Inca Roca was the sixth Sapa Inca of the Kingdom of Cusco

Kingdom of Cusco

The Kingdom of Cusco was a small kingdom in the Andes that began as a small city-state founded by the Incas around the 12th century...

 (beginning around CE 1350) and the first of the Hanan ("upper") dynasty. His wife was Mama Michay, and his son was Yáhuar Huácac

Yahuar Huacac

Yáhuar Huácac was the seventh Sapa Inca of the Kingdom of Cusco and the second of the Hanan dynasty. His wife's name was Mama Chikya o;'r Chu-Ya...

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Biography

Roca's father was the Inca Cápac Yupanqui

Capac Yupanqui

Cápac Yupanqui was the fifth Sapa Inca of the Kingdom of Cusco and the last of the Hurin dynasty. He was the son and successor of Mayta Cápac. His wife Mama Cusi Hilpay or Qorihillpay was the daughter of the lord of Anta, previously a great enemy of the Incas...

, whose heir apparent (by his wife Cusi Hilpay) had been his son Quispe Yupanqui. However, after Cápac Yupanqui's death, the hanan moiety rebelled against the hurin, killed Quispe Yupanqui, and gave the throne to Inca Roca, son of another of Cápac Yupanqui's wives, Cusi Chimbo. Inca Roca moved his palace into the hurin section of Cuzco.

Reign

In legend, he is said to have conquered the Chancas (among other peoples), as well as established the yachaywasi, schools for teaching nobles. More soberly, he seems to have improved the irrigation works of Cuzco and neighboring areas, but the Chancas continued to trouble his successors.

Further reading

• Cobo, Bernabe (1979) History of the Inca Empire: An Account of the Indians' Customs and Their Origin, Together with a Treatise on Inca Legends, History, and Social Institutions (translated and edited by Roland Hamilton from the holograph manuscript in the Biblioteca Capitular y Colombina de Sevilla) University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas, ISBN 978-0-292-73025-0
• Zuidema, R. Tom "Inka Dynasty and Irrigation: Another Look at Andean Concepts of History" pp. 177–200 In Murra, John V.; Wachtel, Nathan and Revel, Jacques (editors) (1986) Anthropological History of Andean Politics Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, ISBN 0-521-24667-9