Atuntaqui is a city, with a population of 25,115, in the Imbabura Province in the northern region of Ecuador. The city is located at an altitude of 2,400 metres (7,900 ft). Atuntaqui is located just 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) from the larger city of Ibarra, north along the Panamerican Highway. Although the sector name is Antonio Ante, those who visit or have heard of it identify it more as Atuntaqui, a name that has acquired several meanings through history. According to Father Juan de Velasco, it is composed of two words - hatun (large) and taqui (drum), i.e. 'big drum'. Jacinto Jijón y Caamano identifies it as a 'land rich in truth'; González Suárez rejects this meaning and translates it as 'big barn'. Others call it 'place of the inn' or 'tightly closed town'.
Atuntaqui in the context of Huayna Capac
Huayna Capac (/ˈwaɪnə ˈkæpæk/ WY-nə KAP-ak; Cusco Quechua: Wayna Qhapaq [ˈwajna ˈqʰapaχ] – lit. 'the young generous one'; Spanish: [ˈwajna ˈkapak]; before 1493 – 1527) was the eleventh Sapa Inca of Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire. He was the son of and successor to Túpac Inca Yupanqui, the sixth Sapa Inca of the Hanan dynasty, and eleventh of the Inca civilization. He was born in Tumipampa and tutored to become Sapa Inca from a young age.
Tawantinsuyu reached its greatest extent under Huayna Capac, as he expanded the empire's borders south along the Chilean coast, and north through what is now Ecuador and southern Colombia. According to the priest Juan de Velasco he absorbed the Quito Confederation into his empire by marrying Queen Paccha Duchicela, halting a long protracted war. Huayna Capac founded the city Atuntaqui and developed the city Cochabamba as an agriculture and administrative center. The Sapa Inca greatly expanded the Inca road system and had many qullqa (storehouses) built.
View the full Wikipedia page for Huayna Capac