Incan Empire

Inca Empire

Inca Development The beginning of the Inca rule started with the conquest of the Chimu Culture in Peru. The original Inca tribe was a minor Andean tribe whose expansion began with a successful campaign against its more powerful neighbours, the Chancas, in the 1440s.

Incan People The Inca were warriors with a strong and powerful army. Because of the fierceness of their army and their hierarchical organization, they became the largest Native American society.

Incas 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. The Incas established an empire that, by the time of the Spanish invasion, stretched from southern Columbia to central Chile, a distance of some three thousand miles.

Social Structure The Incas had a very clear social structure. The ruler, the Sapa Inca, and his wives, the Coyas, had supreme control over the empire. The High Priest and the Army Commander in Chief were next.

Social Structure Military Then came the Four Apus, the regional army commanders. Next came temple priests, architects, administrators and army generals. Merchants and Middle Class Next were artisans, musicians, army captains and the quipucamayoc, the Incan "accountants." At the bottom were sorcerers, farmers, herding families and conscripts.

Quipu A quipu consists, minimally, of a main cord from which pendant cords hang. Knots tied in the cords keep records or counts of important things. Inka functionaries used cord records for censuses, inventories, tribute records, and documents about transactions; Spanish courts also accepted them as documents of record in early colonial times.

Architecture The dominant stylistic form in Inca architecture is a simple, but elegantly proportioned trapezoid, which serves the dual ends of functionality and severely restrained decoration. Trapezoidal doorways, windows, and wall niches are found in Inca constructions of all types, from the most finely wrought temples to crudely built walls in unimportant buildings. The doorways and windows are obviously functional, and the niches probably served a variety of functions as yet unidentified by the archeologists. Placement of these trapezoidal openings was primarily functional, but occasionally, esthetic arrangements might dominate the placement of the trapezoids, if there was no conflict with functionality.

Stone Work

Mountain Top Forts

Agriculture Developed terrace farming technique to grow crops in the mountains Potatoes, tomatoes, cotton, peanuts and cacao were among the many crops grown by the Inca. Llama were used for meat and transportation. There was more than enough resources available for everyone.

Cuzco The ancient Inca capital is said to have been founded around 1100 AD. The Incas conceived their capital in the shape of a Puma with the river serving as the spine, Sacsayhuaman the head, and the main city center the body. Almost every central street has remains of Inca walls, arches and doorways. Many streets are lined with Inca stonework, now serving as foundations for more modern buildings.

Cuzco

Machu Picchu The site of Machu Picchu was not discovered by the Spanish during the Conquest. In fact, it wasn't known to the outside world until 1911 when an American Archeologist, Hiram Bingham, made the steep climb to a lofty saddle high above the Urubamba river. The city is clearly laid out in sections. There is a "royal" section where the stone work is the finest, the rooms are largest and running baths are nearby. The bulk of the food for the people was grown on the agricultural terraces of the city.

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

Burials: Mummy Bundles http://www.nationalgeographic.com/channel/inca/

By July 1533 more than 24 tons of exquisite treasure had been collected: idols and chalices, necklaces and nuggets, accumulated through centuries of placer mining. Though this was only a fraction of the plunder that awaited the Spaniards elsewhere in the Four Quarters of the World, Atahuallpa's ransom, as duly recorded in the Spanish archives, was worth at least 267 million dollars at today's bullion values for gold ($315 ounce-Nov/02/1997-) and silver.

Final Battle The 40,000 member army of the Inca was destroyed by a 180 member Spanish conquistador army, which was commanded by Francisco Pizarro. The warriors of the Inca were no match for the Spanish guns. By 1535, the Inca society was completely overthrown.