Baktar, A Tale From the Andes        

By Laurie J. White

Baktar is not a common cat, even though he looks like one. He is a Royal Black Tarquoia, a mythical species, who lived among the ancient Inca of Peru high in the Andes Mountains. Baktar watches over his mistress Amasuwa, an Inca princess who is struggling with her fears concerning her upcoming marriage. Her grandfather Pachacuti, ninth king of the Inca Realm, has his own concerns as he ponders the question of which god really is God and might there be just one?  Baktar, meanwhile, is busy with his own escapades, but he is beginning to sense a lurking evil from which he must guard Pachacuti, if necessary, with his life. The scene is the beautiful and mysterious Machu Picchu, summer resort for the royal family. Young readers will enjoy this tale packed with fascinating details about the ancient Inca and wrapped in myth, intrigue and heroism.
(Ages 9 and up) 98 pages softcover, historical fiction 

This Inca Tale

The Inca tale is based on somewhat recent historical evidence, which many historians today believe, that is, that King Pachacuti underwent a significant religious conversion during his reign. He turned from worshipping the many gods of the Incas, along with Inti the sun god who was the supreme deity, to worshipping only one, invisible creator-God, Viracocha. There are extant hymns that were supposedly composed by Pachacuti to his Creator and which give his reasons for believing. These hymns ring with beautiful harmony to the scriptural proposition that natural revelation of God exists in His handiworks.

I first read about this evidence in Eternity In Their Hearts, a book by Don Richardson, missionary for Wycliffe and author of several books, including the more well-known Peach Child.

Some of the topics incorporated in Baktar:

Pachacuti's reign and rule, religion, the quipu, diet, roads, rapid message system, education, use of coca by royalty, dress, Cuzco's temple to the sun, Inca language.

Table of Contents

Links for further reading on ancient Inca society

Topics for research

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