INCAS IN OCEANIA: AN EXPLORATION ACROSS THE PACIFIC OCEAN

When Spanish chroniclers got to traverse the Inca territory recording stories, one in particular caught their attention: one about Incas in Oceania and other distant islands.
Surprised, yet undeterred, they documented the tale in their writings without further investigation, and now Natourandes will double check these facts with you.
Years later, historians encountered these chronicles and perhaps were equally scandalized as I was to learn that Andean peoples were also high-sea sailors. The question that pervaded their work is the same one that concerns us now… Did Tupac Yupanqui really cross the Pacific Ocean in the 15th century, before the arrival of the Spanish?
Attempting to provide an answer compels us to tread that razor-thin line between facts, evidence, legend, conjecture, and even the most unbearable of conspiracy theories. To stay on this side of the line, we will delve into the research conducted so far and the various explanations proposed for the matter. Of course, the topic is not completely defined, and new studies emerge every year adding complexity to the issue.
Some argue that the voyages are pure myth and could never have happened. Others speculate that Inca Tupac did set sail from the coast but only reached nearby islets, perhaps even the Galápagos Islands. For a few decades now, research has suggested that the Incas navigated to Rapa Nui (Easter Island)… and even to what is now French Polynesia, over 5000km from the Peruvian coast! We will examine the arguments put forth by each thesis.
Delving into this relatively underexplored history invites us to shift the Atlantic from the center of our worldview and place ourselves in another setting: the Pacific Ocean, that monumental body of water that, despite our insistence on relegating it to the edges, still constitutes one-third of the surface of our planet.
And yet, apparently, it was traversable.

Initial Mentions of the Journey
As previously mentioned, we learn about the alleged adventure of Inca Tupac Yupanqui (1441-1493) through Andean oral tradition, which was then recorded by Spanish chroniclers who got to travel through Peru. The most significant mention comes from Sarmiento de Gamboa, a Portuguese mariner and cosmographer sent to write a history of the recently defeated Tahuantinsuyu.
In his texts, he mentions that “Topa Inga sailed and went and discovered the islands of Auachumbi and Niñanchumbi, and returned from there, bringing back black people, much gold, a brass chair, a hide, and horse jaws; which trophies were kept in the fortress of Cuzco until the time of the Spaniards. (…) Topa Inga Yupangui took more than nine months on this journey –others say a year–, and, as he took so long, everyone thought he was dead.”
This brief paragraph contains a monumental amount of information that we can break down into two questions. First: Which are the Islands that the Inca supposedly reached? And second: How is it possible that he brought back “black people,” “much gold,” “a brass chair,” and “horse jaws“? Nothing seems to make sense at first glance.
A perfectly valid way to react to Gamboa’s statements would be to deny them, accusing them of falsehood or invention. The perspective is reassuring and would spare us the trouble of figuring out where on earth the Inca would have gotten “black people” and horses.
But we cannot dodge the problem: Miguel Cabello Balboa, another chronicler, wrote around the same time a chronicle titled Miscelánea Antártica, in which he asserts that the Inca “went out to sea and discovered the isles called Hagua Chumbi and Nina Chumbi and brought back from there Indians of black color, and much gold and silver, and also a brass chair, and animal hides like those of horses.”

Ignoring the fact that 16th-century Spanish is quite annoying to read, it is worth noting that Cabello wrote these lines almost at the same time as Gamboa, only in another part of Peru and without knowing about the discoveries of the other.
Meeting Points
At the same time, in a third place, Martín de Murúa wrote that Tupac conquered two islands and that “from there he brought, for the ostentation of his triumph, a people like blacks and a great quantity of gold and a brass chair. He brought horse hides and heads and bones, all to show here.”
So we have three isolated chroniclers who, at the same time, collect stories that say exactly the same thing in different places. At this point, we could start to think that it ceases to be a coincidence.
This is exactly what historian José Antonio del Busto thought when he wrote an entire book about it, titled “Tupac Yupanqui: Discoverer of Oceania.” His work is central to discussing Inca travels, as he is one of the few people who delved deeply into the topic. Busto had no doubts that Yupanqui had reached Oceania, commanding a fleet of hundreds of boats and over 20,000 soldiers.
An interesting fact to add is that the same Spanish chroniclers heard from the Andeans stories of fabulous islands filled with treasures, and they believed them to such an extent that they decided to follow the same route as Yupanqui in search of such a paradise. This was how Gamboa embarked in 1567 determined to cross the Pacific, becoming the first European to sight the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
The journey of Tupac Yupanqui.
So far, we’ve seen how we even learned about the existence of this journey, but there is still much evidence missing. Even assuming the voyage did happen, there are many different theories regarding which islands the Inca would have seen and named Auachumbi and Niñanchumbi. Let’s organize them based on their epic scale.
The first thesis, perhaps the most conservative, posits that Yupanqui indeed set sail commanding a fleet of rafts, but did not reach any islands, instead making a curve until landing again on the continental coast, but further north. This hypothesis is often combined with a second proposal, which suggests that the Incas would have reached the Lobos Islands, small rocky formations just 20 km off the Peruvian coast.
These ideas were largely dismissed because they would neither explain the treasures brought by Tupac Yupanqui nor the issue of the names: Niñanchumbi translates to “island of fire” or “island with fire”. It is deducible, then, that the Inca must have reached a volcanic formation island.

