Quechua languages in the context of Inca Empire

The Kingdom of Cusco (sometimes spelled Cuzco and in Quechua Qosqo or Qusqu), also called the Cusco confederation, the Cusco chiefdom, or the Inca Kingdom, was a small polity based in the Andean city of Cusco that began as a small city-state founded by the Incas around the start of 13th century. In time, through warfare or peaceful assimilation, it began to grow into the Inca Empire (1438–1533).

Ch is a digraph in the Latin script. It is treated as a letter of its own in the Chamorro, Old Spanish, Czech, Slovak, Igbo, Uzbek, Quechua, Ladin, Guarani, Welsh, Cornish, Breton, Ukrainian Latynka, and Belarusian Łacinka alphabets. Formerly, ch was also considered a separate letter for collation purposes in Modern Spanish, Vietnamese, and sometimes in Polish; now the digraph ch in these languages continues to be used, but it is considered as a sequence of letters and sorted as such.

Aymara (Aymara pronunciation: [ajˈmaɾa] ; also Aymar aru) is an Aymaran language spoken by the Aymara people of the Bolivian Andes. It is one of only a handful of Native American languages with over one million speakers. Aymara, along with Spanish and Quechua, is an official language in Bolivia and Peru. It is also spoken, to a much lesser extent, by some communities in northern Chile and northern Argentina, where it is a recognized minority language.

Academic sources confirm that Aymara is spoken in Argentina, particularly in the provinces of Jujuy and Salta. Aymara is recognized as one of the indigenous language families within the country, often grouped alongside others such as Quechua, Mapuche, and Guaraní. The University of Arizona identifies the Kolla people, who speak Aymara, as having a significant presence in these provinces.

The Mantaro River (Spanish: Río Mantaro, Quechua: Hatunmayu) is a long river running through the central region of Peru. Its Quechua name means "great river". The word "Mantaro" may be a word originally from the Asháninka language, who live downstream along the Ene River. The Mantaro, along with the Apurímac River, are the sources of the Amazon River, depending on the criteria used for definition.

Puquios (from Quechua pukyu meaning source, spring, or water well) are ancient systems of subterranean aqueducts which allow water to be transported over long distances in hot dry climates without loss of much of the water to evaporation. Puquios are found in the coastal deserts of southern Peru, especially in the Nazca region, and northern Chile. Forty-three puquios in the Nazca region were still in use in the early 21st century and relied upon to bring fresh water for irrigation and domestic use into desert settlements. The origin and dating of the Nazca puquios is disputed, although some archaeologists have estimated that their construction began about 500 CE by indigenous people of the Nazca culture.

The technology of the puquios is similar to that of the Qanats of Iran and other desert areas of Asia and Europe, including Spain. A few puquios in northern Chile and in other parts of Peru were probably constructed at the initiative of the Spanish after the conquest of the Inca Empire in the 16th century.

Cochabamba (Aymara: Quchapampa; Quechua: Quchapampa) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and the fourth largest city in Bolivia, with a population of 661,484 according to the 2024 Bolivian census. Its name is from a compound of the Quechua words qucha "lake" and pampa, "open plain." Residents of the city and the surrounding areas are commonly referred to as cochalas or, more formally, cochabambinos.

It is known as the "City of Eternal Spring" or "The Garden City" because of its spring-like temperatures all year round. It is also known as "La Llajta," which means "town" in Quechua. It is the largest urban center between the higher capital of La Paz and Santa Cruz de la Sierra in the tropical plains of the east. It sits south-west of the Tunari mountains, and north of the foothills of the Valle Alto. In antiquity, the area featured numerous lakes, which gave the city its name. Many of these lakes have since disappeared to urban development, but Coña Coña and Alalay lakes are extant examples. It has been a populated settlement since the Pre-Inca period, and is today an important cultural, educational, political, and commercial centre.

Aymaran (also Jaqi or Aru) is one of the two dominant language families in the central Andes alongside Quechuan. The family consists of Aymara, widely spoken in Bolivia, and the endangered Jaqaru and Kawki languages of Peru.

