Inca Empire

Inca Tawantin Suyu
1197–1572
Capital	Cusco (1197-1533) Vilcabamba (1533-1572) (Empire dissolved in reality in 1532-1537, when the Spaniards secured power over Peru)
Common languages	Quechua
Government	Monarchy
Sole ruler
History
• Established	1197
• Conquest	1572
Area
1527	2,000,000 km2 (770,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1527	15,000,000
Succeeded by Vice-royalty of Peru

The Inca Empire was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America, and a considerably large empire by world standards, at its greatest extent. The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in Cuzco. The Inca Empire arose from the highlands of Peru around 1197. 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 sovereign emperor (Qhapaq Inka, also Sapa Inca), was executed on the orders of the conquistador Francisco Pizarro, marking the beginning of Spanish rule in South America. The Inca Empire was organized in dominions with a stratified society, in which the supreme ruler was the Inca. It was supported by an economy based on the collective ownership of the land.

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 (Qusqu), 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 the Pachamama, or Mother Earth. Because the sun was very important in Inca mythology, there is a common misbelief that the foremost god was the Inti or sun god.

Origin stories

See also: Inca mythology

A view of Machu Picchu, "the Lost City of the Incas," This was the last stronghold of the Incas, and now an archaeological site.

The Incas had various 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.

These myths have been transmitted via oral tradition, since the Incas did not develop writing (although some scholars believe that Quipus could store more than accounting data [1]). Manco Capac probably did exist as the primordial leader of his tribe. The archaeological evidence seems to indicate that the Inca were a relatively unimportant tribe until the time of Sinchi Roca, who is the first figure in Inca mythology whose existence is supported by physical evidence.

History

Expansion

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 Qusqu), 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". During his reign, he and his son brought much of the Andes mountains (roughly modern Peru and Ecuador) 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 summer 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 what is today northern Chile, and extended into corners of Argentina and Colombia. However, it should be noted that most of the southern portion of the Inca empire, the portion denominated as Collasuyu, was desert wasteland.

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

Main article: Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire

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 traveled 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 — and perhaps more importantly, smallpox, which had spread from Central America — 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 an interpreter Friar Vincente demanded that he and his empire accept the yoke of King Charles I of Spain and convert to Christianity. Due to the language barrier and perhaps poor interpretation, Atahualpa became somewhat puzzled by the friar's description of 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 under which Pizarro's envoy served, the Spanish became frustrated and impatient, attacking the Inca's retinue (see Battle of Cajamarca) and capturing Atahualpa as hostage.

Atahualpa offered the Spaniards enough gold to fill the room he was imprisoned in, and twice that amount of silver. The Inca fulfilled this ransom, but Pizarro deceived them refusing to release the Inca afterwards. During Atahualpa's imprisonment Huascar was assassinated elsewhere. The Spanish maintained that this was at Atahualpa's orders; this was used as one of the charges against Atahualpa when the Spanish finally decided to put him to death, in August 1533.

The Spanish installed Atahualpa's 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 afterwards.

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. This ended resistance to the Spanish conquest under the political authority of the Inca state.

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.

Legacy of the Incas

The major languages of the empire, Quechua and Aymara, were employed by the Roman 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.

Society

Main article: Inca society

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 Yachay Wasis (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: Chinchay Suyu (NW), Anti Suyu (NE), Kunti Suyu (SW), and Qulla Suyu (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).

Architecture was by far the most important of the Inca arts, with pottery and textiles reflecting motifs that were at their height in architecture. The main example is Machu Picchu constructed by Incan engineers. 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 Cuzco 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.

An important Inca technology was the Quipu, which were assemblages of knotted strings used to record numerical and other information.

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, vegetables, nuts, and Maize (corn), 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 are believed to not have caused brain damage.

Aqllawasi

The Aqllawasi (Acllahuasi) which means "house of the sun virgins" was developed under the Incans in Peru at about 1438-1532 CE. Its central purpose was in the manufacturing of garments for the Inca royalty and the worship of the sun god, Inti.

Agriculture and food

Amaranth was one of the staple foodstuffs of the Incas, and it is known as kiwicha in the Andes today. In addition, they used amaranth to create effigies of animals that were used in religious ceremonies. Later, the Spanish would ban the use of amaranth for this reason. The Inca used terraces, a sophisticated approach to the problem of farming. The Inca Empire was spread out over several extreme climates, requiring the use of a wide range of agricultural systems. Native Americans were responsible for some of the world’s most prolific crops, including tomatoes, peppers, lima beans, ancient ancestors to modern squash and, most importantly, the potato. Maize was also deeply integrated into Inca agriculture and daily life. However, the Inca Empire cultivated a large variety of distinctly Andean crops that were not appreciated or adapted by Pizarro or the Spanish. These crops included over a dozen different species of roots and tubers, several types of grain, three distinctive varieties of legume and many Andean fruits. Many of these crops were of great value to Inca society, like the grain called Quinoa, which was not only nutritionally dense, but thrived in cold, rugged terrain at high elevations in a short season. Other tubers, like Maca and Oca proved very hardy and were important staples in the Inca diet.

