Inca Empire: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|1438–1533 empire in South America}}

{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}

{{Infobox country

| flag_type              = [[Sapa Inca]] banner

| status                = Empire

| date_pre              =  

| year_start            = 1438

| date_post              = 1572

| p1                    = Chimor{{!}}Kingdom of Chimor

| p2                    = Kingdom of Cusco

| p3                    = Aymara kingdoms

| s1                    = Governorate of New Castile{{!}}{{nowrap|New Castile}}

| s2                    = Governorate of New Toledo{{!}}{{nowrap|New Toledo}}

| s3                    = Governorate of New Andalusia{{!}}{{nowrap|New Andalusia}}

| s4                    = Neo-Inca State

| image_map              = Tawantinsuyu (orthographic projection).svg

| image_map_caption      = The Inca Empire at its greatest extent, {{Circa|1525}}

| common_languages      = [[Quechuan languages]], [[Aymaran languages]], [[Puquina language]], [[Mochica language]], [[Barbacoan languages|Barbacoan]] and scores of other smaller languages.

| religion              = [[Inca religion]]

{{Inca civilization}}

From 1438 to 1533, the Incas incorporated a large portion of western [[South America]], centered on the [[Andes|Andean]] Mountains, using conquest and peaceful assimilation, among other methods. At its largest, the empire joined modern-day [[Peru]] with what are now western [[Ecuador]], western and south-central [[Bolivia]], northwest [[Argentina]], the southwesternmost tip of [[Colombia]] and [[Incas in Central Chile|a large portion]] of modern-day [[Chile]], forming a state comparable to the historical empires of [[Eurasia]]. Its official language was [[Classical Quechua|Quechua]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.machupicchu-tours-peru.org/blog/quechua-language-incas |title=Quechua, the Language of the Incas |date=11 November 2013 |access-date=5 January 2019 |archive-date=27 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627162546/https://www.machupicchu-tours-peru.org/blog/quechua-language-incas |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Inca Empire functioned largely without money and without markets. Instead, exchange of goods and services was based on [[Reciprocity (cultural anthropology)|reciprocity]] between individuals and among individuals, groups, and Inca rulers. "Taxes" consisted of a labour obligation of a person to the Empire. The Inca rulers (who theoretically owned all the means of production) reciprocated by granting access to land and goods and providing food and drink in celebratory feasts for their subjects.<ref>Morris, Craig and von Hagen, Adrianna (2011), ''The Incas'', London, [[Thames & Hudson]], pp. 48–58</ref>

== Etymology ==

While the term {{lang|qu|Inka}} nowadays is translated as "ruler" or "lord" in Quechua, this term does not simply refer to the "king" of the Tawantinsuyu or ''[[Sapa Inca]]'' but also to the Inca nobles, and some theorize its meaning could be broader.<ref name="pease">{{cite book |last1=Pease |first1=Franklin |title=The Incas |date=2011 |publisher=Fondo Editorial de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú |isbn=978-9972-42-949-1 |pages=95–121 |edition=1st}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Inca |encyclopedia=American Heritage Dictionary |date=2009 |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/inca}}</ref> In that sense, the Inca nobles were a small percentage of the total population of the empire, probably numbering only 15,000 to 40,000, but ruling a population of around 10{{nbsp}}million people.{{sfn|McEwan|2008|p=93}}

Troll also argued that [[llama]]s, the Incas' pack animal, can be found in their largest numbers in this very same region.<ref name="Gade2016">{{cite book |last=Gade |first=Daniel |date=2016 |title=Spell of the Urubamba: Anthropogeographical Essays on an Andean Valley in Space and Time |chapter-url=https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319208480#aboutBook |chapter=Urubamba Verticality: Reflections on Crops and Diseases |page=86 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-319-20849-7}}</ref> The maximum extent of the Inca Empire roughly coincided with the distribution of llamas and [[alpaca]]s, [[Incan animal husbandry|the only large domesticated animals in Pre-Hispanic America]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Hardoy |first=Jorge Henríque |date=1973 |title=Pre-Columbian Cities |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fbQJBAAAQBAJ&q=llama+inca+expansion+colombia+limi&pg=PA24 |page=24 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-8027-0380-4}}</ref>

=== Origin ===

=== Kingdom of Cuzco ===

{{Main|Kingdom of Cusco}}

[[File:Inca Expansion.svg|thumb|The Inca Empire's expansion according to [[John Howland Rowe]] in his "absolute chronology", developed in 1944–1945.]]

