After the death of Pachacutec, guard was mounted around his body and Tupac, accompanied by the lords of the nobility, went to the Temple of the Sun. There the captains of the custodian ayllus presented themselves, mounted guard and surrounded the Chamber of the Sun. The usual disturbances were feared which occurred at the death of each sovereign and for that reason all precautions were taken in the case.

Again Tupac Yupanqui received the arms and insignias of office and then, accompanied by the Cuzco elite, he went to the main plaza. There, the new Inca sat on the ushnu to receive the mocha or salute and ceremony of recognition.

Every long-ear or dignitary, barefoot and with a bundle on his back to indicate submission, approached him and humbly greeted the sovereign and gave him his present. Meanwhile, numerous sacrifices and offerings to the huacas and sanctuaries were performed. Human sacrifices of very young children and maidens were made. The priests consulted the oracles to know if the government was favorable and successful. The rites for the dead or purucaya and also the ceremonies of succession lasted three whole moons.

One of the first actions of the government of Tupac was to order a general visit from Chile to Quito carried out by administrators and principal lords to implant the Cuzco system. Simultaneously, they proceeded to group the population of each group headed by a curaca according to the decimal system. Thus they formed groups of ten men (chunga) one of them being the chief. Ten chunga made up a pachaca (hundred) and ten groups of a hundred made up a guaranga (thousand). The results of these calculations were translated in the quipus, those cords of different colors on which the totals of populations were registered by means of different special knots. The quipucamayos were the people responsible for recording, keeping and deciphering the cords.

A brother's attempted rebellion

One of the people of highest confidence for Tupac Yupanqui was his brother, Topa and he was entrusted with the visit on behalf of his estates. However, Topa Capac, not content with the esteem of his brother, was ambitious for supreme power and began to prepare a rebellion.

However secret the projects of Topa Capac may have been, the news reached the sovereign as hearsay and he made inquiries, arriving at the conclusion that the accusations were true. Not only was Topa Capac detained and executed, but also all those who had been participating in the plot.

In order to verify the gravity of the guilty and their number, the Inca left Cuzco to personally inquire into the facts. Thus he arrived at Yanayacu or "Black Water" and wanted to order the death on the part of the population, but the coya asked for mercy for them and they were pardoned, remaining as servants or yanaconas of the curacas of the place.

For those reasons the visit which Topac Capa was committed was revoked and entrusted to another brother named Apo Achachi, the great visitor, who went about the country naming new curacas or keeping old ones according to their merits and implanting the Cuzco system.

Death and succession of Tupac Yupanqui

After visiting his states accompanied by his numerous entourage, Tupac Yupanqui decided to build the fortress of Sacsayhuaman, a work which provoked the admiration of the Europeans. The Inca was spending some time in his palace in Chinchero when death took him by surprise. There is not a chronicler who does not recount that the Inca was poisoned by a concubine.

The government of this Inca was relatively short and it was not possible to avoid the confusions made by the death of a governor. It seems this Inca first designated the young Huayna Capac as his heir but because of the intrigues of a concubine he revoked his nomination in favor of his son Capac Guari, son of Chuqui Ocllo.

However, the brother of Tupac Yupanqui, Guaman Achcachi, unaware of the attempt by the relatives of Capac Guari to assume power and on his own account prepared the arrival of his nephew Huayna Capac. Having found out about the situation, Guaman Achachi did not hesitate in getting people of war together and apprehended Capac Guari. According to the chronicler Sarmiento de Gamboa, the insurrectionist was not executed but sent prisoner to Chinchero never to be heard from again. A worse fate fell to the concubine Chuqui Ocllo, who was assassinated.

Without further difficulties, the arrival of young Huayna Capac was prepared