The Tacaynamo was the founding king of the city of Chan Chan, the Chimor civilization and the Chimú culture, during the 12th century. This civilization encompassed an important section of northern Peru, from the current city of Piura to Tumbes.
The origins of the Tacaynamo are uncertain, and its history is wrapped in a mythical and legendary air, given the accounts of the historians of the time. According to the legend immortalized by the writings of the Bishop of Trujillo, Carlos Marcelo Corne, the Tacaynamo arrived in the Chimor Valley in a makeshift boat made of sticks.
Some stories even state that the raft was inlaid with gold, and that Tacaynamo appeared with an entourage of soldiers and slaves in his service.
Origin
On its origin, some affirm that it came simply "from the other side of the sea", leaving to the imagination the belief about the origins of the Tacaynamo, and attributing to it a type of demi-god.
Others mention the possibility that he started his journey in Manta, Ecuador. The reality is that there is no certainty of this fact.
What did the Tacaynamo do?
Upon reaching the Chimor Valley, he conquered the area thanks to the implementation of brute force, and established a dictatorial government, predominantly military and hereditary in nature.
One of its greatest strengths, according to legend, was to claim the benefits of a divine figure, who came from "the other side of the sea" to free the people from their ignorance.
From there, Tacaynamo took advantage of his knowledge to teach his people the cultivation of land, the art of navigation and mining.
According to legend, he spent a year locked up in his house, dedicated to learning the local language and practicing mythical and religious rituals.
In a very short time, he won the admiration and devotion of the people, who volunteered their marriageable women to be wives of the Tacaynamo.
Under his command the largest mud citadel of the time, Chan Chan, was built with ten imposing palaces to its name.
Tacaynamo reserved the Tschudi Palace for his personal use. He had a majestic infrastructure that he used as his home and center of operations during his tenure.
In religious ceremonies, he served as a priest and, for this, he used gold dust under the connotation of "magic dust", and a white pima cotton loincloth.
He had a son named Guacricaur, giving rise to what is known as the Chimú dynasty, which prevailed for ten generations.
Guacricaur maintained the leadership of his current father, consolidating the dominion over the lower Valley of Chimor.
Succession
Henceforth, Ñancempinco, Guacricaur's son (and consequently Tacaynamo's grandson), seized the upper valley of Chimor, and spread his dominions from Santa Valle to the Zaña Valley.
Despite the setbacks Minchancaman faced in the mid-14th century, the Chimor civilization survived until the Inca Empire was defeated by Spanish settlers in 1470.
The Chimor people's legacy and veneration for Tacaynamo remained in vogue for more than 300 years.
References
- Silverman, H., and Isbell, W. (2008). Handbook of South American Archeology. New York, USA. Springer Science + Business Media LLC.
- The Chimu (Tacaynamo) (2014). Wikia Inc. Recovered from: civilization-v-customisation.wikia.com
- De Ponts, J. (2012). From the empire he founded "Tacaynamo". Catalonia, Spain. Recovered from: universalis.com
- Myths and legends of the North Coast (2013). Recovered from: geocities.ws
- Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia (2017). Tacaynamo. Recovered from: es.wikipedia.org.