| On the north coast, the Chimu kingdom based on the Moche Valley filled the vacuum left by collapsing Moche after 850 C.E. The Chimu capital, Chan Chan, at the mouth of the Chicama River, housed the adobe compounds of aristocratic rulers. Each enclosure became the burial place of its royal builder, for new rulers inherited the title, but not the material possessions, of their predecessors. Thus, it was incumbent on a new leader to acquire more land, extra subjects, and fresh wealth, by expanding the empire. The same institutions of split inheritance, of reverence for royal ancestors, were to fuel later Andean civilization. The Chimu state extended far south with each river valley linked by carefully maintained roads. But the empire was vulnerable to attack and fell to Inca invaders in the 1460s. | 1 |