Hardman (1978) proposed the name Jaqi for the family of languages, Alfredo Torero Aru 'to speak', and Rodolfo Cerrón Palomino Aymaran, with two branches, Southern (or Altiplano) Aymaran and Central Aymaran (Jaqaru and Kawki). Other names for the family are Jaqui (also spelled Haki) and Aimara.

Capsicum pubescens is a plant of the genus Capsicum (pepper). The species name, pubescens, refers to the hairy leaves of this pepper. The hairiness of the leaves, along with the black seeds, make Capsicum pubescens distinguishable from other Capsicum species. Capsicum pubescens has pungent yellow, orange, red, green or brown fruits.

This species is found primarily in Central and South America, and is known only in cultivation. It is consumed fresh, as a paste, dried, or ground. Of all the domesticated species in the genus Capsicum, it is the least widespread and most genetically distinct. It has no common name in English, and its name in Spanish varies by country: it is called by the indigenous terms rocoto in Peru and Ecuador (from the Quechua rukutu or ruqutu) and locoto in Bolivia and Argentina (from the Aymara luqutu); however, in Mexico the term chile manzano (literally, "appletree pepper") is used due to the visual similarity of the fruit to apples.

Quechua people (/ˈkɛtʃuə/, US also /ˈkɛtʃwɑː/; Spanish: [ˈketʃwa]) , Quichua people or Kichwa people are Indigenous peoples of South America who speak the Quechua languages, which originated among the Indigenous people of Peru. Although most Quechua speakers are native to Peru, there are some significant populations in Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and Argentina.

The most common Quechua dialect is Southern Quechua. The Kichwa people of Ecuador speak the Kichwa dialect; in Colombia, the Inga people speak Inga Kichwa.

Promaucae, also spelled as Promaucas or Purumaucas (from Quechua purum awqa: wild enemy), were an Indigenous pre-Columbian Mapuche tribal group that lived in the present territory of Chile, south of the Maipo River basin of Santiago, Chile and the Itata River. Those to the north were called Quillotanes and Mapochoes by the Spanish colonists). They spoke Mapudungun, like the Moluche to the south, and were part of the Picunche tribe that lived north of the Itata River.

Huarochirí (Quechua: Waruchiri) is a province of the department of Lima, Peru. From the administrative point of view of the Catholic Church in Peru, it forms part of the Territorial Prelature of Yauyos. Its capital is Matucana. The western section is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area.

Túpac Amaru or Thupa Amaru (14 April 1545 – 24 September 1572) (first name also spelled Túpac, Tupac, Topa, Tupaq, Thupaq, Thupa, last name also spelled Amaro instead of Amaru) was the last Sapa Inca of the Neo-Inca State, the final remaining independent part of the Inca Empire. He was executed by the Spanish following a months-long pursuit after the fall of the Neo-Inca State.

His name is derived from the Quechua words thupaq, meaning "royal" or "shining" and amaru, which can either mean "snake" or refer to the snake-like being from Andean mythology.

Jerky is lean trimmed meat strips which are dehydrated to prevent spoilage and seasoned to varying degrees. Normally, this drying includes the addition of salt to prevent microbial growth through osmosis. The word "jerky" derives from the Quechua word ch'arki which means "dried, salted meat".

Modern manufactured jerky is often marinated, prepared with a seasoned spice rub or liquid, or smoked with low heat (usually under 70 °C or 160 °F). Store-bought jerky commonly includes sweeteners such as brown sugar.

The Inga people are an indigenous ethnic group native to portions of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru with a claimed historical relation to the Incas.

They speak a dialect of Quechua known as Inga Kichwa, which likely was introduced through both relations with the Incas as well as a Jesuit mission that was briefly established in the region. Quechua, being used as an administrative language in the Andes Mountains since the Incan Empire and well into the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, would have definitely been taught. It's believed that the language being shared via the mission led to it being commonly understood by almost all the locals, and later laid the groundwork for the Inga identity to form.

Fray Domingo de Santo Tomás, O.P. (1499 – December 1570) was a Spanish Dominican missionary, bishop, and grammarian in the Viceroyalty of Peru. He compiled the first Quechua language grammar and dictionary, both published in 1560.

His grammar contained also the earliest known Quechua written text, as a catechetic appendix, and the first known linguistic description of clusivity.