chosen by the

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Huayna Capac Huayna Capac (; Cuzco Quechua: ''Wayna Qhapaq'' ) (before 14931527) was the third Sapa Inca of Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire. He was the son of and successor to Túpac Inca Yupanqui,Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro; 2015, originally published in Sp ...

(ruled 1493–1525) to be the Inca northern capital. The city was largely destroyed during the

Inca Civil War The Inca Civil War, also known as the Inca Dynastic War, the Inca War of Succession, or, sometimes, the War of the Two Brothers, was fought between half-brothers Huáscar and Atahualpa, sons of Huayna Capac, over succession to the throne of t ...

between

Huáscar Huáscar (; Quechua: ''Waskar Inka'') also Guazcar (before 15271532) was Sapa Inca of the Inca Empire from 1527 to 1532. He succeeded his father, Huayna Capac and his brother Ninan Cuyochi, both of whom died of smallpox during the same year ...

and

Atahualpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa or Ataw Wallpa ( Quechua) ( 150226 July 1533), was the last effective Inca emperor, reigning from April 1532 until his capture and execution in July of the following year, as part of the Spanish conquest of the In ...

shortly before the arrival of the Spanish

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

s in 1532. The Spanish city of

Cuenca, Ecuador Cuenca, officially Santa Ana de los Ríos de Cuenca, is an Ecuadorian city, head of the Cuenca Canton, canton of the same name and capital of the Azuay Province, province of Azuay, as well as its largest and most populated city. It is crossed by t ...

was built on the site of Tumebamba although a portion of the Inca city is preserved at the archaeological sites of Pumapunku and Todos Santos.

History

The Tumebamba area prior to the conquest by the Incas was called Guapondelig. The ethnic

Cañari The Cañari (in Kichwa: Kañari) are an indigenous ethnic group traditionally inhabiting the territory of the modern provinces of Azuay and Cañar in Ecuador. They are descended from the independent pre-Columbian tribal confederation of the ...

people had lived in this area for at least 500 years before the arrival of the Incas. The Inca emperor

Topa Inca Yupanqui Topa Inca Yupanqui or Túpac Inca Yupanqui (), also Topa Inga Yupangui, erroneously translated as "noble Inca accountant" (before 14711493) was the tenth Sapa Inca (1471–1493) of the Inca Empire, fifth of the Hanan dynasty. His father was Pac ...

(ruled 1471–1493) incorporated this area into the empire after long and arduous campaigns against the Cañari. His son and successor, Huayna Capac, was probably born in Tumebamba and was responsible for most of the Inca construction in the city. Huayna Capac envisioned Tumebamba as the northern capital of the Inca Empire and modeled the construction on that of

Cuzco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous province and department. The city was the capital of the Inca Empire unti ...

, the Inca capital. Huayna Capac had a royal palace here.de la Vega, G., "El Inca", 2006, Royal Commentaries of the Incas and General History of Peru, Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., Inc., Spanish stories that Huanya Capac had building stones transported from Cuzco to Inca centers, including Tumebamba, in present-day Ecuador were confirmed in 2004. Archaeologists identified stone building blocks in Ecuador that had an origin in a quarry near Cuzco. The scholars found 450 stones, weighing up to each, that had been transported more than on Inca roads traversing the high and rugged

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

. The Incas lacked draft animals and wheeled vehicles so the transport was by manpower only, possibly by laborers conscripted by the Incas among the peoples who had opposed their rule. The monumental task of transporting the stones also indicates the priority Huayna Capac placed on making Tumebamba an alternative or secondary capital of the empire. In the words of a scholar, "These stones embodied the transfer of sanctity and power from the imperial capital to the city of Tomebamba in Ecuador, while their movement was a major public demonstration of state control over labor." The Inca also quarried building stones at Cojitambo, in a straight line distance northeast. Huayna Capac and many other Incas died in an epidemic (probably of a European-introduced disease) about 1525 and his sons Huascar and Atahualpa contested the succession. Several battles in the civil war which followed were near Tumepampa and the Inca city was largely destroyed. The Cañari inhabitants had taken the side of Huascar and were severely treated by Atahualpa.

Pumapunku and Todos Santos

The Spanish chronicler Pedro Cieza de León visited Tumebamba in 1547 and said, "Everything has crumbled and in ruins but you can still appreciate how grand it was." The city of Cuenca has been built on top of the old Inca city and whatever ruins remain are largely buried. The two surviving remnants of the Inca city are the ruins of Todos Santos and Pumapunku (or Pumapongo). The two ruins are within about of each other and near the Tomebamba River. Neither site has the finely-worked stone characteristic of Cuzco, perhaps meaning that these sites were of secondary importance in the Inca city and that the principal temple and plaza has disappeared beneath later construction. Based on finding spinning tools in the buildings excavated at Pumapunku, the site may have a residence for aclla, the sequestered women of the Incas. A large artificial water pool, terraces, and canals resemble those at Quispiguanca, a royal estate of Huayna Capac in the Sacred Valley near Cuzco. The Manuel Agustín Landivar Museum is adjacent to the Todos Santos ruins and the Pumapungo Museum and Archaeological Park is at the Pumapunku ruins. xco.Niles, pp. 257–258 Both feature exhibits about the

Indigenous people of the Americas In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

, the Cañari, the Inca, and the early Spanish settlers.

References

{{coord, 2, 54, 24, S, 78, 59, 48, W, region:EC-A_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Inca Empire Cuenca, Ecuador Archaeological sites in Ecuador 16th-century disestablishments in the Inca civilization

History

Pumapunku and Todos Santos

See also

References