Inca Empire
For other meanings of "Inca", see Inca (disambiguation).The
Inca Empire or
Inka Empire was the largest empire in
Pre-Columbian America. Their administrative, political and military center was located in
Cusco. It arose in the highlands of
Peru around 1200; from 1438 to 1533 the Incas used conquest and peaceful assimilation to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the
Andean mountain ranges, including large parts of modern
Ecuador,
Peru,
Bolivia,
Argentina, and
Chile. In 1533,
Atahualpa, the last Inca emperor, called a
Sapa Inca, was killed on the orders of the
conquistador Francisco Pizarro, marking the beginning of Spanish rule. The
Tahuantinsuyo was organized in "señoríos" (dominions) with a stratified society, in which the ruler was the Inca. It was also supported by an economy based on the collective property of the land. In fact, the
Inca Empire was conceived like an ambitious and audacious civilizing project, based on a mythical thought, in which the harmony of the relationships between the human being, nature and
Gods was truly essential.
The
Quechua name was
Tawantin Suyu which can be translated
The Four Regions or
The Four United Regions. Before the
Quechua spelling reform it was written in
Spanish as
Tahuantinsuyo.
Tawantin is a group of four things (
tawa "four" with the suffix
-ntin which names a group);
suyu means "region" or "province".
The empire was divided into four
suyus, whose corners met at the capital,
Cuzco (
Qosqo), in modern-day
Peru.
The official language of the empire was
Quechua, although over seven hundred local languages were spoken.
There were many local forms of worship, but the Inca leadership encouraged the worship of their
gods, the foremost of which was
Inti, the
sun god.
See also: Inca mythologyThe Inca had three origin myths. In one, Ticei Viracocha of Colina de las Ventanas in
Pacaritambo sent forth his four sons and four daughters to establish a village. Along the way,
Sinchi Roca was born to
Manco and
Ocllo, and Sinchi Roca led them to the valley of Cuzco where they founded their new village. There Manco became their leader and became known as
Manco Capac.
In another origin myth, the sun god
Inti ordered Manco Capac and
Mama Ocllo to emerge from the depths of
Lake Titicaca and found the city of Cuzco. They traveled by means of underground caves until reaching Cuzco where they established
Hurin Cuzco, or the first dynasty of the Kingdom of Cuzco.
In the last origin myth, an Inca sun god told his wife that he was lonely. She proposed that he create a civilization to worship him and keep him company. He saw this as a wise plan and carried it out. The Inca were born from Lake Cuzco and populated the Andes and worshipped their sun god.
The myths are transmitted via oral tradition, since the Incas did not have writing. There probably did exist a Manco Capac who became the leader of his tribe. The archeological evidence seems to indicate that the Inca were a relatively unimportant tribe until the time of Sinchi Roca, also called Cinchi Roca, who is the first figure in Inca mythology whose existence can be supported historically.
Emergence and expansion
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Inca expansion (1438-1527) |
The Inca people began as a tribe in the Cuzco area around the 12th century. Under the leadership of
Manco Capac, they formed the small city-state of Cuzco (
Quechua Qosqo), shown in red on the map. In 1438 they began a far-reaching expansion under the command of
Sapa Inca (paramount leader)
Pachacuti, whose name literally meant "world-shaker". Nearly the entire
Andes mountain range was under Inca control.
Pachacuti reorganized the kingdom of Cuzco into an empire, the Tahuantinsuyu, a
federalist system which consisted of a central government with the Inca at its head and four provincial governments with strong leaders:
Chinchasuyu (NW),
Antisuyu (NE),
Contisuyu (SW), and
Collasuyu (SE). Pachacuti is also thought to have built
Machu Picchu, either as a family home or as a retreat.
Pachacuti sent spies to regions he wanted in his empire; they brought reports on the political organization, military might and wealth. He would then send messages to the leaders of these lands extolling the benefits of joining his empire, offering them presents of luxury goods such as high quality textiles, and promising that they would be materially richer as subject rulers of the Inca. Most accepted the rule of the Inca as a
fait accompli and acquiesced peacefully. The ruler's children would then be brought to Cuzco to be taught about Inca administration systems, then return to rule their native lands. This allowed the Inca to indoctrinate the former ruler's children into the Inca nobility, and, with luck, marry their daughters into families at various corners of the empire.
It was traditional for the Inca's son to lead the army; Pachacuti's son
Túpac Inca began conquests to the north in 1463, and continued them as Inca after Pachucuti's death in 1471. His most important conquest was the Kingdom of
Chimor, the Inca's only serious rival for the coast of Peru. Túpac Inca's empire stretched north into modern day Ecuador and Colombia.
Túpac Inca's son
Huayna Cápac added significant territory to the south. At its height, Tahuantinsuyu included
Peru and
Bolivia, most of what is now
Ecuador, a large portion of modern-day
Chile, and extended into corners of
Argentina and
Colombia.
