The Rule of Tupac Inca, by Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa (1532–1592): conquest and empire

Only 40 years after the Spanish arrival in Cusco, Peru, Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa (1532–1592) was commissioned in 1572 by Francisco de Toledo, the fifth Viceroy of Peru, to write a history of the Incas. Toledo intended this history to justify Spanish colonization by documenting the violent and tyrannical nature of the Inca rulers. Sarmiento gathered information through extensive interviews with indigenous informants, former Incan nobles, local leaders, and surviving Spanish conquistadors. To ensure accuracy, his manuscript was read and reviewed by 42 indigenous authorities before publication.

This audiobook presents a reading of Sarmiento de Gamboa’s chapter on one of the most influential and formidable Inca emperors: Túpac Inca Yupanqui, the tenth Sapa Inca. Like his father Pachacuti and his son Huayna Capac, Túpac Inca expanded the Inca Empire, bringing under Inca control the territories of much of present-day Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina, and beyond. He also lived to an advanced age and fathered nearly one hundred children.

The narrator is Michael Henrik Wynn, editor of the educational net radio stream historyradio.org.