chiefdom · South America

Quitu-Cara

800 CE – 1490 CE (approx.) · capital Quito

The peoples of the Quito basin before the Incas, remembered in Ecuadorian tradition as the Kingdom of Quito ruled by the Shyris, a story many historians doubt.

Origins

The Quitu were the inhabitants of the highland basin where Quito now stands, settled since at least the first millennium CE. In 1789 the Jesuit historian Juan de Velasco wrote that the Cara people came from the coast around 980 and founded a kingdom ruled by kings called Shyris, which united the northern highlands.

Rule and society

Archaeology shows a landscape of local chiefdoms around Quito and its valleys, with farming of maize and potatoes and markets where goods from the coast and Amazon were traded. Velasco's account of a centralised kingdom with a line of Shyri kings has no support from earlier chronicles and is widely regarded as legend, though it became a cornerstone of Ecuadorian national identity.

Decline and legacy

The Quito region fell to the Incas in the late 15th century and became their northern capital under Huayna Capac. After Atahualpa's capture, the Inca general Rumiñahui held Quito until the Spanish took it in 1534.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (1)

More states of South America →

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