Narrative of the Incas

By Juan de Betanzos

Book Overview

One of the earliest chronicles of the Inca empire was written in the 1550s by Juan de Betanzos. Although scholars have long known of this work, only eighteen chapters were actually available until the 1980s when the remaining sixty-four chapters were discovered in the collection of the Fundacin Bartolom March in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Narrative of the Incas presents the first complete English translation of the original manuscript of this key document. Although written by a Spaniard, it presents an authentic Inca worldview, drawn from the personal experiences and oral traditions told to Betanzos by his Inca wife, Doa Angelina, and other members of her aristocratic family who lived during the reigns of the last Inca rulers, Huayna Capac Huascar and Atahualpa. Betanzos wrote a history of the Inca empire that focuses on the major rulers and the contributions each one made to the growth of the empire and of Inca culture. Filled with new insights into Inca politics, marriage, laws, the calendar, warfare, and other matters, Narrative of the Incas is essential reading for everyone interested in this ancient civilization.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0292755600
• ISBN13: 9780292755604
• Release Date: May 1996
• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.3" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

History and Conquest of Peru from Inca point of view.

Account translated from a manuscript that was only discovered in the 80's. It records the descent of the Incas from the creation of the world through the conquest by the Spaniards. The focus is kept on the Inca's (kings) and their ceremonies and conquests from one of their descendents (whom the author used as his source), who also lived through the conquest. This is a good book to read after reading Discovery and Conquest of Peru, recently published, since you get behind the thoughts of the Spanish in the one and the Incas in the other. In this case we get those first impressions the natives had when they first encountered the Spanish and their horses. Contains maps, illustrations, and glossary.