The Inca-Caranqui archaeological site is located in the village of Caranqui on the southern outskirts of the city of Ibarra, Ecuador. The ruin is located in a fertile valley at an elevation of . The region around Caranqui, extending into the present day country of Colombia, was the northernmost outpost of the Inca Empire and the last to be added to the empire before the Spanish conquest of 1533. The archaeological region is also called the Pais Caranqui (Caranqui country).
Background
Prior to the arrival of the Incas, the region north of Quito for to near the Colombian border consisted of several small-scale chiefdoms including the Caranqui, Cayambe, Otavalo, and Cochasquí. The names of the first three are preserved in names of 21st century towns and cities and the last is the name given a prominent pre-Incan ruin. Caranqui is the collective name used to describe the chiefdoms, although Caranqui may not have been the most powerful of them. These chiefdoms appear to have been similar in language, artistic techniques, subsistence, and settlement patterns.
The Caranqui and other Andean people of northern Ecuador are identified by Juan de Velasco as the Cara people and Cara culture, supposed rulers of the legendary kingdom of Quito, from which comes the name of the Ecuadorian capital of Quito.
The chiefdoms were located in the Ecuadorian Sierra between the Guayllabamba River and the Mira River and had an estimated pre-Inca population of 100,000 to 150,000.
A characteristic of the pre-Inca Caranqui region is the presence of many clusters of large man-made earthen mounds, locally called "tolas", dated from 1200 to 1500 CE. Most are found in the inter-montane basin surrounding the Imbabura Volcano, at elevations from to . The climate at these altitudes is suitable for growing maize, the chief food crop of the pre-Columbian (and present day) inhabitants. The tolas, which number in the hundreds, with many more having been destroyed, are up to on each side and to in height. Archaeological research indicates they were used as platforms for elite residences, ceremonies, and burials.
Inca conquest
Spanish chronicler Miguel Cabello de Balboa tells the story of the Inca conquest of northern Ecuador. The Incas, hailing from the austere high Andes of southern Peru, found the generally lower altitudes of Andean Ecuador to be a rich and lush land. The Emperor Topa Inca Yupanqui (ruled c. 1471-1493) began the conquest of Ecuador, encountering heavy resistance from the local chieftains. His son and successor, Huayna Capac (ruled c. 1493-1525) completed the conquest. Operating from the Inca northern capital of Tumebamba, modern day Cuenca, Huayna Capac built a complex of pukaras (hilltop fortresses) at Pambamarca to defeat the Cayambes, encircled Caranqui with several additional pukaras, and then advanced on the recalcitrant chiefdoms. After military campaigns that may have endured more than a decade, the Incas finally achieved victory near the present-day city of Ibarra.
According to Cabello de Balboa, Huayna Capac ordered the massacre of the male population of Caranqui in retribution for its resistance. The massacre took place on the shores of a lake, known until the present day as Yaguarcocha or "Blood Lake." The final Inca victory can be dated between the 1490s to as late as 1520. Spanish chroniclers cite the participation in the battle of Huayna Capac's son, the future emperor Atahualpa. which supports the later date. Supporting the early date is the claim that Atahualpa was born in Caranqui about 1500 CE. A statue of Atahualpa and the Museum of Atahualpa are located in the town.
Caranqui was the northernmost area fully incorporated into the Inca Empire, although the Inca fortified Rumichaca Bridge further north on the present-day border of Ecuador and Colombia. Living on both sides of the border were the Pasto people who were only partially conquered by the Incas.
In the 21st century, Caranqui is most commonly spelled Karanki. The Caranqui lost their language, probably Barbacoan, in the 17th or 18th century, and now speak Kichwa, the Ecuadorian dialect of Quechua, and Spanish in common with other highland peoples.
The Inca-Caranqui site
After the Inca conquest, Caranqui became a major garrison town for the Inca army to maintain control over the surrounding area.