HISTORY OF THE INCAS
And the Execution of the Inca Tupac Amaru
Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa · Captain Baltasar de Ocampo
Translated and edited by Sir Clements R. Markham
MARKHAM’S ENGLISH TRANSLATION — Sarmiento de Gamboa, p. 27
“giving them to understand that he had created them from the first, and afterwards, owing to their sins and evil deeds, he had destroyed them with a flood, again creating them and giving them food and the way to preserve it.”
Humanity — Rebuilt and Reborn
At the start of his account of Indigenous Peruvian origins, Sarmiento records a tradition in which humanity is created, commits wrongdoing, is destroyed by a flood, and is then recreated. The sequence is straightforward.
Sarmiento presents the tradition through a hostile Christian lens, blaming the Indigenous belief on deception by the devil. This reflects his colonial interpretation rather than the identity given to the creator within the tradition itself.
MARKHAM’S ENGLISH TRANSLATION — Sarmiento de Gamboa, p. 28
“The natives of this land affirm that in the beginning, and before this world was created, there was a being called Viracocha. He created a dark world without sun, moon or the stars. Owing to this creation he was named Viracocha Pachayachachi, which means ‘Creator of all things.’”
Viracocha — Before the Moon and Stars
Sarmiento describes the Indigenous tradition as placing Viracocha before the creation of the current world. He is identified as Viracocha Pachayachachi, “Creator of all things.”
A NOTE ON INDIGENOUS BELIEF
“that the stories which are here treated as fables, which they are, are held by the natives to be as true as we hold the articles of our faith, and as such they affirm and confirm them with unanimity, and swear by them.”
This distinction is important. Although the chronicler describes these traditions as “fables,” he clearly notes that the people who kept them alive did not see them that way. To them, these accounts represented truths about their own history.
MARKHAM’S ENGLISH TRANSLATION — Sarmiento de Gamboa, p. 29
“when he had created the world, he formed a race of giants of disproportionate greatness painted and sculptured, to see whether it would be well to make real men of that size. He then created men in his likeness as they are now; and they lived in darkness.” “Viracocha ordered these people that they should live without quarrelling, and that they should know and serve him.” “But as there arose among them the vices of pride and covetousness, they transgressed the precept of Viracocha Pachayachachi…” “Then some were turned into stones, others into other things, some were swallowed up by the earth, others by the sea, and over all there came a general flood which they call uñu pachacuti, which means ‘water that overturns the land.’ They say that it rained 60 days and nights…”
The Flood — The First Humanity is Judged
Viracocha first considers a race of giants, then creates humanity in his own likeness. He commands the people to live peacefully and serve him, but they transgress his command.
Their destruction follows. The uñu pachacuti ends this first human age, setting up the second creation described on the next pages.
MARKHAM’S ENGLISH TRANSLATION — Sarmiento de Gamboa, p. 30
“that it drowned all created things, and that there alone remained some vestiges of those who were turned into stones, as a memorial of the event…” “Some of the nations, besides the Cuzcos, also say that a few were saved from this flood to leave descendants for a future age.” “They say that in the time of the deluge called uñu pachacuti there was a mountain named Guasano…” “As the waters increased the mountain kept rising and keeping above them in such a way that it was never covered by the waters of the flood. In this way the two Cañaris escaped.”
Ancestors — Preserved for Future Generations
Sarmiento shares traditions in which the flood destroys the former world while a small remnant survives “to leave descendants for a future age.”
In the Cañari account, two brothers escape the uñu pachacuti on Mount Guasano, which remains above the rising waters. Their survival marks the passage from the destroyed world into the age that follows.
MARKHAM’S ENGLISH TRANSLATION — Sarmiento de Gamboa, p. 31
“The Creator granted their petition. The women came back and said to the Cañaris—‘The Creator has thought it well that we should return to you, lest you should die of hunger.’” “By them he had ten sons who formed two lineages of five each, and increasing in numbers they called one Hanansaya… and the other Hurinsaya…” “From these all the Cañaris that now exist are descended.” “But the Incas and most of those of Cuzco… do not say that anyone escaped from the flood, but that Viracocha began to create men afresh…”
Two Traditions — Humanity After the Flood
The Cañari story continues through the descendants of those who survived. Sarmiento then records a different tradition from Cuzco: no one escaped the flood. Viracocha instead creates humanity “afresh.”
Both traditions place the flood at the divide between an earlier humanity and the people who inhabit the world afterward.
MARKHAM’S ENGLISH TRANSLATION — Sarmiento de Gamboa, p. 32
“It is related that everything was destroyed in the flood called uñu pachacuti.” “Viracocha Pachayachachi, when he destroyed that land as has been already recounted, preserved three men, one of them named Taguapaca, that they might serve and help him in the creation of new people who had to be made in the second age after the deluge…”
“The flood being passed and the land dry, Viracocha determined to people it a second time, and, to make it more perfect, he decided upon creating luminaries to give it light.” “With this object he went, with his servants, to a great lake in the Collao, in which there is an island called Titicaca…”
The Second Age — A More Perfect World
The flood marks the beginning of a new creation. Viracocha preserves three men to assist him, then sets out to populate the land for a second time.
