Introduction - Adventure Guide to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands - page 6

In the fertile valleys of the Andes, meanwhile, several independent
tribes evolved in more settled communities, ruled by local and re-
gional chiefs and farming crops such as maize, quinoa, potatoes. In
the Southern Highlands, they even utilized irrigation. As many inde-
pendent tribes merged and evolved during this period, most early in-
habitants lived primarily along the coast (the Caras )orinthe
highlands (the Quitus ), though not much is known about possible
cultures in the Oriente. These two groups merged into the Shyri Na-
tion under the leadership of the coastal Caras, who were then in the
Northern Highlands, and the Quitus, around the modern site of
Quito. Another alliance bymarriage united the Shyri Nationwith the
Puruhá of the Southern Highlands under the Dachicela lineage,
while the Cañaris remained separate during the period of Inca ar-
rival in the area around what is Cuenca today.
Inca Invasion
The Inca Empire dominated southern Peru - primarily the area
around Lake Titicaca - as far back as the 11th century. By the 15th
century, when the Incas began to expand their empire, the
Quitucaras (from the Dachicela lineage) dominated the northern
chain of Andean kingdoms in today's Ecuador, and the Cañaris ruled
the south in the area around the beautiful modern-day city of Cuenca.
The ninth Inca King, Pachacuti Inca Yupanque , meaning
“Earthshaker,” was primarily responsible for what eventually be-
came 11 generations of Inca rule from as far south and Chile and Ar-
gentina and as far north as Ecuador and Colombia.
After years of resistance against Inca expansion under Yupanque's
son Túpac-Yupanqui, the Cañaris and Incas settled “peacefully” in
1470. As the Incas proceeded north, the Quitucaras continued to re-
sist for many more years. Eventually, the son of Túpac-Yupanqui,
named Hauyna-Capac (meaning “rich and excellent youth”), was
born of a Cañari princess and succeeded to the Inca throne. From this
point forward the southern Incan culture inPeru began tomergewith
that of the peoples of Ecuador. Huayna-Capac, the 11th IncaKing, ex-
panded the empire further and reigned during a brief period of rela-
tive stability.