The Inca Empire was quite ecologically diverse. The Empire started in the low coastal valleys along the Pacific Ocean and stretched over the second highest mountain range in the world, the Andes, all the way down into the cloud forests of the Amazon Rainforest. This vast environmental diversity was mainly responsible for the large variety of Inca crops as well as a continuous abundance of food. Inca farmers used this wide range of terrain to their advantage, planting crops at several different elevations, so if one harvest failed, another could very potentially flourish. This practice then helped different crops to adapt to a larger variety of environments. The Inca used this same concept on a larger scale throughout the whole Empire. By building an extensive and thorough road system, the Inca could grow different crops across the various climates and harvest them to feed the entire population. The Inca were also good at assimilating other food sources into their agricultural system. They did this by not only forcibly instilling crops from conquered neighbors, but by also moving the farmers who had originally grown the crop to help with its incorporation.

The Inca had several original and inventive ways of turning their harsh landscape into an agricultural cornucopia. The first was the terracing of fields in the Andes Mountains. While terraced fields were widely used around the world, pre-Inca people developed their own form of terracing that the Inca Empire then expanded upon to create more stable, aerated soil and efficient growing conditions. The Inca used guano, or bird dung, as fertilizer to help create bigger harvests on these terraced fields. Another Andean agricultural technique that made a huge difference in farming capacity was the waru waru, or raised fields. These fields were man-made platforms surrounded by canals, which provided a sophisticated irrigational effect, in which the canals provided water to plants’ roots during drought, and acted as drainage during heavy rains. These canals also created nitrate rich sediment which could be used as fertilizer, on top of helping regulate the temperature of the fields. There are remnants of raised fields surrounding Lake Titicaca that are at least two thousand years old, and recent studies have shown that the raised fields were actually more productive than modern day, fertilized fields (Popenoe et al. 1989).

In order to create new cultivated varieties of crop plants, the Incas apparently created an agricultural experiment station at Moray.

There were two reasons that the Inca Empire thrived agriculturally. The first was the aforementioned wide range of crops grown under resourceful agricultural systems, which consistently produced food for the Empire. The second reason the Inca never suffered from lack of food was their ability to preserve and store their crops. It is estimated that at any given time in Incan history, the Inca had three to seven years worth of food in storage. The Inca people had a unique way of freeze-drying root and tuber crops. In the high elevations of the Andes, setting these crops out in the dry days and cold nights would freeze-dry them in a matter of days. The farmers would help the process by covering the crops to protect them from dew, and by stomping on them to release the excess water quickly. In addition to fruits, vegetables and roots, the Inca also preserved meat by drying and salting it, making for complete nutritional stores. These food preservation techniques, combined with their far-reaching road system, allowed the Inca Empire to easily withstand natural disasters such as droughts and El Niño, as well as making the Inca capable of feeding a standing army (Popenoe et al. 1989).

Cooking in the Inca Empire was simple and rather conservative. Because so much of the Empire was in the high mountains and barren costal plains, wood was saved as much as possible. The Inca used several kinds of grain to make bread, and they raised ducks, dogs and guinea pigs as supplemental meat when there was no wild game.

The Rainbow flag

In modern times the Rainbow flag has been associated with the Tawantinsuyu and is displayed as a symbol of Inca heritage in Peru and Bolivia. Nevertheless, there is no historical reference to an Inca or Tawantisuyo flag or banner until the early 1970s. The Spanish didn't chronicle any reference to a banner or flag attributable to the Inca. The city of Cuzco flies the Rainbow Flag, but this is something that was initiated in the 1980s to please tourists by the mayor of the city . Furthermore, Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo (2001-2006) flew the Rainbow Flag in Lima's presidential palace as a political gesture since he is ethnically of Indian origin. Nevertheless, the Rainbow Flag was taken down for good by president Alan Garcia in July 2006 on the very day he took office.

Bibliography

• Popenoe, Hugh, Steven R. King, Jorge Leon, Luis Sumar Kalinowski, and Noel D. Vietmeyer. Lost Crops of the Incas. Washington DC: National Academy Press, 1989.

• De la Vega, Garcilaso . The Incas: The Royal Commentaries of the Inca. New York: The Orion Press, 1961.

• Mc Neill, William H.. "How The Potato Changed The World's History." Social Research 66.1 (1999) 16 Sep 2006.

See also

• Cultural periods of Peru
• History of Peru
• Spanish conquest of Peru
• Tumi
• 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).

External links

• Conquest of Peru, Prescott, 1847 Full text, free to read and search, a definitive history of the Incas. One of the most readable and engaging history books of all time. Humankind lost a civilization of impressive societal value.
• Inca Land by Hiram Bingham (published 1912-1922 CE)
• Inca Artifacts, Peru, and Machu Picchu 360 degree movies of inca artifacts and Peruvian landscapes.
• Inca civilization and other ancient civilizations by Genry Joil.
• Inca stone cutting techniques: theory on how the Inca walls fit so perfectly.
• Ancient Civilizations - Inca Great research site for kids.
• "Ice Treasures of the Inca" National Geographic site.
• Incan Ice Mummies NOVA site based on their series about the 1996 expedition that discovered Incan ice mummies.