Likely born in Cuzco, the center of the world, presumably at least a decade or two after her brother and future husband, who fathered her son around age 65 in 1476. Died, presumably in Cuzco or Machu Picchu, shortly after seeing her sixteen-year-old son settled securely on the throne as the eleventh Inca in 1492. Mama Ocllo was named after the legendary mother of all Inca people and founder of Cuzco and like her namesake, she was powerful and clever. In one story, her strategy conquered a territory her husband’s army could not. When her husband died leaving many heirs, she navigated her teenage son onto the throne to rule the largest empire in the known world.
To see an early Peruvian chronicle of the Inca, check out
Det Kongelige Bibliotek.