The Incas ruled one of the largest empires ever established by Native Americans in the Western Hemisphere.
The Incas called their empire Tahuantinsuyu (Land of Four Quarters). It stretched for 2,500 miles along the western coast of South America, from the northern border of present-day Ecuador to the middle of modern Chile. Half of Bolivia and much of northwest Argentina were also within its borders. The empire included the arid deserts of the Pacific coast, the fertile highlands of the Andes, and dense tropical jungles on the eastern slope of the mountains. The Incas were the last of several peoples who had dominated the same region in succession for thousands of years before the coming of the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century. At the time of the conquest, the Incas ruled as many as 10 million subjects under a highly organized social, political, and economic system.
The most ancient people known to have lived in the Andes were called the Chavin. They lived in the highlands and were expert stonemasons and engineers. After the Chavin disappeared, another people known as the Moche appeared in the desert regions along the Pacific coast. They developed an extensive irrigation system that allowed them to cultivate the arid land for nearly 500 years. Their civilization collapsed sometime between 700 and 800 C.E. A new people called the Tiwanaku flourished high in the central Andes from 600 to 1000. They built their capital city along the shores of Lake Titicaca. It was filled with temples and palaces made of enormous stone blocks that were pieced together without the use of any mortar.
The Spanish conquest of Peru, including the burning of Inca leader Atahualpa by conquistador Francisco Pizarro, provided vast mineral wealth to Spain, making the Iberian country the wealthiest in Europe in the early sixteenth century. Ultimately, the vast influx of precious metals produced inflation, undermining the competitiveness of Spanish products. (© North Wind Picture Archives)
According to legend, the first Incas were four brothers and four sisters who emerged from caves in the Cuzco valley just north of the Tiwanaku capital on Lake Titicaca. The eldest brother, Manco Capac, became the first king of the Incas. He taught his own people and the tribes he conquered how to live in villages and raise crops by farming. His eldest sister who was also his wife taught the women how to spin thread and weave beautiful cloth. The next six legendary kings were each remembered for performing some great feat on behalf of their people. Sinchi Roca, the second king, filled in the marshes around the capital city of Cuzco and gave the land to his people for farming. Llonque Yupanqui, the next king, established a class of local officials called the curacas. Subsequent rulers led the Incas beyond the Cuzco valley and helped them conquer tribes along the Pacific coast. They also established a school for royal princes and the nobility and coined the term “Inca,” meaning leader or ruler.
The Incas left the realm of legend and entered the world of history under the reign of their eighth king, who called himself Viracocha after the Incan Sun god. Viracocha was a powerful military leader who conquered a vast territory of more than 150,000 square miles for his people. His son Pachacuti fought an important battle against a tribe known as the Chanca in 1438 and went on to transform the Incan domain into an empire. He rebuilt Cuzco into a magnificent capital with over 4,000 buildings in the main city and another 20,000 in the surrounding area. The most important structure was known as the Coricancha (Enclosure of God). This walled sanctuary housed many temples including the Temple of the Sun, which was covered in gold and precious gems. A huge stone fortress called the Sacsahuaman guarded the entrance to the capital city of Cuzco.
Pachacuti’s son, Topa Inca, was the tenth Incan king. He ruled the empire at the height of its power from 1471 to 1493. He oversaw an administrative system that tied every person from the lowest commoner to the highest member of the royal family to the state. His son, Huayna Capac, reigned from 1493 to 1525 and pushed the empire north into Equador, where he established a second capital at a place called Tumibamba. Shortly before his death, he divided the Incan empire between two of his sons. Huáscar was to rule the southern half of the empire from the capital of Cuzco, while Atahuallpa was to rule the northern half from the city of Quito.
Every Incan ruler stood at the top of a rigid class system. He was given the official title of “Sapa” or “Unique” Inca. He made all laws for the empire, and he controlled the army. The emperor was more than just a powerful earthly ruler; he was also considered to be a descendant of the Sun god. Despite the power and glory granted to him, the emperor was expected to travel through his realm every few years to discover any problems the common people might be experiencing. When an emperor died, his oldest son did not automatically inherit the kingdom. Instead, the nobility voted for the next emperor from among the most worthy sons of the last emperor. Since inheritance laws considered the empire to remain in the possession of the dead emperor, the new ruler was required to conquer more territory for his own support. He was also expected to take his eldest sister as his wife and empress of the realm.
The nobility was the class immediately below the emperor and his family. They were known as the orejones and were themselves divided into two groups. The first group was called the “Nobles of the Royal Blood” and could trace their ancestors back to the legendary early kings of the Incas. Members of the second group were known as “Inca by Privilege.” They were descendants of conquered peoples who accepted Incan rule and later served as curacas. While the latter group could pass their noble titles down to their children, they were always considered lower in the social hierarchy than the Nobles of the Royal Blood. The sons of both groups attended the royal academy called the Yachahuasi, where they were trained to serve in the government, the priesthood, and the military.
Artisans stood below the nobility in the Incan hierarchy. They created religious objects along with luxury items of gold and silver for the emperor and the nobility. They were exempt from all taxation and relied on the commoners to support them. The common people were the largest group in the Incan society. They were farmers who grew food and raised livestock for themselves and all other classes. In the dry coastal regions, they built canals and ditches that irrigated large fields of corn, squash, peppers, beans, peanuts, tomatoes, cotton, avocados, and sweet potatoes. In the highlands of the Andes, they built terraces into the hills to increase the amount of arable land and prevent the runoff of soil down the mountains. Their main crops were the white potato and quinoa, a cereal grain. They raised alpacas and llamas primarily for their wool.
Incan society was also divided into clans called ayllus. Every clan had a specific function to perform in the empire. The people were further subdivided into groups of ten each. Each group of ten had its own leader, who reported in a chain of command all the way up to a provincial governor known as the tocricoc apu. Each governor was responsible for 40,000 people below him and in turn reported to one of the four apus who administered the four main regions of the Incan empire. The four apus reported directly to the Incan emperor himself. The emperor and his many imperial officials oversaw the daily administration of the realm and frequently put people to work in a compulsory labor service known as the mita. The commoners were required to serve in the army, build palaces, temples, and other fortifications, and maintain the Capac Nan, the great system of stone highways that connected every part of the Incan empire. They also built the storehouses set up every few miles along the roads to support the army as it moved through the empire. Runners could travel up to 150 miles each day carrying messages back and forth between Cuzco and the provinces.
The well-organized Incan empire collapsed soon after the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors under Francisco Pizarro in 1532. Atahuallpa, the last Incan king, had recently defeated his brother Huáscar in a civil war, but had not taken complete control of the empire. The Spanish took Atahuallpa prisoner and refused to release him even after the Incas paid a ransom in gold and silver that filled one of the rooms in the royal palace to the height of a man. Atahuallpa was tried and executed. Helped by smallpox and the measles, and aided by their guns and horses, the Spanish completely conquered the Incas by 1569. They taxed the Incas heavily and put many to work digging in the silver mines. Despite the hardships, millions of descendants of the Incas and their conquered subjects still live in Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia.
Mary Stockwell
See also: South America.
D’Altroy, Terrence N. The Incas. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2000.