Origin Myths of the Inca Civilization & Piecing Together Royal Heritage 2

Manco Cápac holds a shining staff. First Inca, 1 of 14 Portraits of Inca Kings ( Public Domain)

It was said that where this staff was thrust into, and sank completely into the ground, they would establish a new home. Accounts vary, but according to some versions of these legends, Manco Capac got rid of his three brothers, trapping them or turning them into stone, thus becoming the leader of Cusco.

Shifting Genetics of the Noble Line

The ”Inca” does not refer to the general population, but to the highest class of the society, who protected their royal bloodline by breeding with each other. Garcilaso de la Vega was a Peruvian writer of the 16th and early 17th centuries, and was half Inca and half Spanish. In De La Vega’s accounts, just after the arrival of the Spanish in Peru, they found that a civil war among the Inca was raging.

Garcilaso de la Vega, a famous Peruvian writer. (Public Domain)

The Inca world, erroneously called an empire (which is a European term) had been divided into two by the last of the great Inca rulers named Huayna Capac. Just prior to his death in 1527 (likely the result of smallpox), he divided the land between his northern son Atahuallpa, and his Cusco-based son, Huascar. After five years of unease between the brothers, Atahuallpa’s army moved rapidly from their base in the northern city of Cajamarca, entered Cusco, and wiped out all the royal Inca people that they could find, which was most of them.

That means that the genetic ‘purity’ of the Inca began to dissipate from that time afterwards, and presently there are not many people who can claim a high Inca blood quantum. Two ladies that the author has met live in Cusco and have documentation showing that they are direct descendants of the 6th high Inca ruler named Inca Roca (magnanimous Inca.) According to their family’s stories the Inca did not originate in one place, but were an amalgam of different people of noble heritage. It is quite clear that inbreeding over time causes birth defects, and thus they may have introduced other people of noble blood into their lineage both to reduce genetic problems, and also as a way to strengthen ties with other indigenous groups.

Inca Ruler Lineage (Public Domain)

The Red Hair of the Inca

In the earliest of the Spanish chronicles, the accounts of one of the brothers of the head conquistador Francisco Pizarro states that some of the Inca he saw had reddish hair, and pale complexions. As most of the Inca royal family had been wiped out at the orders of Atahuallpa prior to the Spanish entering Cusco, this is the only account we have of such a genetic variation from the common Native people of the area. However, another ancient society that had genetically auburn red hair, and likely light skin color, were the Paracas people of the coast of modern-day Peru. The Paracas existed from about 800 BC to about 100 BC or perhaps 100 AD, and evidence is strongly suggesting that a culture called the Topara invaded Paracas territory around 100 BC to 100 AD and exterminated the noble classes of the Paracas. These ancient people are most famous for having elongated skulls, as well as dark red hair.

Such characteristics disappear from the archaeological record around 100 AD, and thus it is the author’s belief that the Topara, who later became known as the Nazca, exterminated the Paracas. However, it is highly unlikely that all of the Paracas perished during this onslaught, and that some were able to escape. There is a modern highway, laid on top of an ancient Inca road that goes from the Paracas area east and into the highlands, ending in Cusco. Any of the Paracas that were able to escape from the Topara attack would likely have fled on this route.

Elongated Skulls

Also, what is little known is that the Inca performed artificial cranial deformation on their royal children in order to physically distinguish themselves from the common people, and, as stated earlier, some of them appear to have red hair. Thus, it is not a stretch to consider that the Paracas may have been part of the foundation of the Inca. Aside from the Runa Simi language, which was the common one used during the time of the Inca up until the Spanish conquest, the Inca royalty also had a secret language that they used only amongst one another called Qapaq (or Capac) Simi, which means the “noble speak.” Interestingly enough, this was also the language that most scholars believe the Paracas spoke.