Ayacucho in the context of "Viceroyalty of Peru"

The Wari Empire or Huari Empire was a political formation that emerged around 600 in Peru's Ayacucho Basin and grew to cover much of coastal and highland Peru. The empire lasted for about 500 years, until 1100. It existed during the same era as the Tiwanaku culture, and at one time, was thought to have been derived from it.

In 2008, archeologists found a pre-Columbian city, the Northern Wari ruins (also called Cerro Pátapo) near modern Chiclayo. The find was the first extensive settlement related to the Wari culture discovered that far north. Archaeological discoveries have continued over the past decade. In 2023, archaeologists discovered a 1200-year-old Wari ritual complex in Arequipa. While more discoveries are being made regarding the Wari Empire, archaeologists are able to draw more conclusions about the Wari Empire's culture.

The Wari (Spanish: Huari) were a Middle Horizon civilization that flourished in the south-central Andes and coastal area of modern-day Peru, from about 500 to 1000 AD. At their height, they formed the Wari Empire.

Wari, as the former capital city was called, is located 11 km (6.8 mi) north-east of the modern city of Ayacucho, Peru. This city was the center of a civilization that covered much of the highlands and coast of modern Peru. The best-preserved remnants, besides the Huari|Wari ruins, are the recently discovered Northern Wari ruins near the city of Chiclayo, and Cerro Baúl in Moquegua. Also well-known are the Wari ruins of Pikillaqta ("Flea Town"), a short distance south-east of Cuzco en route to Lake Titicaca.

Southern Quechua (Quechua: Urin qhichwa, Spanish: quechua sureño), or simply Quechua (Qichwa or Qhichwa), is the most widely spoken of the major regional groupings of mutually intelligible dialects within the Quechua language family, with about 6.9 million speakers. Besides Guaraní, it is the only indigenous language of America with more than 5 million speakers. The term Southern Quechua refers to the Quechuan varieties spoken in regions of the Andes south of a line roughly east–west between the cities of Huancayo and Huancavelica in central Peru. It includes the Quechua varieties spoken in the regions of Ayacucho, Cusco and Puno in Peru, in much of Bolivia and parts of north-west Argentina. The most widely spoken varieties are Cusco, Ayacucho, Puno (Collao), and South Bolivian.

In the traditional classification of the Quechua language family by Alfredo Torero, Southern Quechua is equivalent to Torero's 'Quechua IIc' (or just 'QIIc'). It thus stands in contrast to its many sister varieties within the wider Quechuan family that are spoken in areas north of the Huancayo–Huancavelica line: Central Quechua (Torero's QI) spoken from Huancayo northwards to the Ancash Region; North Peruvian Quechua around Cajamarca and Incahuasi (Torero's IIa); and Kichwa (part of Torero's Quechua IIb).

Ayacucho (Spanish pronunciation: [aʝaˈkutʃo] ), known as Huamanga from its creation in 1822 until 1825, is a department of Peru. It is located in the south-central Andes of the country, the region was one of the hardest hit in the 1980s during the guerrilla war waged by Shining Path. It is administered by a regional government. Its capital is the city of Ayacucho.

The Battle of Ayacucho (Spanish: Batalla de Ayacucho, IPA: [baˈtaʎa ðe aʝaˈkutʃo]) was a decisive military encounter during the Peruvian War of Independence. This battle secured the independence of Peru and ensured independence for the rest of belligerent South American states. In Peru it is considered the end of the Spanish American wars of independence in this country, although the campaign of Antonio José de Sucre continued through 1825 in Upper Peru and the siege of the fortresses Chiloé and Callao eventually ended in 1826.

At the end of 1824, Royalists still had control of most of the south of Peru as well as of the Real Felipe fortress in the port of Callao. On 9 December 1824, the Battle of Ayacucho (Battle of La Quinua) took place between Royalist and Independentist forces at Pampa de Ayacucho (or Quinua), a few kilometers from Ayacucho, near the town of Quinua. Independentist forces were led by Simón Bolívar's lieutenant Antonio José de Sucre. Viceroy José de la Serna was wounded, and after the battle second commander-in-chief José de Canterac signed the final capitulation of the Royalist army.

Huamanga, sometimes informally Ayacucho, is a province in the northern part of the Ayacucho Region in Peru. The capital of the province is the city of Ayacucho.

Wari or Huari is an archaeological site located near the town of Quinua, 22 km northeast of the city of Ayacucho, in the Ayacucho Region, Peru at an elevation between 2600 and 2900 meters. It was the capital city of the Wari Empire and one of the largest urban settlements in ancient Peru.