Sarmiento describes what follows as a “second age.” The new world aims to be “more perfect,” placing renewed humanity within a deliberate reconstruction of the world after the uñu pachacuti.
MARKHAM’S ENGLISH TRANSLATION — Sarmiento de Gamboa, p. 33
“Viracocha went to this island, and presently ordered that the sun, moon, and stars should come forth, and be set in the heavens to give light to the world, and it was so.” “They say that the moon was created brighter than the sun…” “Viracocha gave various orders to his servants, but Taguapaca disobeyed the commands of Viracocha.” “So Viracocha was enraged against Taguapaca, and ordered the other two servants to take him, tie him hands and feet, and launch him in a balsa on the lake.” “This done, Viracocha made a sacred idol in that place, as a place for worship and as a sign of what he had there created.”
Celestial Order — The Moon and Stars Are Called Fourth
The reconstruction now extends to the heavens. Viracocha summons the sun, moon, and stars, placing them above the newly restored world.
Viracocha leaves the island and sends his servants out into the restored world. Taguapaca disobeys his commands, and is bound to a balsa (raft) and cast into the lake.
MARKHAM’S ENGLISH TRANSLATION — Sarmiento de Gamboa, p. 34
“He went to a place now called Tiahuanacu… and in this place he sculptured and designed on a great piece of stone, all the nations that he intended to create.” “Oh you tribes and nations, hear and obey the order of Ticci Viracocha Pachayachachi, which commands you to go forth, and multiply and settle the land.”
“At the sound of his voice every place obeyed, and people came forth, some from lakes, others from fountains, valleys, caves, trees, rocks and hills…”
“Others affirm that this creation of Viracocha was made from the Titicaca site where, having originally formed some shapes of large strong men which seemed to him out of proportion, he made them again of his stature… and being made he gave them life.”
Humanity — Remade and Given Life
Viracocha’s creative act begins. The nations are first conceived and represented at Tiahuanacu before being called forth to multiply and populate the land of Peru.
Another version connects this creation directly to the earlier giants of p. 29. Present humanity emerges only after Viracocha rejects the proportions of an earlier human form and recreates them.
MARKHAM’S ENGLISH TRANSLATION — Sarmiento de Gamboa, p. 35
“all agree that Viracocha was the creator of these people.” “They have the tradition that he was a man of medium height, white and dressed in a white robe like an alb secured round the waist, and that he carried a staff and a book in his hands.”
“Viracocha, after he had created all people, went on his road and came to a place where many men of his creation had congregated.”
“He, falling on his knees on some plain ground, with his hands clasped, fire from above came down upon those on the hill, and covered all the place, burning up the earth and stones like straw.”
The Creator — Raining Fire from Above
After creating humanity, Viracocha is described as physically traveling among the people he made. At Cacha, they turn against him and prepare to kill him.
Viracocha responds with “fire from above,” burning the hill until the people submit and seek forgiveness. The destruction is halted and Viracocha extinguishes the flames.
MARKHAM’S ENGLISH TRANSLATION — Sarmiento de Gamboa, p. 36
“Viracocha continued his journey, working his miracles and instructing his created beings.” “Intending to leave the land of Peru, he made a speech to those he had created, apprising them of the things that would happen.”
“He told them that people would come, who would say that they were Viracocha their creator, and that they were not to believe them; but that in time to come he would send his messengers who would protect and teach them.”
“Having said this he went to sea with his two servants, and went travelling over the water as if it was land, without sinking.”
Anomalous Exit — Leaving His Creation
Viracocha departs from Peru, but his leaving is shown as temporary in influence. He warns his creation about false claimants and promises that his own messengers will come to protect and teach them.
His final exit is equally unusual: the creator leaves by entering the sea with his servants and traveling across the water “as if it was land, without sinking”— a notable description.
MARKHAM’S ENGLISH TRANSLATION — Sarmiento de Gamboa, p. 37
“after Viracocha departed, they say that Taguapaca, who Viracocha ordered to be thrown into the lake of Titicaca in the Collao, as has already been related, came back and began, with others, to preach that he was Viracocha.” “Although at first the people were doubtful, they finally saw that it was false, and ridiculed them.”
Sarmiento then closes the creation account and begins the next chapter with an important chronological statement: “It is important to note that these barbarians could tell nothing more respecting what happened from the second creation by Viracocha down to the time of the Incas.”
The Tradition Confirms — Humanity Was Created Again
Sarmiento closes the account with a direct phrase: “the second creation by Viracocha.”
The tradition itself distinguishes the humanity after the Flood from the creation that came before it.
