The Royal Commentaries of the Incas

by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega

This book by the mestizo writer Garcilaso de la Vega, the son of an Inca Princess and a Spanish Captain, constitutes on the main sources of knowledge about ancient Peru. The detailed descriptions, the author gives about the customs, rituals, arts, military conquests, Andean history and culture through multiple and varied depictions make this book an indispensable tool to know, in all its grandeur, the splendor of the Empire of the Incas.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published March 1, 2006

About the author

Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (12 April 1539 - 23 April 1616), born Gómez Suárez de Figueroa, was a historian and writer from the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru. The son of a Spanish conquistador and an Incan noblewoman, he is recognized primarily for his contributions to Incan history, culture, and society. Although not all scholars agree, many consider Garcilaso's accounts the most complete and accurate available. Because there was also a Spanish author named Garcilaso de la Vega, he is more commonly known as El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, or simply El Inca Garcilaso.

Reviews

[Luna Itza · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I begin this review, I would like to say that I’m so glad I bought this book years ago when I went abroad to study Peruvian culture. This is officially the oldest text I’ve ever read in my life. Second being Candid by Voltaire written in 1759. The Royal Commentaries of The Incas by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega written in 1604 consists of 9 books covering broad yet concise details of each Inca reign throughout time. Garcilaso is seen as the first true Peruvian. With ties deep within the Spanish and Inca culture. He write about parts of his personal life growing up as royalty, traveling to Europe, the rudimentary parts to true Inca culture before the Spanish Inquisition, and his take on all of it as a Mestizo. I’m still to this day, mesmerized by that country and it’s people. It changed my life in 2017 and it’s changing my life now til this day. I think it should be suggested that reading primary sources is a great way to gain perspective of the world. It’s so particular in the scope of things once you really learn the ways in which an author sees life. This book taught me that in the end, humans will always crave power. It’s the curse of being emotional beings. Manco Capac had a dream and he made it come true under the servitude of people from all over South America. His lineage conquered until they couldn’t anymore and the ending of this blood line was grim to say the least. I hope to continue reading old texts from early times. Not to sway my opinion on ideas like conversion and true religion, but to learn that just when I thought I’ve learned every truth there is to believe in, I haven’t.

[Aldair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mission completed!!!

For years I wanted to read the whole book of Garcilaso the Inca, and now I can say I have completed reading what this 15th century author has written for the land of his mother and subsecuently his country Perú. I am so happy this is real and much more me being a native of the highlands of Perú. I Learned so many things about the Inca in their diverse subjects suchs as medicine, politics, art, astronomy, religions and so forth. Found things that are still palpable like the two seasons of the year namely "Chiraway" and "Poqoy" in Quechua Inca language for the wet and dry seasons. Woww just imagine reading a 5 cemtury earlier chronicler mentioning the still alive words and describings the very known herbs that exist which indeed are used as medicine among the Quechua. I is a must read book.

[Michael Nazario · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful work by Garcilasco. The prose, though antiquated, is delightful and makes for a pleasurable read which brings the characters to life.

The abridgment in ‘General History of Peru’ is unforgivable, however. It cuts out parts that I would have been very interested to read, and even cuts out the author’s personal involvement in the rebellion of Francisco Hernández Giron, which is fascinating and exciting.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting information about the Inca empire. However, the translation from 16th century Spanish, makes for tedious reading at times

[Austin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Greatly enjoyed reading this book, which I count as an authentic cultural history of the Incan empire. Some quibble with the historicity of the narrative, but this is less important when viewing the work as an expression of cultural memory, story-telling, and meaning-making. What adds to the work's fascination is the multiple dimensions of cultural and historical immersion: One dimension deals with Incan imperial history, another with Spanish conquest and the clash of cultures, yet another with the spread of Christianity, and yet another with the grand synthesis of these threads into a European colonial tapestry that begins to look more familiar. The scale of the story is epic, and I drew a great many insights into the nature of empire, which I now see as being rooted firmly in an elitism that is likely justified in several dimensions. Military might is necessary but not sufficient for empire. The Inca appear to have won over at least half of their vassal states through a form of preaching and technological advancement that heightened their prestige. Others they fought and fought well. As I considered this pattern, I believe it applies to other imperial expansions as well, including the Roman, British, Greek, American, etc. Probably worth a separate book!

Some of my favorite quotes:

--"It constitutes a lyrical endeavor, which is so violent that, at times, it appears to be desperate, to recapture the forgotten forces . . . to breathe their spirit into a modern body that, otherwise, risks desiccation and decay through depersonalization." pg. xx

--" . . . if Garcilaso made such an attempt to justify the desire for conquest of first one and then the other, it was with no intention of opposing them to each other but, on the contrary, of bringing them together, by considering their accomplishments as two successive stages in the forward march of humanity from the darkness of earliest times till the only total civilization which, for this Christian Inca, must derive from the teachings of Christ." pg. xxxiii

--" . . . this boulder was hauled across the mountain by more than twenty thousand Indians, going up and down very steep hills . . . at a certain spot, it fell from their hands over a precipice, crushing more than three thousand men." pg. 304 (of the largest stone at Saqsayhuaman

--"So the inadequacy of this translator was twofold: on the one hand, he did not know enough Spanish and Inca words, and on the other, he forgot half of the arguments he was supposed to translate." pg. 404 (Garcilaso's theory that Pizarro's and Atahualpa's translator caused an escalation of hostilities btwn the Spanish and Inca)

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally I would give prose like this 3 stars, but the historical significance of the book is mind boggling and forced me to 4 stars.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has literary and historical significance but honestly I loved it for an entirely different reason. I can see him now, writing this book decades later, frustrated with how his experience and history and people have been misremembered and slandered, trying to make peace with never having returned, taking on his father's name so he can feel like a soldier fighting for something. It's a human history, and I like it.

[Jason Golomb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides some terrific insights from an original source for anyone looking to enhance understandings of the Inca and their Conquest. A terrific complement to McQuarries' Last Days of the Incas and Hemmings' Conquest of the Incas.