From Cuzco, his capital in
the high Andes, The Ninth Inka (Inca), Pachacuti, ruled his people. Later, an empire (building on Pachachuti’s early conquests), would be called "Inca," (in English, "the ruler").
Once the largest civilization in "the new world," stretching north through Equador and extending south to Argentina, the Inca Empire flourished for about
one hundred years (during the 15th and 16th centuries). When the Atahualpa Inka was kidnapped (and later killed), the
kingdom fell (don't miss this video) to gold-seeking Spanish Conquistadors, in the 16th century. The life and times of the people remained largely unknown to the outside world since the Incas did not have a written language. Machu Picchu (Machupijchu), today the most
famous settlement of the Inca Empire, remained hidden until a Yale archaeologist (Hiram Bingham) rediscovered
it in 1911.
As the 20th century continued, scholars (seeking to learn more about the empire) found unexpected information in unanticipated places: Inca mummies were being located in Peru.