Incan Civilization

The empire had three main geographical regions:
- The Andes Mountains
- The Amazon jungle
- The coastal desert
Each region served as a natural barrier for the empire.

In 1438, Pachacuti, an ambitious ruler, took the throne.
Under Pachacuti, the Inca conquered all of Peru and expanded into neighboring lands.
By 1500, the Inca ruled an empire stretching 2,500 miles along the western coast of South America.
The Inca called their empire “Land of the Four Quarters.”
It included about 80 provinces and was home to as many as 16 million people.
Pachacuti and his successors expanded through diplomacy and military force.
They had a powerful military but only used force when necessary.
They were also clever diplomats.
Before attacking, they offered an honorable surrender.
They allowed conquered people to keep their customs and rulers in exchange for loyalty.
Because of this treatment, many states surrendered without resistance.

The Inca divided conquered lands into smaller units for easier governance.
They built cities in conquered areas to better govern.
Government buildings had the same architecture throughout the empire.
All roads led to the capital, Cuzco.
The state had almost total control over economic and social life.
They controlled most economic activity, regulating production and distribution.
They allowed little private commerce or trade.
The social system was based on the ayllu, an age-old form of community cooperation.
The ayllu, or extended family group, undertook tasks too big for a single family.
Tasks included building irrigation canals and cutting agricultural terraces.
They also stored food and supplies to distribute during hard times.
The Inca incorporated the ayllu structure into a governing system based on the decimal system.
They divided families into groups of 10, 100, 1,000, and 10,000, led by a chief.
Local administration was generally left to local rulers.
Tribute was usually labor to help build bridges and roads.

Historians have compared the Incan system to socialism or a modern welfare state.
Citizens were expected to work for the state and were cared for in return.
The aged and disabled were often supported by the state.
The state ensured people did not go hungry during bad harvests.
Freeze-dried potatoes, called chuño, were stored in government warehouses for distribution during food shortages.

The Inca never developed a writing system.
History and literature were memorized as part of an oral tradition.
They created the quipu, an accounting device with knotted strings, to record data.
The knots and their position on the string indicated numbers.
The colors of the strings represented different categories of information.
For example, red strings counted warriors, and yellow strings counted gold.

Religion was important and reinforced the power of the state.
The Inca worshiped fewer gods than the Aztecs.
They focused on key nature spirits like the moon, stars, and thunder.
The primary Incan god was Viracocha, the creator god.
Next in importance was Inti, the sun god.
Because the Incan ruler was seen as a descendant of Inti, sun worship was also worship of the king.

Incan priests led sun-worship services.
They were assisted by mamakuna, or “virgins of the sun.”
These unmarried women were drafted for a lifetime of religious service and trained in religious activities.
Young men, known as yamacuna, also served as full-time workers for the state and in religious activities.

The Temple of the Sun in Cuzco was the most sacred Incan shrine.
It was heavily decorated in gold, which the Inca referred to as “sweat of the sun.”
Gold was common throughout Cuzco.
The walls of several buildings had thin gold sheeting.
This gave rise to the legend of the city of gold, El Dorado.

Like Cuzco, Machu Picchu had a sun temple, public buildings, and a central plaza.
It was built secluded and high up in the mountains.
It was discovered in 1912.
Some sources suggest it was a religious center, while others think it was an estate of Pachacuti.
Others believe it was a retreat for Incan rulers or the nobility.

Like the Romans and Egyptians, the Incas were excellent stoneworkers.
They were known for their precise stonework, with stones perfectly slotted together.

The Inca built an intricate system of roads and bridges to traverse their empire.
This system covered over 25,000 miles and was used for 400 years.
It ran from modern-day Ecuador to Chile.
Bridges were designed to help traverse valleys.
Many bridges were made out of rope.

The Incan Empire reached its peak in the early 1500s during the reign of Huayna Capac.
In the 1520s, while touring Ecuador, a newly conquered area, Huayna Capac received a gift box containing butterflies and moths, considered an evil omen.
Shortly after, Huayna Capac died of disease—likely smallpox—in Quito.
After his death, the empire was split between his sons, Atahualpa and Huascar.
Atahualpa received Ecuador, while Huascar received the rest of the empire.
Initial harmony between the brothers soon turned into conflict as Atahualpa attempted to claim the entire empire, leading to a bitter civil war.
Atahualpa eventually won, but the war severely weakened the empire.
The arrival of the Spanish during the late stages of this civil war ultimately led to the end of the Incan Empire.