1. The Inca Create a Mountain Empire

2. 1) Ancient Cultures
The Inca built their empire on cultural foundations thousands of years old.
The Chimu civilization preceded the Inca.
Inka
Incan nobles were called “Orejones” for the large plugs they wore in their earlobes. The plugs above are traced back to the Chimu.

3. Mysterious Machu Picchu

4. 2) Royal mummies
The Incas believed their rulers descended from the sun god.
Dead rulers were preserved as sacred mummies which were brought to special events.

5. 3) Pachacuti
In 1438 a powerful ruler, Pachacuti, took the Inca throne.
Pachacuti used diplomacy in conquest.
By 1500 the Inca empire stretched 2500 miles along the western coast of South America.

6. 4) Incan System of Government
Conquered territories divided into manageable units
Central bureaucracy

7. 5) Incan Language
Quechua was the single official language of the Incan empire.

8. 6) Cities Inca built cities in conquered areas
Architecture the same throughout the empire
All roads led the to the capital, Cuzco.
The Inca were skilled stonemasons who used granite and limestone to build their cities.

9. 7) Road system
The Incan road system was a 14,000 mile long network of roads and bridges crossing high mountains and harsh deserts.
Chasquis were postal runners who carried messages by relay.

10. 8) Economy
The Incan state controlled the production and distribution of goods.
Very little private trade.
“Welfare state”
Land ownership divided three ways:
State lands
Religious lands
Community lands

11. Chunos
The Incans developed a method for freeze-drying potatoes which could be kept indefinitely.

12. QUIPU
The Inca never developed a writing system. The Inca did keep records of dates and accounts with a an accounting device known as quipu, which was a set of knotted strings.

13. 9) Religion Religion was state controlled.
The Incans focused on nature spirits.
Creator god Viracocha
Sun god Inti (every Incan king was a descendant of Inti)
Young women, mamakuna, were drafted for a lifetime of religious service.
Young men, yamacuna, also served as full-time workers for the state religion.

14. Recognizing purpose Ayllu Mita
Community organizations working for the common good
Governing based on the decimal system with a chain of command
Groups of 10, 100, 1,000 and 10,000, each with a chief.
Mita
State demand on subjects
Tribute, primarily labor
All citizens had to do manual labor for the state each year.

15. Decline of the Inca Empire
The Inca empire was in its glory in the early 1500s.
After King Huayna Capac died in 1525, civil war broke out between his sons.
War tore the empire apart.
A gift of butterflies was a bad omen for King Huayna Capac.