INCAS EEarly 12 th Century TTheir Empire was one of the most extensive PPeru EEcuador CChile PParts of Bolivia and Argentina

 Better Farmers than the Mayas  Terraced the land and used fish for fertilizer  Built fortresses and palaces of beautifully cut stone

INCAS  They had not discovered the use of the wheel so…  Used the llama to transport heavy loads  The llama was the only known beast of burden prior to the arrival of the Spanish

INCAS EEvery worker was provided for: TThe government gave them clothes, housing, enough to eat and a job ((Socialism) BBut…

 He could not leave his village without permission  Constantly spied upon  Had to remain at his job until his death  Marriages were arranged

INCAS  The rulers of the Incas were considered to be divine descendents of the sun god  Incas were non-literate and little is known of them before the Spanish conquest

INCAS  CENTRALIZATION OF Authority =  Made it easier for the Spaniards to conquer the Incas and Aztecs.  When the rulers were captured, the people were helpless to make decisions

INCAS  Inca power rose from the city of Cuzco, north of Lake Titicaca  They expanded slowly, then in 1438, under their ruler Pachacuti conquered all of Peru

INCAS  The Incas called their empire Tahuantinsuyu  “Land of the four quarters”  Inca emperors ruled six million people (2500 mile area)

INCAS  Incas were skilled in:  Organization  Administration  Government was based on a hierarchic system  Had an extensive road system to tie their widespread domains together

INCAS  Inca Religion had a creator god, but primarily worshiped the sun god  Included sin and confessions and personal immortality  Unlike the Mayas they were not obsessed with lucky and unlucky days

INCAS  The wealthy sacrificed grain or killed llamas in rituals  The poorer sacrificed guinea pigs  Human sacrifices, usually of children happened, but nothing like the Aztecs

INCAS  The size of the empire created a problem:  Empire had primitive level of transportation and communication (Rulers were not very effective)  Government focused power on one divine ruler- caused problems

INCAS  Three great Inca monarchs  Pachacuti  Topa  Huayna Capac  In 1525  2 sons of Huayna took the throne and fought with each other for 6 years

INCAS  At the end of the Inca civil war the Spanish invaded  At the same time a great plague spread throughout Peru  Probably small pox or measles  Spain invaded in the 1530’s