the incas came to south america in the 15th century
While Quechua had been spoken in the Andean region , like central Peru , for several years prior to the expansion of the Inca civilization , the type of Quechua the Incas imposed was an adaptation from the Kingdom of Cusco ( an early form of " Southern Quechua " originally named Qhapaq Runasimi = The great language of the people ) of what some historians define as " Proto - Quechua " or Cusco dialect ( the original Quechua dialect ) .