Inca

Location of the Inca Empire: Western South America, between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean

• The empire stretched along a narrow strip of land, making transportation and communication a challenge.

Incan labor system: Mita system (forced labor for the state)

• The government owned all the land, and people were required to work on projects like roads, temples, and agriculture.

• This labor was a form of tribute to the government instead of taxes.

Language imposed by the Incas: Quechua

• The Incan government enforced Quechua as a unifying language across their diverse empire.

• However, conquered people were still allowed to practice their own religions and traditions.

How the Incas ensured loyalty from conquered elites: They took sons of elite families as hostages and brought them to Cuzco

• These elite sons were educated in Incan culture, governance, and military service.

• This reduced the chance of rebellion since local rulers' children were indoctrinated into Incan traditions.

Purpose of the extensive Inca road system: To facilitate military movement and communication

• The roads allowed for rapid deployment of armies and an efficient relay system for messengers.

• Messengers would travel between way stations where they passed along messages.

• Two main road systems ran from north to south, improving connectivity across the empire.