History of the Incas

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The Incas were most notable for establishing the Inca Empire which was centered in modern-day South America in Peru and Chile.^[1] It was about 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) from the northern to southern tip.^[2] The Inca Empire lasted from 1438 to 1533. It was the largest Empire in America throughout the Pre-Columbian era.^[1] The Inca state was known as the Kingdom of Cuzco before 1438. Over the course of the Inca Empire, the Inca used conquest and peaceful assimilation to incorporate the territory of modern-day Peru, followed by a large portion of western South America, into their empire, centered on the Andean mountain range. However, shortly after the Inca Civil War, the last Sapa Inca (emperor) of the Inca Empire was captured and killed on the orders of the conquistador Francisco Pizarro, marking the beginning of Spanish rule. The remnants of the empire retreated to the remote jungles of Vilcabamba and established the small Neo-Inca State, which was conquered by the Spanish in 1572.

The Quechua name for the empire after the reforms under Pachacuti was Tawantin Suyu, which can be translated The Four Regions or The Four United Regions. Before the Quechua spelling reform it was written in Spanish as Tahuantinsuyo.^[3] Tawantin is a group of four things (tawa "four" with the suffix -ntin which names a group); suyu means "region" or "province".^{[note 1]} The empire was divided into four suyus, whose corners met at the capital, Cuzco (Qosqo)

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