The priests were the most diligent inquirers respecting the native religion, rites, and ceremonies. Vincente de Valverde (vis-ayn´-tä day väl-vayr-day) was the first priest to come to Peru, but he stayed only a short time and wrote very little. The best known clerical author is Josef de Acosta (hos´-ayf day ä-cos´-tä), who was in Peru from 1570 to 1586, and traveled over the greater part of the country. Cristoval Molina’s (krees-to´-väl mo-lee´-nä) “Report on the Fables and Rites of the Incas,” written previous to 1584, is also valuable, for he was a master of the Quichua language. Fernando Montesinos (fayr-nän-do mon-tay-see´-nos), who, with his amazing list of kings, traced Inca ancestry back to Noah, was until recently given little consideration. But lately his work, “Ophir de España, Memorias Historiales (o-feer´ day ay-spän-yä may-mo´-ree-äs ees-tor-ee-a´-läs) y Políticos del Peru (po-lee´-tee-cos dayl pay-roo´),” written about 1644, has been given more credence, since it seems probable that much of it was based on the writings of Blas Valera (bläs vä-lay-rä). The premature death of the latter and the disposal of his valuable manuscripts is described by Markham as the most deplorable loss that Inca civilization has sustained. His work was used extensively by Garcilaso de la Vega (gär-see-lä´-so day la vay-gä), a grandnephew of the Inca Huayna Ccapac (wy´-nä k-kä´-päk). He is the most famous of all the historians, and is quoted some eighty times by Prescott.
The works of many of these authors and of others less famous are available today in English, as a result of the indefatigable efforts of Sir Clements Markham, whose translations have been published by the Hakluyt Society. There are still many interesting and valuable old manuscripts reposing in the archives of Madrid (mäd-reed´) and Seville (say-veel´-yay), which have yet to be discovered, edited, and given to the world. Of the Spanish historians who have been engaged in this work, Dr. Marcos Jimenez de la Espada is probably the best known. An excellent bibliography of Peruviana has been prepared by Markham and is published in “The History of the Incas,” Publications of the Hakluyt Society, Series II, Vol. XXII, Cambridge, England.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 6, No 3, SERIAL No. 151
COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
RUINS OF THE GREAT INCA TEMPLE OF VIRACCOCHA NEAR SICUANI, PERU
THE INCAS
The Inca Sovereigns
TWO
The Inca sovereigns about whom tradition tells us enough so that they may be considered historical personages are twelve in number. The first of these, Sinchi Rocca (seen´-chee rok-kä), or Rocca the Great, was the first ruler after the return of the Incas to Cuzco (coos´-ko) at the close of their long exile in Tampu-tocco (täm-poo-tok´-ko). He reigned from 1134-1197, according to the chronology of Dr. Gonzales de la Rosa (gon-sä-lays day lä ro´-sä), the most eminent of modern Peruvian historians. Rocca owed his position to a cleverly executed plot contrived by his mother. She dressed him in glittering gold apparel, and hid him in the Chingana (cheen-gä´-nä) Cave on Sacsahuaman (säk-sä-wä´-män) Hill. At intervals for several days excited Cuzqueñans (koos-kayn-yäns) beheld a golden vision moving on the fortress heights. Eventually, after their curiosity and fanatical credulity had been sufficiently aroused, the vision descended into the city. It gave itself over to the crowd, allowed itself to be conducted to the temple, and there proclaimed itself the adopted son of the Solar Deity. Under Rocca, the Temple of the Sun was enlarged and the city greatly improved.