Tahuantinsuyu was a patchwork of languages, cultures and peoples. The components of the empire were not all uniformly loyal, nor were the local cultures all fully integrated. For instance, the
Chimú used money in their commerce, while the Inca empire as a whole had an economy based on exchange and taxation of luxury goods and labour (it is said that Inca tax collectors would take the head lice of the
lame and old as a symbolic tribute). The portions of the
Chachapoya that had been conquered were almost openly hostile to the Inca, and the Inca nobles rejected an offer of refuge in their kingdom after their troubles with the Spanish.
Spanish conquest and Vilcabamba
Spanish
conquistadors led by
Francisco Pizarro explored south from Panama, reaching Inca territory by 1526. It was clear that they had reached a wealthy land with prospects of great treasure, and after one more expedition (1529), Pizarro travelled to Spain and received royal approval to conquer the region and be its viceroy.
At the time they returned to Peru, in 1532, a war of succession between Huayna Capac's sons
Huascar and
Atahualpa and unrest among newly-conquered territories had considerably weakened the empire.
Pizarro did not have a formidable force; with just 180 men, 1 cannon and only 27 horses, he often needed to talk his way out of potential confrontations that could have easily wiped out his party. Their first engagement was the
battle of Puná, near present-day
Guayaquil,
Ecuador; Pizarro then founded the city of
Piura in July 1532.
Hernando de Soto was sent inland to explore the interior, and returned with an invitation to meet the Inca, Atahualpa, who had defeated his brother in the civil war and was resting at
Cajamarca with his army of 80,000 troops.
Pizarro and some of his men, most notably a Friar by the name of
Vincente de Valverde met with the Inca, who had brought only a small retinue. Through interpreters Friar Vincente demanded that he and his empire accept the yoke of
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and convert to Christianity. Due to the presence of a very real language barrier and some incompetent interpreters, Atahualpa was somewhat puzzled by the Friar's description of the Christian faith and was said to have not fully understood the envoy's intentions. After Atahualpa attempted further enquiry into the doctrines of the Christian faith and under whom Pizarro's envoy served, the Spanish became frustrated and impatient, attacking the Inca's retinue (see
Battle of Cajamarca) and capturing Atahualpa.
Atahualpa offered the Spaniards enough gold to fill the room he was imprisoned in, and twice that amount of silver. The Incas fulfilled this ransom, but Pizarro refused to release the Inca. During Atahualpa's imprisonment Huascar was assassinated. The Spanish maintained that this was at Atahualpa's orders; this was one of the charges used against Atahualpa when the Spanish finally decided to put him to death, in August 1533.
The Spanish installed his brother
Manco Inca Yupanqui in power; for some time Manco cooperated with the Spanish, while the Spanish fought to put down resistance in the north. Meanwhile an associate of Pizarro's,
Diego de Almagro, attempted to claim
Cuzco for himself. Manco tried to use this intra-Spanish feud to his advantage, recapturing Cuzco (1536), but the Spanish retook the city.
Manco Inca then retreated to the mountains of
Vilcabamba, where he and his successors ruled for another 36 years, sometimes raiding the Spanish or inciting revolts against them. In 1572 the last Inca stronghold was discovered, and the last ruler,
Túpac Amaru, Manco's son, was captured and executed, bringing the Inca empire to an end.
After the Spanish conquest
After the fall of Tahuantinsuyu, the new Spanish rulers brutally repressed the people and their traditions. Many aspects of Inca culture were systematically destroyed, including their sophisticated farming system. The Spanish used the Inca
mita (mandatory public service) system to literally work the people to death. One member of each family was forced to work in the gold and silver mines, the foremost of which was the titanic silver mine at
Potosí. When a family member died, which would usually happen within a year or two, the family would be required to send a replacement.
The major languages of the empire,
Quechua and
Aymara, were employed by the
Catholic Church to evangelize in the
Andean region. In some cases, these languages were taught to peoples who had originally spoken other indigenous languages. Today, Quechua and Aymara remain the most widespread
Amerindian languages.
The legend of the Inca has served as inspiration for resistance movements in the region. These include the 1780 rebellion led by
Tupac Amaru II against the Spanish, as well as the contemporary
guerrilla movements,
Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) and
Sendero Luminoso in Peru and
Tupamaros in
Uruguay.
In modern times a
flag has been associated with the Tawantinsuyu and is displayed as a symbol of the Peru's Inca heritage.
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Ollantaytambo constituted an administrative, religious, agricultural and military complex for the Incas |
The most powerful figure in the empire was the
Sapa Inca ('the unique Inca'). Only descendants of the original Inca tribe ever ascended to the level of Inca. Most young members of the Inca's family attended
Yachayhuasis (houses of knowledge) to obtain their education.
