Tupac Inca Yupanqui

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Drawing of Tupac Inca Yupanqui by Guaman Poma (1615 CE)

Tupac Inca Yupanqui (a.k.a. Topa Inca) (Quechua Tupaq Inka Yupanki, "noble Inca accountant") was the tenth Sapa Inca (1471-93 CE) of the Inca Empire, and fifth of the Hanan dynasty. His father was Pachacuti, and his son was Huayna Capac.

His father appointed him to head the Inca army in 1463. He extended the realm northward along the Andes through modern Ecuador, and developed a special fondness for the city of Quito, which he rebuilt with architects from Cuzco. During this time his father Pachacuti reorganized the kingdom of Cuzco into the Tahuantinsuyu, the "four provinces".

He became Inca in his turn upon his father's death in 1471, ruling until his own death in 1493. He conquered Chimor, which occupied the northern coast of what is now Peru, the largest remaining rival to the Incas.

[edit] The Pacific expedition

Tupac Inca Yupanqui is also credited with leading a circa 10 month-long voyage of exploration into the Pacific around 1480, although many have regarded this as a fabrication. Reportedly visiting islands he called Nina chumpi ("Fire Island") and Hahua chumpi (or Avachumpi, "Outer Island" - note that chumpi, "girdle"; figuratively "encircled land", seems to indicate the presence of a coral reef), which are sometimes identified with the Galápagos Islands but more probably relate to some islands in Western Polynesia, probably as far out as the Tuamotu or Marquesas Islands.

It is often suggested that one of the islands was Easter Island, but there are no records in local oral tradition of a large fleet of explorers. However, the natives were obviously not unaccustomed with sea-going ships when Jakob Roggeveen arrived there (despite not being able to build them themselves as by then the island had been devoid of sufficient quantities of larger trees for some time), and there are indications - South American microorganisms in the lake sediment of Rano Raraku appearing at a compatible date, the nga'atu/totora bulrush otherwise known from Lake Titicaca of which still-living plants were used by the Incans for thatching ship superstructures, and possibly the Incan-style masonry of Ahu Vinapu) - suggesting that at least one stray ship from the exploring fleet may have indeed happened upon Easter Island. Intriguingly, Easter Island genealogies mentions a Tupa Ariki (= "Prince/King Tupa") who has been (controversially) conjectured to have ruled around 1485 for a short time and then left by ship.

There exists an oral tradition on Mangareva in the Tuamotus, telling of an incident during the reign of the brothers Tavere and Taroi (which are, however, presumed to have ruled at a considerably earlier date, though this is not based on exact data) where an important chief named Tupa with skin redder than the Mangarevans' arrived with many ships from the East. The Incan legends, on the other hand, speak of "black people" and artifacts being brought back from Nina and Hahua chumpi. The artifacts, unfortunately, seem to have been lost after the Spanish conquest. While there are some discrepancies between the legends and known fact, these can be the result of oral transmission over several generations. From what is known about the shipbuilding and seafaring skills of the peoples involved, such a voyage would have been at least technically possible.