Account of the fables and rites of the Incas [electronic resource] / by Cristóbal de Molina ; with an introduction by Brian S. Bauer ; translated and edited by Brian S. Bauer, Vania Smith-Oka, Gabriel E. Cantarutti.

Author
Molina, Cristóbal de, active 16th century [Browse]
Uniform title
Format
Book
Language
English
Εdition
1st ed.
Published/​Created
Austin : University of Texas Press, c2011.
Description
xxxv, 150 p. : ill., maps.

Details

Subject(s)
Related name
Series
  • William & Bettye Nowlin series in art, history, and culture of the Western Hemisphere. [More in this series]
  • The William and Bettye Nowlin series in art, history, and culture of the Western Hemisphere
Summary note
Only a few decades after the Spanish conquest of Peru, the third Bishop of Cuzco, Sebastián de Lartaún, called for a report on the religious practices of the Incas. The report was prepared by Cristóbal de Molina, a priest of the Hospital for the Natives of Our Lady of Succor in Cuzco and Preacher General of the city. Molina was an outstanding Quechua speaker, and his advanced language skills allowed him to interview the older indigenous men of Cuzco who were among the last surviving eyewitnesses of the rituals conducted at the height of Inca rule. Thus, Molina's account preserves a crucial first-hand record of Inca religious beliefs and practices. This volume is the first English translation of Molina's Relación de las fábulas y ritos de los incas since 1873 and includes the first authoritative scholarly commentary and notes. The work opens with several Inca creation myths and descriptions of the major gods and shrines (huacas). Molina then discusses the most important rituals that occurred in Cuzco during each month of the year, as well as rituals that were not tied to the ceremonial calendar, such as birth rituals, female initiation rites, and marriages. Molina also describes the Capacocha ritual, in which all the shrines of the empire were offered sacrifices, as well as the Taqui Ongoy, a millennial movement that spread across the Andes during the late 1560s in response to growing Spanish domination and accelerated violence against the so-called idolatrous religions of the Andean peoples.
Notes
Translation of: Relación de las fábulas y ritos de los Incas.
Bibliographic references
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Language note
English
Contents
  • The life and times of Cristóbal de Molina
  • Introduction / Brian S. Bauer
  • Origin myths
  • Of quipus and Inca Yupanqui
  • The sorcerers
  • The rituals of the months of the year
  • The ayuscay, rutuchico, and quicochico rituals
  • The capacocha
  • Taqui onqoy
  • Appendix: Editions of Cristóbal de Molina's Account of the fables and rites of the Incas (Relación de las fábulas y ritos de los Incas).
ISBN
0-292-72999-5
OCLC
  • 741751264
  • 1280943063
Doi
  • 10.7560/723832
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