The Tahuantinsuyu was a
federalist system which consisted of a central government with the Inca at its head and four provinces:
Chinchaysuyu (NW),
Antisuyu (NE),
Qontisuyu (SW), and
Qollasuyu (SE). The four corners of these provinces met at the center, Cuzco. Each province had a governor who oversaw local officials, who in turn supervised agriculturally-productive river valleys, cities and mines. There were separate chains of command for both the military and religious institutions, which created a system of partial checks and balances on power. The local officials were responsible for settling disputes and keeping track of each family's contribution to the
mita (mandatory public service).
Of the Inca arts,
Architecture was by far the most important, with pottery and textiles reflecting motifs that were at their height in architecture. The main example is
Machu Picchu. The stone temples constructed by the Inca used a mortarless construction process first used on a large scale by the
Tiwanaku. The Inca imported the stoneworkers of the Tiwanaku region to Cusco when they conquered the lands south of Lake Titicaca. The rocks used in construction were sculpted to fit together exactly by repeatedly lowering a rock onto another and carving away any sections on the lower rock where the dust was compressed. The tight fit and the concavity on the lower rocks made them extraordinarily stable in the frequent earthquakes that hit the area. The Inca used straight walls except on important religious sites and constructed whole towns at once.
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Inca tunic |
The Inca made many discoveries in medicine. They performed successful
skull surgery, which involved cutting holes in the skull to release pressure from head wounds.
Coca leaves were used to lessen hunger and pain, as they still are in the Andes. The
Chasqui (messengers) chewed coca leaves for extra energy to carry on their tasks as runners delivering messages throughout the empire.
The Inca diet consisted primarily of fish and vegetables and nuts, supplemented less frequently with the meat of
cuyes (guinea pigs) and camelids. In addition, they hunted various animals for meat, skins and feathers. Maize was malted and used to make
chicha, a fermented alcoholic
beverage. The
Inca road system was key to farming success as it allowed distribution of foodstuffs over long distances. The Inca also constructed vast storehouses, which allowed them to live through
El Niño years while neighboring civilizations suffered.
The Inca believed in
reincarnation. Those who obeyed the Incan moral code —
ama suwa, ama llulla, ama quella (do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy) — went to live in the Sun's warmth. Others spent their eternal days in the cold earth. The Inca also practiced
cranial deformation. They achieved this by wrapping tight cloth straps around the heads of newborns in order to alter the shape of their still-soft skulls. These deformations did not result in brain damage.
AcllawasiThe Acllawasi (Acllahuasi) which means "house of the sun virgins" was developed under the Incans in Peru at about 1438-1532 CE. It's central purpose was in the manufacturing of garments for the Inca royalty and the worship of the sun god, Inti.
See also: Inca mythologyThe
Inca religion was polytheistic (sun god, earth goddess, corn god, etc.). Subjects of the empire were allowed to worship their ancestral gods as long as they accepted the supremacy of
Inti, the sun god, which was the most important god worshipped by the Inca leadership. Consequently,
ayllus (extended families) and
city-states integrated into the empire were able to continue to worship their ancestral gods, though with reduced status.
The Inca sacrificed llamas, but later moved to human sacrifice.
Much of the contact between the upper and lower classes was religious in nature and consisted of intricate ceremonies that sometimes lasted from sunrise to sunset.
Inca religion is a key notion against the idea that the Incas were an early type of Socialist Empire (Baudin, 1928).
* The Disney movie
The Emperor's New Groove follows the adventures of a greedy emperor of a fictitious mountainous
South American empire. While no direct reference is made to the Incas, the Emperor, Sun Symbols (signifying sun worship), architecture, articles of clothing (including the king's crown),
fountains, road/bridge system, and llamas as beast of burden are all indicative of the Inca Empire. Also, the Emperor's name is
Kuzco, an alternate spelling of Cuzco or Cusco, and the other main character, a wise farmer, is named
Pacha, which is Quechua for earth or land.The Inca are featured as a Native tribe in the popular Computer game "
Age of Empires III".
The Incan emperor Huayna Capac is featured in the computer game "Civilization IV." In the "Warlords" expansion pack, he has the traits "Fincancial" and "Industrious."
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Tawantin suyu derives from the Quechua "tawa" (
four) , to which the suffix "-ntin" (
together or
united) is added, followed by "suyu" (
region or
province), which roughly renders as
"The four lands together".
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Cultural periods of Peru*
History of Peru*
Spanish conquest of Peru*
El Inca Garcilaso de la Vega*
Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala* The proximate and ultimate causes of the fall of the Inca Empire were discussed in
Jared Diamond's "Guns Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" (1997).
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Inca Land by
Hiram Bingham (published 1912-1922 CE)
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Tupac Amaru, the Life, Times, and Execution of the Last Inca.
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Inca Artifacts, Peru, and Machu Picchu 360 degree movies of inca artifacts and Peruvian landscapes.
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Inca civilization and other ancient civilizations by Genry Joil.
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Inca stone cutting techniques: theory on how the Inca walls fit so perfectly.
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Ancient Civilizations - Inca Great research site for kids.
