Inca Empire Between 1200 and 1535 AD, the Inca population lived in the part of South America extending from the Equator to the Pacific coast of Chile.

Geography Another thing that helped the Inca Empire grow so rapidly was its geography. The empire had three main geographical regions: 1. The Andes Mountains 2. The Amazon jungle 3. The coastal desert Teacher’s notes: Amazon jungle: The Incas must have entered the jungle occasionally, as they knew about the valuable things that could be found in the Amazon, such as wood, fruit, and natural medicines. However, they never established settlements there. Coastal desert: Between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean is a coastal desert 2000 miles long and from 30 to 100 miles wide. However, it was not completely barren; a few fertile strips occur where small rivers and streams run from the Andes mountaintops to the sea. The Incas traded with the people who lived there. Each was a natural barrier. The Incas made their home between the jungle and the desert, high in the Andes Mountains of South America.

Inca Social Structure The Inca society - strict hierarchical structure. Farmers provided most of the food for the rest of the population. They had to pay tax in the form of gold, which were distributed to the higher classes. Sapa, high priest or ruler temple priests, architects and regional army commanders Artisans and army captains Farmers and herders

Strict Government Control = little freedom for the common people Local officials had the power to make all decisions about the lives of the people they ruled. Inspectors Breaking the law = death penalty. Tight government controls kept the common people fed, clothed, and enslaved. Examples of controls: Commoners could not own or run businesses. Assigned jobs. No idleness - even the amount of time they had to sleep and bathe was controlled by a government official. Teacher’s notes: Workers were organized into family units. Each unit had 10–20 people. Their life was not all work: there were many joyous religious festivals. However, they could not do anything without the governments permission. They could not even walk along the roads without permission. When the Inca made a new law, he told the top tax collectors. They told the tax collectors who reported to them, who told the next level down, and so on, until everyone in the empire heard the news. Since the workers could not vote or voice an opinion, that would then be the law until the Inca made a new decree. NOTE: The Incas did not invent the alarm clock. It is used in this illustration for humor and to emphasis that every minute of every hour of every day was controlled by a government official. If caught wasting a single minute, a commoner could be severely punished.

Inca Economy The main resources: agricultural land and labor mines (producing precious and prestigious metals such as gold, silver or copper), and fresh water Tribute in the form of service (mita) played a crucial role in maintaining the empire and pressurizing its subjects into ambitious building and irrigation projects.

Inca Agriculture Drainage systems and canals - increased production of potatoes, tomatoes, cotton, peanuts and coca. Llama -meat and transportation. Resources were plentiful = Increased subsistence levels = population increase.

Inca Technology The Incas had an incredible system of roads. One road ran almost the entire length of the South American Pacific coast. Roads required great engineering and architectural skill to build. The Incas paved their highland roads with flat stones and built stone walls to prevent travelers from falling off cliffs.