Inca or Ynca, name that the nations of Peru gave their kings and princes of royal blood.

The chronicle of Peru also relates the origin of the Incas . For a long time Peru was a theater of all sorts of crimes, of war, of dissension, and of the most abominable disorder, until at last two brothers appeared, one called Mangocapac, about whom the Indians recount great marvels. He built the city of Cusco, he made laws and regulations, and he and his descendants took the name of Inca , which means king or great lord. They became so powerful that they rendered themselves masters of all the country that extends from Pasto to Chile, and which included l300 leagues, and they possessed it until the rupture which occurred between Guascar and Atahuallpa from which the Spanish benefitted; they became the masters of their state and destroyed the empire of the Incas .

There were only twelve Incas , and one is assured that the most important people of the country carry this name to the present. However, this is nothing but an honorary title without any shadow of authority, like that of cacique .

As for the old Incas who reigned before the Spanish conquest, their name in the Peruvian language meant properly and literally lord or emperor , and royal blood . The king was called capac inca , that is, most excellent lord; the queen was called pallas , and the princes simply incas . Their subjects had an extreme veneration for them, and regarded them as sons of the sun, and believed them to be infallible. If anyone had offended the king in the least thing, the town, where he was a native or citizen, was demolished or ruined. When the Incas traveled, each room where they slept while en route was quickly walled off so that nobody could enter after them. They did the same with regard to the places where they died; all the gold, silver, and other precious things found at the moment of a prince's death were enclosed, and new chambers were built for his successor.

The wives and servants of the dead king were also sacrificed during the funerary rites; they were cremated at the same time as his body, and on the same pyre. See The History of the Incas by Garcillaso de la Vega.