Huacrachuco


Huacrachuco is a town in central Peru, capital of Marañón Province in Huánuco Region.

History

Regarding the name of the district, the historian José Vara Llanos in his work "Historia de Huánuco" mentions: "formed of guacra or guagra: horn, and chuku: hat... was the distinctive garment used by the primitive inhabitants of that area that constituted the nation of the Wacrachucus.
Approximately 10,000 years ago B.C., the first men to populate the ancient space of Huacrachuco left traces of their cultural manifestations through cave pictographs. Proof of this is the cave of Ucarragra and on the margins of Ushuraj Lagoon. From the 11th century to the 16th century A.D., the Wacrachucos nation was gradually forged, which was later added to the Inca Empire under the government of Inca Tupac Yupanqui.
José Varallanos states: "The nation of the Wacrachucos or the Andes of Marañón occupied lands on the eastern side of the Marañón River, from north Singa up to the current province of Huamachuco. On an abrupt topography, it belonged to a numerous and warrior tribe that wore as a distinctive cap that ended in a deer horn.
They were governed by kurakas called campis, who were the ones who dealt with the victorious Incas, as Garcilaso affirms; ovas being the name given to the common people. They worshipped their ancestors and built their dwellings in secure locations and carved monoliths of stone, to which, like their divinities, they erected small and mysterious temples.
According to the opinion of General Louis Langlois, the Wacrachucos, on the Marañón route, would have given way to the Chachapuyas, of Amazonian influence, in the migrations towards the cordillera. The archaeologist Julio C. Tello, convinced in his studies, affirms that the region of the Wacrachucos originally was of the Chavin culture; since this one expanded throughout the Marañón basin; especially in the mountain range contiguous to the forest, where Chavin remains are found in their classic forms and in all the richness of their varied stylizations.
The lithic sculptures, artifacts and others that enclose the tombs of this geographical area, such as those of :es:Tinyash|Tinyash, clearly demonstrate the local evolution after the dissolution the Chavín culture. The land of Huacrachuco was the melting pot of old civilizations that also flourished in other areas of the upper and middle basin of the Marañón River, particularly the Wanukos, Wacrachucos and Chachapuyas nations, which bordered them to the South, North and Northeast, respectively.
A large number of buildings exist in the area of the current province of Marañón. Especially in the vicinity of the towns of Huacrachuco, Huacaybamba and Pinra, inhabited until the sixteenth century by the Antas, Paucaricras, Callanas, etc., warlike tribes that constituted the nation of the Huacrachucos. In Tinyash it can be seen buildings that attract the attention of researchers. Moreover, concerning almost all those of the zone of the Upper Marañón, the Spanish chroniclers do not give information, nor is mentioned in any document.
Garcilaso de la Vega in his work "The Royal Comments of the Incas" explains: "It was necessary for the Inca to first conquer that province Huacrachucu in order to pass to the Chachapuya; and thus he ordered his army to be straightened out. The natives defended themselves, daring in the harsh struggle of their land and even confident of victory, because it seemed impregnable. With this confidence they went out to defend the steps, where there were great encounters and many deaths on both sides. As seen by the Inca Tupac Yupanqui and his Council, it seemed to them that if the war was carried by fire and blood, it would be with much damage to theirs and total destruction of enemies.
Therefore, having gained some strong steps Tupac Yupanqui sent emissaries to request peace and friendship, Incas informed that they would not take away any land or possessions from Wacrachucos, but rather they would enrich them with new irrigation ditches and other benefits; and, although there were many who seemed to recognize the Inca as lord, not all agreed, because the young people, being less experienced and more numerous, contradicted the curacas and seniors, went out with their fervor and pursued war with much fury, it seemed to them that they were obliged to win or die all, because they had contradicted the elders.
Tupac Yupanqui, in order to make Wacrachucos foes see that having invited them for peace had not been for weakness of courage nor lack of strength, but for compassion and kindness, ordered the war to be truly strengthened and to attack Wacrachucos in many areas, distributing the army in thirds so that they exhausted Wacrachuco strength and spirit. With the second offensive that the Incas made, they gained other locations and took strong steps, they constrained the Wacrachucos so that it was convenient for them to ask for mercy.
The Inca Tupac Yupanqui did not want to go ahead in his "conquest of the known world", because it seemed to him that he had had enough in that summer in having conquered a province like that one, so rough to siege and so bellicose of people; and also because that land is very rainy, he ordered to lodge his army in the border of the region. He also commanded that twenty thousand more men be prepared for the following summer, because he did not intend to delay his following conquests as much as last summer. He ordered the Wacrachuco curacas to be given a lot of clothing of fine type, which they call campi, and to the common people that called awaska. He commanded to provide Wacrachuco with a lot of food, because with the war they had wasted what they had for their year, so they were very happy the newly conquered and lost the fear of punishment for their rebellion. He commanded the newly acquired province to be given trace and order, to develop irrigation channels, and to make terraces, leveling hills and slopes that could be sown, all of which was recognized by Wacrachuco indians in great benefit to them.

Geography

Located on the left bank of the Huacrachuco River in an inter-Andean valley excavated by this river in the middle of the central chain, at an altitude of 2920 masl and at coordinates 8°36′23.35″S 77°08′53.69″O.

Hydrography

It is located in the Marañón River basin, as the river of the same name is one of its tributaries.
In 2009 a lagoon was formed in its upper part, as a result of the slide of the Chunchuymá hill towards the Manzarán hill.

Toponymy

The word "huacrachuco" would be made up of two words, waqra, meaning 'horn' or 'antler', and chuku which is either from Quechua language meaning 'headdress' or from Kulyi language and/or Seeptsá language meaning 'country' or 'land'.
The colonial author Inca Garcilaso in the first chapter of his eighth book treats with all luxury of details the town of the Huacrachucos, name to which he attributes a Quechua etymology with proper motivation. According to the Inca, the people of Huacrachuco would have had the custom of carrying a deer antler in the headdress. Although Huacrachuco is currently in a Quechua-speaking area, it is necessary to take into account its close proximity to the region that was formerly the Kulyi-speaking region. The Kulyi toponymy is characterized by a high frequency of terminations in -chuco or -chugo, an element that in Kulyi meant 'earth', 'country', or 'land'.

Climate

Highlights

With the construction of the "penetration road" from Chimbote to Uchiza, the town of Huacrachuco has become a major centre of interregional trade due to its numerous annexes and nearby settlements. Some local highlights include:
Through an alliance with the University Hermilio Valdizán of Huánuco, it was created a sub headquarter of the Faculty of Agronomy.