The Rule of Huayna Capac

864 Words2 Pages

“Leadership is influence”. (John C. Maxwell) Huayna Capac believed in leading by intentionally enforcing the Incan traditions and way of life to anyone who encountered them.
Huayna was the son of Topa Inca Yupanqui (1471-1493), an Incan King who led a massive expansion of the Incan Empire, spreading it towards the Tahuantinsuyu or land of four quarters. The newly conquered domain was so colossal that it dispersed deep into the Amazon forests. Because his father was an emperor, Capac grew up living an excessively lavish lifestyle knowing that one day he would be successor of the throne. To aide him in his future, Topa Inca Yupanqui made certain that his son was well versed; he received the zenithal education possible. His course load covered: learning the Quipu, a knotted string form of communication; use of the abacus ,a counting frame; religion; history; and four years of training in Quechua. Although Huayna Capac was quite aware that one day the throne would be his, his father’s sudden death in 1493 forced the young prince to quickly adapt to being ruler over the powerful, vast, Incan Empire. At the very start of his rule he did not want anyone to abuse the fact that he was an inexperienced juvenile nor overlook his ordained power, so he took charge on asseverating his supremacy.
Huayna Capac made sure that there was no such question over who had unreserved control nor allow his future heir to be afflicted with opposition to his legitimacy. Like all Incan Emperors, after first coming into power, each went on an expedition around his kingdom and its peripheries, in its entirety, to understand exactly where his boundaries are. After his excursion, he continued the expansion that his father began, and did so through a 5 step c...

... middle of paper ...

...lf and of knowing who they were and to feel like a whole but then he ruined his very own kingdom also by not sticking to his own teachings and acclaiming himself a higher power then the deity’s that they worshipped.

Works Cited

Del Testa, David W., Florence Lemoine, and John Strickland. Government Leaders, Military Rulers, and Political Activists. Westport, Conn: Oryx Press, 2001. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost (accessed November 10, 2013).
Encyclopedia Britannica. "Inca (people)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. http://www.britannica.com/EDchecked/topic/284517/Inca (Accessed November 8, 2013)
Maxwell, John C. "The Definition of Leadership." Developing the Leader Within You. Nashville: T. Nelson, 2005. 1.
Patterson, Thomas C. "Tribes, Chiefdoms, and Kingdoms in the Inca Empire.” Power Relations and State Formation (1987): 1-15,117-127.

Open Document