Among the possible destinations, the Galápagos Islands, about 1000 km from what is now the coast of Ecuador, have also been proposed. Several authors, notably Riva Agüero, assert that these islands would be a more likely destination, and definitely more convincing in terms of travel times (remember that the chronicles indicate a duration of nine months to a year). However, the problem of the loot remains unresolved here: the Galápagos were uninhabited; there were no “black men,” let alone horses.
It should be noted that there have been alleged discoveries of Inca ceramics in excavations in the Galápagos, although they have been widely criticized by the academic community, which generally leans towards considering them false. In addition to this, all the European naturalists and botanists who set foot on these islands the following century (including Charles Darwin) confidently asserted that it was impossible for humans to have arrived earlier, given the behavior of the local fauna.
In any case, all three theses leave the question of the treasures brought by Yupanqui unresolved. We will now delve into the most incredible part of this story, exploring the riskiest yet most coherent theses. We will then double our care to avoid missteps and falling into the redundant terrain of complete incoherence.
Incas in Oceania?
In 1924, prominent linguist Paul Rivet made a crucial discovery for our topic. During a research instance in Mangareva (a tiny and incredibly beautiful island in what is now French Polynesia), Rivet documented an ancient legend among the native inhabitants that spoke of a “Red Chief named Tupa” who arrived on “rare rafts” from the East. To this day, the main access to the island is still called the “Strait of Tupa”. The natives even had a specific ritual dance to honor such a visitor.
Fascinated by the discovery, Rivet continued his search on nearby islands, encountering a similar legend in Timoe, where the natives spoke of a “Chief T’upa”. It is noteworthy that neither of the two peoples ever communicated with each other.

Rivet’s research led him to conclude that Tupac Yupanqui must have reached at least such latitudes, with Mangreva and Timoe being the famous Auachumbi and Niñanchumbi. The linguistic description matched: it could be read as “island of fire,” the travel times were consistent (a year round trip), and the famous “black men” could be individuals from the Melanesian tribes of Oceania.
The question of the “brass chair” and the “horse heads” remains to be resolved. Here the proposals are divided, although it is worth noting that the most coherent one suggests that it is impossible for it to be a true horse jawbone, so it is possible that it was actually from a wolf or sea lion, misinterpreted by the Spanish chroniclers.
In any case, the hypothesis of the arrival in Oceania (supported by Bustos and Rivet, among others) became quite well known, at least within the small world of the social sciences. From then on, the debate began regarding the possibility of a transpacific journey. An immediate question arises: With what rafts could they make such a journey?
The Fleet
Indeed, the coastal peoples of the ancient Tahuantinsuyu had significant expertise in boat construction. Humboldt himself, when traversing the area centuries later, described with astonishment the ingenuity of the Peruvian small rafts.
The design of these boats made them extremely stable, to the point where it was practically impossible for them to overturn. The use of cane wood, which could resist water absorption for several months, leads us to believe that a transpacific journey would be possible aboard the vessels of the coastal peoples.
Since we lack historical records detailing the shape and size of the rafts, the debate for decades revolved around the technical specifics of the fleet: Square or triangular sails? Twelve or twenty navigators? Would the reed boats withstand the Pacific’s strong waves?

The unresolved question of how to carry enough drinking water on such small boats lingered.
Each query spawned more, until Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl decided to demonstrate the journey’s feasibility in a bold manner.
In 1947, he constructed a raft using the materials and techniques of the Andean peoples and embarked on a Pacific crossing. The expedition, named Kon-Tiki (one of the names of Viracocha), successfully voyaged from Peru to Polynesia without incident.
While it would be convenient if all historiographical disputes were resolved as definitively as Heyerdahl’s, his journey alone does not prove the existence of Tupac Yupanqui’s voyage. Heyerdahl had modern conveniences like radios, knives, knowledge of ocean currents, expert sailors, and, crucially, the certainty of land awaiting him on the other side of the sea.
Nevertheless, his expedition does demonstrate the feasibility of carrying drinking water on Inca rafts, a vital point for historical verification. Heyerdahl, known by various labels including explorer, archaeologist, sailor, liar, and exaggerator, perhaps embodied elements of each.
Final Words: Was there a journey or was there not?
Reviewing, we have the following clues:
- Three different and isolated mentions from Spanish chroniclers
- Mention of “black people” (presumably Melanesians)
- Records of ceramics in Galápagos, although it should be noted that the veracity of the objects has been doubted by most specialists in the field.
- Various research on the feasibility of rafts and the fleet (including Heyerdahl’s delirious expedition)
- Proper names for the islands: Auachumbi and Niñanchumbi
- Several legends that speak of a “chief Topa” in places like Mangareva and Timoe.
- A minimum, questionable, but still existing record that in Rapa Nui, the “Son of the Sun” is mentioned
- The archaeological site of Vinapú, with its walls practically identical to Andean architecture
- The aqueducts near these walls.
There is also a different type of evidence: genetic studies proving the existence of Polynesian DNA in the Andes and vice versa. The subject is extremely complex, so in this case, we have decided to set it aside to focus on historical, linguistic, and archaeological sources.
Of course, genetic research can provide crucial clues to determine not only the feasibility of this journey but also many others that connected our continent with distant Oceania. We will leave that issue for a future article, in which we will discuss various theses of genetic contacts that reveal some unexpected issues.
In any case, the question of Tupac Yupanqui’s journey is exposed. We emphatically highlight how such stories challenge both common sense: that navigation is the monopoly of certain peoples, and that places the Atlantic in the center of our map.
We invite you to think about history also in these scenarios, with other names and on different maps, remembering that there are always things to be resolved.