=== First contact ===

=== Inca Civil War and Spanish conquest ===

{{Main|Inca Civil War|Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire}}

[[File:Capitulo-XXXVIII.jpg|thumb|The first image of the Inca in Europe, [[Pedro Cieza de León]], ''Crónica del Perú'', 1553]]

[[File:Sapa inkakuna.jpg|thumb|[[Capaccona]] or ''Qhapaqkuna'' "the kings", a 17th-century Cusco painting with the Inca lineages mentioned by colonial chronicles and their relationship with the royal queens of Cuzco, which hide behind a complex representation of the Inca social organization.]]

Spanish [[conquistadors]] led by [[Francisco Pizarro]] and his brothers explored south from what is today [[Panama]], reaching Inca territory by 1526.<ref>*{{cite web |author=Juan de Samano |url=http://bloknot.info/juan-de-samanos-relacion-de-los-primeros-descubrimientos-peru-francisco-pizarro-y-diego-de-almagro-1526/ |title=Relacion de los primeros descubrimientos de Francisco Pizarro y Diego de Almagro, 1526 |website=bloknot.info |date=9 October 2009 |access-date=10 October 2009 |archive-date=18 December 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121218162839/http://bloknot.info/juan-de-samanos-relacion-de-los-primeros-descubrimientos-peru-francisco-pizarro-y-diego-de-almagro-1526/ |url-status=dead}}</ref> It was clear that they had reached a wealthy land with prospects of great treasure, and after another expedition in 1529 Pizarro traveled to Spain and received royal approval to conquer the region and be its [[viceroy]]. This approval was received as detailed in the following quote: "In July 1529 the [[Isabella of Portugal|Queen of Spain]] signed a charter allowing Pizarro to conquer the Incas. Pizarro was named governor and captain of all conquests in Peru, or New Castile, as the Spanish now called the land".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Somervill |first=Barbara |title=Francisco Pizarro: Conqueror of the Incas |publisher=[[Capstone Publishers|Compass Point Books]] |date=2005 |page=52 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=j-FusDo4ssoC}} |isbn=978-0-7565-1061-9}}</ref>

The forces led by Pizarro consisted of 168 men, along with one [[cannon]] and 27 [[horse]]s. The conquistadors were armed with [[lance]]s, [[arquebus]]es, [[Plate armour|steel armor]] and [[Rapier|long swords]]. In contrast, the Inca used weapons made out of wood, stone, copper and bronze, while using an [[Alpaca fiber]] based armor, putting them at significant technological disadvantage – none of their weapons could pierce the Spanish steel armor. In addition, due to the absence of horses in Peru, the Inca did not develop tactics to fight cavalry. However, the Inca were still effective warriors, being able to successfully [[Battle of the Maule|fight]] the [[Mapuche]], who later would [[Arauco War|strategically defeat]] and [[Destruction of the Seven Cities|reverse Spanish colonisation]] in [[Zona Sur|southern Chile]].

=== End of the Inca Empire ===

{{Main|Neo-Inca State|Criollo people#Spanish colonial caste system{{!}}Society in the Spanish Colonial Americas}}

[[File:Luis Montero - The Funerals of Inca Atahualpa - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Atahualpa, the last [[Sapa Inca]] of the empire, was executed by the Spanish on 29 August 1533. [[Los funerales de Atahualpa|Painting]] by [[Luis Montero Cáceres|Luis Montero]].]]

[[File:Cusco - Qoricancha - panoramio (1).jpg|thumb|Facade of the [[Church and Convent of Santo Domingo, Cusco|Church and Convent of Santo Domingo]] in [[Cusco]], built on the base of the [[Coricancha]]]]

=== Population ===

=== Languages ===

|Wawa

|-

|Ignorance (not speaking)

|Warma

|Warma

|-

|Development

|Thaski (or P'asña)

|Maqt'a

|-

|Folly (sexually active)

|Sipas (unmarried)

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Age !! Definition

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|-

|}

=== Marriage ===

=== Education ===

{{Main|Inca education}}

[[File:Santa Cruz Pachacuti Yamqui es.gif|thumb|Representation of the Inca worldview]]

==Religion==

{{Main|Religion in the Inca Empire|Inca mythology}}

[[File:Cabeza de Viracocha, Museo de América.jpg|thumb|upright|Diorite [[Viracocha]] Inca sculpture from Amarucancha archeological site, [[Cusco]]]]

