|
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Old Cuzco becomes depopulated
From the first years of his government, Pachacutec concerned himself with the reconstruction of Cuzco. The chronicler Sarmiento de Gamboa tells that the Inca strolled about the city looking intently at his surroundings. To fulfill his wishes, he decided to strip Cuzco of its inhabitants in order to put a new plan into effect and to allot plots of land and properties to those considered should live in his capital. Cord in hand, the Inca himself measured streets and open spaces to the great satisfaction of the royal lineages (panacas) and ancient ayllus, guardians of the sovereign. Until then, Cuzco was nothing more than a rather puny, rustic village frequently flooded by two small rivers, the Huatanay and the Tulumayo. The reconstruction began with the canalization of the two rivers to prevent a bog forming in the rainy season and the irrigation canals to bring water for the city. Betanzos narrates the way he went about the renovation of the city. Pachacutec, making use of reciprocity, summoned the principal curacas and the Andean authorities to come to the capital. After the customary celebrations, they deliberated about sending ten lords with the mission of going around to all the towns in search of subsistence and suitable quarries. When all the problems were resolved, the lords sent people to Cuzco for the construction. Some had the task of transporting rough rocks for the foundations, others brought sticky mud and they added straw or wool to make adobes, others collected alder wood. The architect Gasparini assumes that expert stonecarvers came from the Collao, a heritage from the old Tiahuanacotans. Inca plazas were extraordinarily large, trapezoid in shape and social and religious activities took place in them. The rite of reciprocity took place in the plaza of Aucaypata and in it the ayllus and royal lineages met to eat, drink and dance the ceremonial dances of the Cuzco calendar. Also in that plaza celebrations of the Inca armies' triumph took place, which consisted of spreading the booty obtained and the lords held prisoner on the ground. The sovereign walked over them as a sign of the submission of his enemies and of his power over his new territorial acquisitions.
|
