War and a Semblance of Peace in the Inca Heartland

Viracocha refused to return to Cuzco to fight, but a number of important
lords (caciques y señores) in the Cuzco area decided to support Pachacuti’s
cause.
The story about preparing to face the Chanca attack is long, while an
account of what transpired when the Chancas got to Cuzco is surprisingly
brief. The focus in Betanzos, and in Sarmiento, is on the relation between
father and son, and the tie that was forged between the peoples of the Cuzco
region who joined Pachacuti to resist the Chanca invasion.
On the eve of the battle, the young Pachacuti left Cuzco, and began to
pray to Viracocha Pacha Yachachic, “the creator of all things”. This
supernatural Viracocha came and spoke to him when he was alone at the
spring of Susurpuquio. In both the identity of this supernatural and in the
content of the prayers (oraciones) this part of the story has been heavily
Christianized (Betanzos 1987, pt. 1, chp. 8: 32-33). There are other
descriptions of this supernatural that cast him in a more Andean guise. He
can be represented as appearing as a reflection in a pool or mirror; rather
than in person. Sarmiento says that he appeared as a reflection in a mirror,
and that Pachacuti kept the mirror with him ever after (1906, chp. 27: 62). In
any event, what this supernatural told the young Inca was that he would be
successful against the Chancas.
While Betanzos narrates the events before the Inca-Chanca engagements
in several chapters, the battle itself is not described at all. Uscovilca descends
the hill of Carmenga (where the urban parish of Santa Ana is now located) to
the center of Cuzco:
They engaged in battle and fought from the morning -which was
when it began- until midday. And the events of the battle were such
that a great number of Uscovilca’s soldiers were killed, and none
engaged that were not killed. Uscovilca himself was taken and
killed, and when his people saw him captured and dead and saw
the slaughter of so many of their own, they decided to retreat
(Betanzos 1987, pt. 1, chp. 8: 33).
They regrouped in Xaquixaguana, not far from Cuzco along the main
road, and sent for reinforcements. They also sent for the two captains who
had been sent on parallel courses, who immediately returned, bringing the
spoils of all their other victories. All were dismayed by the news of Uscovilca’s
death (Betanzos 1987, pt. 1, chp 8: 33).
What follows is the story of how young Pachacuti tried to get his father to
accept the insignias of Uscovilca and the clothing and other spoils taken from
the defeated Chancas.
He went to where his father was and paid him the respect that he
was owed as his lord (señor) and father, and also put before him the
insignias, weapons and clothing of the Chanca Uscovilca who he
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