Inca Empire

State · 1440–1571 CE · at its largest around 1497 CE

Tawantinsuyu, the largest empire in pre-Columbian America, governed from Cusco along the Andes. Its expansion accelerated under Pachacuti, and it was conquered by Spanish forces under Francisco Pizarro.

On its lands while it lasted

Chan Chan (c. 850–1470 CE): Capital of the Chimú kingdom and the largest pre-Columbian city in South America, built of adobe with walled royal compounds; conquered by the Inca around 1470.
Pachacuti (c. 1418 CE – 1472 CE): Ninth Sapa Inca who transformed the Kingdom of Cusco into an empire and rebuilt Cusco; Machu Picchu is thought to have been built as his estate.
Rise of the Inca Empire (1438–1533 CE): Under Pachacuti from 1438 the Inca expanded from Cusco to rule Tawantinsuyu, the largest empire of the pre-Columbian Americas, stretching along the Andes.
Inca road system (Qhapaq Ñan) (c. 1438–1533 CE): The Inca built a road network of some 40,000 km, whose main Andean spine ran from southern Colombia through Quito and Cusco to central Chile, with relay runners (chasquis), storehouses and suspension bridges.
Machu Picchu (c. 1450 CE): Inca citadel on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley, built in the mid-15th century and abandoned around the Spanish conquest; a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Francisco Pizarro (c. 1478 CE – 1541 CE): Spanish conquistador who led the conquest of the Inca Empire and founded Lima in 1535; he was assassinated there by rival Spaniards.
Atahualpa (c. 1502 CE – 1533 CE): Last Sapa Inca, victor of the Inca Civil War; captured by Pizarro at Cajamarca, he paid a huge ransom in gold and silver but was executed in 1533.
Battle of Cajamarca (1532 CE): Francisco Pizarro's small Spanish force ambushed Atahualpa's retinue in Cajamarca's plaza and captured the Inca emperor, beginning the fall of the Inca Empire.
Pizarro's march on Cusco (1532–1533 CE): Francisco Pizarro’s small force marched from the coast to Cajamarca, captured the Inca ruler Atahualpa in November 1532 and later executed him, then advanced along the Inca road to occupy Cusco in 1533.
Quito (1534 CE): Capital of Republic of Ecuador (1840–today).
Lima (1535 CE): Founded by Francisco Pizarro as the "City of Kings" in 1535, Lima became the capital of the Viceroyalty of Peru and of independent Peru.
Sucre (1538 CE): Capital of Bolivia (1825–today).
Santiago (1541 CE): Capital of Republic of Chile (1812–today).
Potosí (1545 CE): Mining city founded below the silver mountain Cerro Rico, whose vast output, largely extracted through forced indigenous labour, fuelled the Spanish Empire and global trade.
La Paz (1548 CE): Capital of Bolivia (1899–today).