Inca Empire

Timeline

1. c. 1438Cusco · Cusco RegionPachacuti (Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui) defeated the invading Chanca confederacy, then took the throne as Sapa Inca, set about transforming the city-state of Cusco into an imperial capital, and instituted the four-quarters administrative division, marking the start of the Inca Empire's age of expansion.
2. 1451–1460Cusco and the Andean expansion frontier · PeruOver this decade Pachacuti pushed north to the northern coast of Peru and began pressuring the Chimú Kingdom (Chan Chan). Meanwhile he oversaw the rebuilding of Cusco, constructing the Temple of the Sun (Coricancha), the Sacsayhuamán fortress, and orderly administrative palace districts; the highland estate of Machu Picchu may also have been built during this period.
3. c. 1470–1475Chachapoyas and the northern Peruvian coast · La Libertad RegionPachacuti's son Tupac Inca Yupanqui led the army that destroyed the Chimú Kingdom and incorporated its capital into the empire; Inca northern expansion was essentially complete, making it the unrivalled superpower of the Andes.
4. 1532–1533Cajamarca · Cajamarca RegionFrancisco Pizarro led Spanish conquistadors in an ambush at Cajamarca, capturing the last Sapa Inca, Atahualpa, and executing him the following year. Cusco was then occupied, the Inca Empire formally fell, and the Viceroyalty of Peru was established.