kingdom · South America
Kingdom of Cusco
Origins
Inca tradition says the founder Manco Capac emerged from Lake Titicaca or the cave of Pacaritambo and led his people to the valley of Cusco, founding the city around 1200. Archaeology shows the Killke culture in the valley from about 1000, which developed into the early Inca polity.
Rule and society
The early Inca kingdom was one of several competing lordships in the region, led by a ruler called the Sapa Inca and by royal lineages called panacas. Cusco was organised in two halves, Hanan and Hurin. Successive rulers such as Sinchi Roca, Mayta Capac and Viracocha Inca fought and allied with neighbours such as the Ayarmaca. The economy depended on maize terraces and herding.
Decline and legacy
According to Inca tradition, around 1438 Cusi Yupanqui repelled the Chanka Confederation, deposed his father Viracocha Inca and took the name Pachacuti. He rebuilt Cusco and began the conquests that created the Inca Empire.
Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Chanka Confederation was conquered by Kingdom of Cusco1438 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Cusco. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-cusco
- MLA
- “Kingdom of Cusco.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-cusco. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Cusco.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-cusco.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Cusco’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-cusco (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