tribal confederation · South America

Caranqui

800 CE – 1495 CE (approx.) · capital Caranqui

A confederation of chiefdoms in the northern highlands of Ecuador that held out against the Incas for years before a bloody defeat at Yahuarcocha.

Origins

The Caranqui, or Karanki, lived in the Imbabura and Pichincha highlands of northern Ecuador. From about 800 they built large earthen mounds called tolas, including platform mounds with ramps at Cochasquí, and formed an alliance with neighbouring peoples such as the Cayambi.

Rule and society

The Caranqui were ruled by hereditary lords who controlled farming of maize and potatoes on the volcanic slopes and trade with lowland peoples. Their tola mounds served as residences for chiefs, ceremonial platforms and burials. Cochasquí, with fifteen pyramids, was a major centre. Local leaders were bound together by marriage and exchange rather than a single state.

Decline and legacy

The Inca rulers Túpac Inca Yupanqui and Huayna Capac fought long campaigns in the north. Around 1495 Huayna Capac crushed the Caranqui and Cayambi at Lake Yahuarcocha, the 'lake of blood', named after the massacre. The region became an Inca province before the Spanish conquest.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Caranqui. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/caranqui
MLA
“Caranqui.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/caranqui. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Caranqui.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/caranqui.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Caranqui’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/caranqui (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