Panakas

During the Inca Empire, most of the land was held by the ayllus (a kinship group whose members were related to one another through descent from a real or fictional common ancestor). Land was owned inalienably by the ayllu and not by individuals, while the decisions on the use of the ayllu lands by its members were made by the community kurakas (chiefs) that managed the property for the general benefit of the community. The panacas, as royal ayllus, followed the same rules: the ruling Inca, called Sapa Inca, was the chief of his panaka until he died and someone else became kuraka. Panacas performed ceremonies in the name of the Inca and took care of the goods and alliances made during his reign. Each panaca owned holdings across the realm, including Inca royal estates and palaces in the sacred valley and the capital city of Cusco: the city core was composed principally of palatial enclosures known as kanchas, some of which were owned by the panakas. The members of a panaka made up the Sapa Inca's court which was also supported by their deceased ancestors who acted through their descendants, as if they were still alive. The panakas formed the aristocracy of Cusco, and represented factions and alliances capable of exerting influence in the decisions in the politics and conflicts of Inca history elected by the law of the "most capable". The panakas of Pachacuti Tupac Yupanui were the most important: due to the early expansion of the empire they were owners of great extensions of land with innumerable laborers and servants (yanakuna) in charge of their care and of their social status. Diarchical model Structuralist model ==Sacred functions==

Preserved and honored by the panaka, the mummies (mallki) of the Sapa Inca and his Qoya (also spelled colla, royal wife), conferred Huaca status, continued to hold significant influence over politics, meaning that in their names the panakas maintained an active interference in the political life of the Empire. The people could admire the mummies of the deceased Incas during the great festivals in Cusco, when they were exposed in the huge square of Haucaypata. During the festivals, the mummies were surrounded by their panaka. This tradition implied that a large group of individuals living in Cusco based their lives on the maintenance of the mummies. == List of panacas ==

Eleven imperial panakas existed in Cuzco, five from Hurin (lower) Cusco and six from Hanan (upper) Cusco, two complementary parts in Andean duality or yanantin separated into Chinchay Suyu (north) and Anti Suyu (east), for Hanan, and into Qulla Suyu (south) and Kunti Suyu (west), for Hurin, which were then separated into various ceques. Altogether they formed the capaccuna or the relationship among lords which is often considered as the official list of the panacas. In fact capaccuna is a plural name: in Quechua, qhapaq means the powerful one or the person of royal blood, and kuna is a plural suffix, therefore indicating the nobility of Cusco. in his El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno The priest and chronicler Cristóbal de Molina, in his manuscript (Account of the fables and rites of the Incas) of 1575 describes the situa ( in Quechua), the solemn festival of health and purification that was celebrated by the Incas at the spring equinox, in September. During this festival the nobility of Cusco that gathered in the main square was divided into ten panakas only, instead of eleven, each associated with one of four suys (or provinces) of the Inca empire. Molina does not mention the Tumipampa Ayllu, the panaca of Wayna Qhapaq. Panacas from the Hurin Qusco moiety: • Chima Panaca Ayllu (Manku Qhapaqpa panacan), the royal house of Manku Qhapaq, related to Kuntisuyu. • Rawra Panaca Ayllu (Sinchi Ruq'ap panacan), the royal house of Sinchi Ruqa, related to Kuntisuyu. • Hawaynin Panaca Ayllu (Lluq'i Yupankip panacan), the royal house of Lluq'i Yupanki, related to Qullasuyu. • Uska Mayta Panaca Ayllu (Mayta Qhapaqpa panacan), the royal house of Mayta Qhapaq, related to Qullasuyu. • Apu Mayta Panaca Ayllu (Qhapaq Yupankip panacan), the royal house of Qhapaq Yupanki, related to Qullasuyu. Panacas from the Hanan Qusco moiety: • Wikakiraw Panaca Ayllu (Inka Ruqap panacan), the royal house of Inka Ruqa, related to Chinchaysuyu. • Awqaylli Panaca (Yawar Waqaqpa panacan), the royal house of Yawar Waqaq, related to Antisuyu. • Suqsu Panaca Ayllu (Wiraqucha Inkap panacan), the royal house of Wiraqucha Inka, related to Antisuyu. • Hatun Ayllu (Pachakutiq Yupankip panacan), the royal house of Pachakutiq Yupanki, related to Chinchaysuyu. • Qhapaq Ayllu (Tupaq Yupankip panacan), the royal house of Tupaq Yupanki, related to Chinchaysuyu. • Tumipampa Ayllu (Wayna Qhapaqpa panacan), the royal house of Wayna Qhapaq (not mentioned by Molina) In addition to the recorded panacas, the chronicles sporadically mention other panacas that possibly played an important role in earlier times and that were overwhelmed by groups with more importance. From Hanan Cusco two panacas were excluded from the official list and from Hurin Cusco three. Huascar and Atahualpa did not found a panaka during their short reigns. ==Origin of the word panaka==

