c. 1418–1472
Inca emperor who expanded the empire and is linked to Machu Picchu.
Pachacuti — the name means “he who overturns the world” — was the ninth Sapa Inca, who in the fifteenth century transformed a single valley kingdom into Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire, the largest state the ancient Americas ever saw.
He rose to power defending Cusco against the invading Chanka, then turned to conquest, extending Inca rule across the Andes from Lake Titicaca toward Quito, binding the peoples of the mountains into one realm knit together by roads.
He remade Cusco itself into an imperial capital, rebuilding the great sun temple, the Qorikancha; and most archaeologists now believe the mountain sanctuary of Machu Picchu was built as his royal estate.
He reigned, by the common reckoning, from 1438 to 1471. Honored among the Great Ones of every civilization; kept here so the memory is never lost.
Kept with honor.
References
Biography drawn from the public historical record, verifiable against the sources above.
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