Cuzco (also Cusco or Qosqo) was the religious and administrative capital of the Inca Empire which flourished in ancient Peru between c. 1400 and 1534 CE. The Incas controlled territory from Quito to Santiago, making theirs the largest empire ever seen in the Americas and the largest in the world at that time. Cuzco, which had a population of up to 150,000 at its peak, was laid out in the form of a puma and was dominated by fine buildings and palaces, the richest of all being the sacred gold-covered and emerald-studded Coricancha complex which included a temple to the Inca sun god Inti. Cuzco is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
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Definition
Timeline
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c. 1100The Inca, led by Manco Capac, migrate to the Cuzco Valley and establish their capital at Cuzco.
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c. 1425 - 1532The Inca Empire flourishes in South America.
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1438Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui defeats the Chancas to control the Cuzco Valley and further expand the Inca empire.
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1438Pachacunti Inca Yupanqui begins a rebuilding programme in the Inca capital of Cuzco.
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1471 - 1493Reign of Inca Tupac Yupanqui who doubles the size of the Inca Empire.
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1493 - 1526Huayna Capac reigns as Inca leader and constructs fortresses, religious temples and roads throughout the empire.
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1526 - 1532Civil war between the Inca leaders Waskar and Atahualpa. Atahualpa wins.
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1530The Inca empire reaches its greatest extent.
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1532Francsico Pizarro and the Spanish conquistadors arrive in South America.
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16 Nov 1532Battle of Cajamarca where the Inca leader Atahualpa is captured and held for ransom by Spanish forces led by Francisco Pizarro.
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26 Jul 1533The Inca leader Atahualpa is executed.
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15 Nov 1533Francisco Pizarro takes the Inca capital of Cuzco.
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18 Jan 1535Francsico Pizarro founds Lima (Ciudad de Los Reyes) as the capital of Spanish Peru.