Luis E. Valcárcel postulated that pana-kak could be read as pana ka-q «the one who is sister». Subsequent scholars investigated the matrilineal nature of the panakas, given the feminine characteristics of the term pana (sister) so that each person (male and female) would belong to their sister's or mother's group. According to Hernández Astete, Qhapaq Ayllu and Hatun Ayllu may have never existed as established panakas. According to this historian, Qhapaq Ayllu was the generic name of the high nobility, while Hatun Ayllu would correspond to the descendants of the nobles of non-Inca women who, in order to access power in Cusco, established kinship ties with the Incas. Hernández Astete puts writes that the word panaka is associated only with noble women with whom they are "panas", since they had kinship ties with some of the earlier Incas, then only those men and women who descended from a "pana" constituted the Inca nobility. The men of the group, including the Inca, also had children with women who were not part of the highest nobility of Cuzco. refers to documents issued by the (Royal Court), preserved in the (Cusco regional Archive) which include records of purchase and sale of land, reports of inspections by the Spanish authorities, lawsuits, demarcation and land marking in the 16th and 17th century. They somehow contrast with the information from the Chroniclers of the same period in that the owners of the Hanan lands were male descendants of the Sapa Inca, while owners of the Hurin lands were female descendants. It appears from property litigations and the court rulings settling them, that there is a demarcation between the lands owned by the panacas and the lands owned by the ayllus in the Cusco valley: they are not mixed but clearly divided in two parts: the Hanan (higher) or north part of the lands are property of ayllus while the hurin (lower) or south are property of panacas. Moreover the owner of the Hanan lands were all men, while the owner of the Hurin lands were all women. who wrote: «[when] our imperial city began to be populated, it was divided into two halves … The King wanted those he summoned to populate Hanan Cozco, and for this they call it the high one, and those that the Queen summoned [were] to populate Hurin Cozco, and for this reason they called it the low one. This division of the city was not so that such as the one half would gain an advantage over the other half in exemptions and pre-eminences, but that all were equal as brothers, children of a father and a mother». In practice, those who were part of the kinship of a male line lived in the hanan Cusco sector, while the family bond established by the coya, the Inca's wife, lived in the hurin Cusco sector. Cusco was the center point of the empire (the navel as Inca Garcilaso states. On the contrary the philologist and linguist César Itier suggests a new etymology for the word "panaca" basing on some early colonial writings, particularly those by José de Acosta (16th century Spanish Jesuit missionary and naturalist) and Juan Pérez Bocanegra (author in 1631 of a booklet for the religious teaching to the Inca people). He states that they both of them translate the term panaca as "vicar", "governor", "lieutenant" and "pontiff". Thus meaning that the interpretation given by the early chroniclers was wrong: the word "panaca" did not mean a royal clan (royal ayllu) but was used by the quechua speaking locals to let the chroniclers know that some vicar was in charge of representing the royal clan. According to Itier the royal ayllus were never called panacas. == See also ==