Chanka–Inca War

The Inca-Chanka war was a semi-legendary, mytho-historical, potentially mythical, military conflict fought between Cusco and the Chanka chiefdom, several generations prior to the arrival of Europeans. It is the final conflict between these two people.

The exact date of the conflict is unknown; it potentially took place at the beginning of the 15th century.

The Chanka confederation was a loose defensive alliance of various independent chiefdoms, while the Cusco confederation, which later became the Inca Empire, was a unified, hierarchically structured polity with a ruling elite and a cultural identity.

After a victory during the Chanka attack of Cusco, the Inca armies marched into Chanka territory and defeated them at the battle of Yahuar Pampa.

The war was an important event to the geo-politics of the region, and opened the way for the creation of the Inca Empire. Because of his victory, Cusi Yupanqui, whose later name was Pachacuti, gained universal recognition, overthrowing his father, the ruler of Cusco, and his brother Urco, the co-ruler and designated heir. Through his new found prestige he rapidly initiated the Inca expansion.

The effects of the war were exaggerated by the Inca ruling class, which made Cusi Yupanqui the archetype of its philosophical principals. The historical accuracy of the story told by colonial documents of the episode of the Chanka attack against Cusco is regularly questioned.