, the scene of battles between Spanish Christians and the native infidels of Chile", painting of 1615 by the
Inca painter
Guamán Poma.
Royal Library, Denmark. Inca pukaras were mostly located near the frontiers of the Inca Empire. The greatest concentration is in northern Ecuador, indicating that the Incas encountered the sternest resistance to their expansion there, an assumption confirmed by the early Spanish chroniclers of Inca history. North of
Quito, the Incas met stiff opposition from several chiefdoms, collectively called the
Pais Caranqui. The
Pambamarca Fortress Complex was a group of pukaras built by the Incas to prosecute the war against the
Cayambe people. Other pukaras grouped around the town of Caranqui facilitated the final defeat of the chiefdoms and their incorporation into the Inca Empire. These wars probably took place between 1490 and 1520. Peru has hundreds of towns, ruins, and locations with the name of Pucara; however, it is not known how many of these sites were actually built or maintained during the Inca Empire or if were actual fortresses in first place, as it has been customary since the colony to designate as
pucara whichever place seemingly appearing to have been a fortress, despite the fact that it may have never been used as such. The table following is a rough count of the number and location of Inca pukaras which are known to archaeologists. ==References==