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| Royal Commentaries of the Incas | |
|---|---|
| Title | Royal Commentaries of the Incas |
| Author | Inca Garcilaso de la Vega |
| Original language | Spanish |
| Country | Kingdom of Spain |
| Genre | History |
| Pub date | 1609 |
| Media type | |
Royal Commentaries of the Incas is a sixteenth-century narrative composed in Cuzco and published in Seville that recounts the origins, institutions, and deeds of the ruling houses of the Inca Empire and their interactions with Spanish conquistadors. The work synthesizes indigenous oral testimony and Iberian documentary sources to present a dynastic chronicle centered on royal lineage, rituals, and imperial expansion. It has shaped scholarly and popular perceptions of Cusco, Tahuantinsuyu, and Andean civilization across early modern Europe and contemporary Peru.
The text is attributed to Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (b. 1539), a mestizo figure born in Cuzco to a Spanish conquistador, Gonzalo de Vargas, and a noble Inca woman, Palla Chimpu Ocllo. His biography links him to families such as the Hanan Qusqu and Hurin Qusqu lineages and to figures like Francisco Pizarro, Diego de Almagro, Hernando Pizarro, and Gonzalo Pizarro through the context of conquest and colonial administration. Garcilaso’s education and service under members of the Viceroyalty of Peru and later residence in Seville connected him to Iberian intellectual circles including contacts with Juan de Mariana and access to archives like those of the Archivo General de Indias. His mestizo identity and proximity to Inca nobility shaped his access to narrators such as Titu Cusi Yupanqui and other descendants of Manco Inca Yupanqui.
The work is organized into multiple parts addressing dynastic genealogy, cosmology, and military history, presenting rulers from Manco Cápac through Atahualpa and Túpac Amaru. It combines chapters on ceremonies connected to Inti and the Qorikancha with accounts of sieges involving Sasqa (Sacsayhuamán) and campaigns under rulers like Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui and Topa Inca Yupanqui. Narratives interweave episodes concerning contacts with actors such as Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Bartolomé de las Casas, Pedro de Valdivia, Diego de Almagro II (El Mozo), and descriptions of locations like Lake Titicaca, Machu Picchu, Vilcabamba, and Quito. The structure juxtaposes ethnographic description, ritual protocols of the Inca nobility, and chronicle-style reportage on events like the Battle of Cajamarca and the Rebellion of Tupac Amaru II referenced retroactively.
Composed during the consolidation of the Viceroyalty of Peru and the Counter-Reformation period in Spain, the work addresses legal and symbolic claims to nobility and inheritance in courts such as those presided over in Seville and Lima. It participates in discourses involving institutions like the Royal Audience of Lima, the Council of the Indies, and petitions to monarchs including Philip III of Spain and Philip II of Spain. The text engages debates about encomienda rights, Spanish colonization exemplified by figures like Francisco de Toledo, and comparative portrayals of rulers such as Charles V and Charles I of Spain to frame Inca sovereignty within Iberian frameworks. Its purpose extends to vindicating the status of Inca descendants and informing European readers about the geography of regions including Arequipa, Puno, Cajamarca, and Chachapoyas.
Initial drafts circulated in Cuzco and among emigrant circles before print publication in Seville by printers associated with the book trade that served returning colonial elites and institutions like the Casa de Contratación. Surviving early editions influenced later compilations preserved in repositories such as the Biblioteca Nacional de España and the Archivo General de Indias. Copyists and editors in cities including Lima, Madrid, Lisbon, and Rome produced variant readings, while later collectors—scholars working at the British Museum, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and the Library of Congress—made microfilm and facsimile versions. The transmission history involves editorial interventions comparable to those affecting contemporaneous works by Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Pedro Cieza de León, and José de Acosta.
Written in Renaissance Spanish, the prose employs classical rhetorical models reflecting education influenced by authors such as Pliny the Elder, Tacitus, and Herodotus mediated through Spanish humanist networks including Juan Luis Vives. Garcilaso integrates oral testimony from Inca nobles and informants like Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala and draws on documents generated by actors such as Francisco de Xerez and Pedro Sancho de la Hoz. He references Andean practices tied to sites like Sacsayhuamán and Ollantaytambo and deploys genealogical claims involving families such as the Yupanqui and Auqui lineages. The style blends panegyric passages, ethnographic description, legal argumentation, and annalistic chronology, shaping debates about source reliability alongside chroniclers like Mateo Ricci and Alessandro Valignano.
From its appearance the book influenced writers and institutions across Europe and the Americas: historians such as Alexander von Humboldt, William H. Prescott, John Rowlands, and María Rostworowski engaged with its narratives; it informed literary works by Jorge Basadre, Ricardo Palma, and José María Arguedas; and it featured in nationalist discourses during the Peruvian War of Independence and the formation of the Republic of Peru. Debates over authenticity involved scholars like Kurt Nagel, Hernán Alvarado Solís, and Rolena Adorno, while colonial administrators including Viceroy Francisco de Toledo invoked Inca precedents in reform agendas. The Commentaries shaped museum curation at institutions such as the Museo Larco, Museo Nacional de Antropología, Arqueología e Historia del Perú, and influenced archaeological programs around Hiram Bingham III's rediscovery of Machu Picchu.
Modern critical editions and translations have been prepared by publishers and scholars in centers including Madrid, Lima, Oxford University Press, Harvard University Press, Cambridge University Press, and Ediciones Cátedra. Major translators and editors include Rolena Adorno, Angulo, H. V. Livermore, and teams working with archives at the Real Academia Española and the National Library of Peru. Contemporary scholarship situates the work alongside primary texts like New Chronicles and Good Government by Guamán Poma de Ayala and Spanish narratives by Garcilaso's contemporaries in digital projects hosted by institutions such as the Congress of the Republic of Peru and international research networks on Andean studies.
Category:16th-century books Category:History books about Peru