THfe INCAS AND OTHER RULERS OF rERTT. 15 



which seems in early times to have centred round Lake Titicaca, 

 and thence extended towards the coast. Another powerful tribe, 

 the Quiehuas, occupied the country between the lake and Cuzco. 

 Around these two leading tribes were others which never played 

 any important j^^rt in history, amongst them the already 

 mentioned Chinchas of Tarapaca. 



The Aymaras and the Quiehuas both seem to have developed 

 a fairly high degree of civilisation as early as 200 B.C., and to 

 have then possessed good forms of government. The Aymaras 

 employed much time in erecting colossal buildings, and, with 

 varying success, in fighting the Quiehuas, until about the 12th 

 century of our era. About that time a Napoleon was born unto 

 the Quichua tribe. His name was Manco-Capac. He was the 

 son of a chief of Pacaritambo, but such was the success of his 

 arms, that he was for centuries believed to be of divine origin, 

 and was worshipped as the Son of the Sun. He began the 

 foundation of the great Inca empire, which under his successors 

 gradually absorbed all the surrounding tribes. He appears to 

 have despised the architectural ingenuity of the Aymaras, and 

 to have put a stop to the'ir colossal buildings and hieroglyphic 

 carving. 



His successors continued and extended his conquests, and 

 about the time when Columbus discovered America, they had 

 extended their rule beyond the present capital of Chile towards 

 the south and as far as Quito to the north. It is estimated that 

 the population of this empire numbered at that time about 

 ten millions. This dynasty bore the name of Incas. Their 

 power reached its greatest height under Huayna-Capac, who 

 died in 1525. This chief, unlike the great founder of the Inca 

 dynasty, was a builder on a grand scale of roads, fortresses, and 

 palaces, and did more than any of his jiredecessors to develop his 

 country. He made, however, the great mistake of dividing the 

 empire at his death between his two sons, Huascar and Atahualpa, 

 who five years after their accession to power took up arms against 

 one another, and were busily engaged in hostilities when the 

 Spaniards arrived in the country. 



The Peruvians had by that time reached a high degree of 

 civilization. Their religion had been originally polytheistic, but 



