|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
His marriage
After the events narrated above, proceeded the preparations for the arrival of young Huayna Capac for which it was desired to give all the pomp and splendor possible. It was tradition that the new sovereign should get married the same day he received the tassel, the insignia of power. During the last two reigns the marriage had been made with a sister, but not necessarily sharing both father and mother. The ņusta became a coya no matter how many wives the prince had before. The story of the ceremony comes from the chronicler Santa Cruz Pachacuti and seems more Andean than the rest. Cuzco adorned itself with painstaking care and the humble roofs thatched with straw were covered with showy mantles of multicolored feathers with jungle birds. The gold of the borders of the palaces shone in the sun and contrasted with the severity of the stone. The bride and groom, each in his or her palace, were fasting without eating salt or hot aji peppers and the priests carried out numerous sacrifices and listened to the sounds in the visceras of animals to find out the future. On the appointed day, Huayna Capac came out of the palace of his grandfather Pachacutec accompanied by the Apu Curacas or great lords of Collasuyu in richly adorned litters. Meanwhile, the ņusta named Cusi Rimay departed in litters from the houses of her father Tupac Yupanqui escorted by the great lords of Chinchaysuyu, Cuntisuyu and Antisuyu. It is not known why this privilege of the young lady to be conducted by the members of three suyu while for Huayna Capac it was only one. It is possible that she was a maid of higher social rank than her future husband. Once he became the only lord, Huayna Capac did not go far from Cuzco at the request of his mother, Coya Mama Ocllo who loved him very much and feared a long absence from her son. For that reason he sent his uncle, Guaman Achachi, to visit the long route from Chinchaysuyu to the extreme north while he remained looking over the places close to Cuzco and the Collao. It was the Inca's concern to maintain territorial acquisitions and continue to expand his dominions. Nevertheless, in the peripheral regions of Tahuantinsuyo, in Chile as well as in present day Ecuador, places farther away from the centers of old cultures, there was no custom of reciprocity which had facilitated expansion of the State. Peoples like the Chincha submitted willingly to the Inca State because they did not want to ruin their long distance exchanges. In the following absences from the capital, Huayna Capac went south to Charcas, Cochabamba and Pocona continuing to Coquimbo and Copiapo. According to Cieza de Leon, the Inca stayed twelve moons pacifying the region and building roads and forts. His stay was interrupted by the news of rebellions in Quito, Pastos, and Huancavilca which obliged the sovereign to return to Cuzco and gather armies. Each expedition of the Inca demanded a special preparation. It was necessary to reunite the soldier mita, to summon the curacas to ask them for soldiers, gather together food, arms, and perform human sacrifices to flatter the gods and make them favorable. Neither could there be a lack of public meals to tighten the bonds of reciprocity between the Inca, the heads of the macroethnicities and the lords of the kingdom. Finally Huayna Capac set off with a numerous following of chiefs, lords, and troops which got bigger along the way. Possibly the neighboring curacas went to the places through which he would pass to make their mocha and show him obedience.
|
