This biography, written by Gabby Storey, is shared with permission from Team Queens, an educational history blog run by a collective of historical scholars. All rights reserved; this material may not be republished without the author’s consent.
Born: Unknown (1400s), Peru
Died: Unknown
Country most active: Peru
Also known as: Cusi Rimay
Active at the end of the fifteenth century, we know that the coya Cusi Rimay (also spelled Cusirimay) was daughter of Topa Inca Yupanqui and Mama Ocllo Coya, rulers of the Incan Empire.
She was full sister to her later husband, Huayna Capac, who she married after his succession in 1493 according to custom. By virtue of her marriage she acted as second in command in the empire.
As with many of the coyas, we know little of her life and rule, and it is noted that she died early on in Huayna Capac’s reign. Their marriage did not produce any children. After her death Huayna married another of his sisters, Rahua Ocllo.
Recommended Reading
Burr Carwright Brundage, Empire of the Inca (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1963)
Catherine Julien, Reading Inca History (Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 2009)
Susan A. Niles, The Shape of Inca History: Narrative and Architecture in an Andean Empire (Iowa: University of Iowa Press, 1999).