It was important to the Inca that they not die as a result of burning or that the body of the deceased not be incinerated. Burning would cause their vital force to disappear and threaten their passage to the after world. The Inca nobility practiced [[cranial deformation]].<ref name="BurgerSalazar2004">{{cite book |first1=Richard L. |last1=Burger |first2=Lucy C. |last2=Salazar |title=Machu Picchu: Unveiling the Mystery of the Incas |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=bBHrWwtr_pYC|page=4}} |date=2004 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-09763-4}}</ref> They wrapped tight cloth straps around the heads of newborns to shape their soft skulls into a more conical form, thus distinguishing the nobility from other social classes.

The Incas were [[Polytheism|polytheists]] who worshipped many gods. These included:

* [[Yacumama|Yakumama]] – meaning "water mother", represented as a snake, transformed into a great river (also Illapa) when she came to Earth.

* [[Pacha (Inca mythology)|Hanan Pacha]] (upper world, celestial or supraterrestrial): Reserved for the righteous, it was inhabited by gods and accessible only through a bridge of hair. It was symbolized by the [[condor]]

* [[Pacha (Inca mythology)|Kay Pacha]] (world of the present and here): The earthly world where humans live, represented by the [[Puma (genus)|puma]].

== Economy ==

{{Main|Economy of the Inca Empire|Inca agriculture|Vertical archipelago|Mit'a|Qullqa}}

[[File:Trabajo-inca8.jpg|thumb|upright|Illustration of [[Incan agriculture|Inca farmers]] using a ''chaki taklla'' (Andean foot plough) in ''[[El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno]]'' (ca. 1615) by [[Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala]].]]

=== Animal husbandry ===

{{Main|Inca animal husbandry}}

[[File:Lama3.jpg|thumb|Camelids were a vital resource in Tahuantinsuyo. The Inca state ensured a supply of both meat and fiber from these animals.]]

The Sapa Inca, the head of upper Cusco,<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Espinoza |first=Waldemar |title=Los Incas |publisher=Amaru Editores |date=1997 |edition=3 |page=297 |language=es |trans-title=The Incas}}</ref> was conceptualized as divine and was effectively head of the state religion. The ''[[Willaq Umu]]'' (or Chief Priest), the head of lower Cusco,<ref name=":5" /> was second to the emperor. Local religious traditions continued and in some cases such as the Oracle at [[Pachacamac]] on the coast, were officially venerated. Following Pachacuti, the Sapa Inca claimed descent from Inti, who placed a high value on imperial blood; by the end of the empire, it was common to [[incest]]uously wed brother and sister. He was "son of the sun", and his people the ''Intip churin'', or "children of the sun", and both his right to rule and mission to conquer derived from his holy ancestor.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}} The Sapa Inca also presided over ideologically important festivals, notably during the ''[[Inti Raymi]]'' or "Sun festival" attended by soldiers, mummified rulers, nobles, clerics and the general population of Cusco beginning on the June solstice and culminating nine days later with the ritual breaking of the earth using a foot plow by the Inca. Moreover, Cusco was considered cosmologically central, loaded as it was with ''huacas'' and radiating ''ceque'' lines as the geographic center of the Four-Quarters; [[Inca Garcilaso de la Vega]] called it "the navel of the universe".<ref>{{cite book |title=An Introduction to American Archaeology: South America |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=J6pGAAAAMAAJ}} |date=1966 |publisher=[[Prentice Hall]] |last=Willey |first=Gordon R. |pages=173–175}}</ref>{{sfn|D'Altroy|2014|pp=86–89, 111, 154–55}}{{sfn|Moseley|2001|pp=81–85}}{{sfn|McEwan|2008|pp=138–139}}

=== Organization of the empire ===

{{Quote box

}}

{{Update|date=September 2024}}

=== Banner of the Inca ===

{{Main|Wiphala|Rainbow flag#Andean indigenism}}

[[File:Suntur Paucar.svg|thumb|left|Two crowning snakes united by a rainbow without certain royal badge was used as the Inca sign according to Spanish chronicler [[Bernabé Cobo]]]]

=== Measures, calendrics and mathematics ===

{{Main|Mathematics of the Incas}}

[[File:Inca. Quipu.jpg|thumb|Quipu, 15th century. [[Brooklyn Museum]]]]

Inca [[calendar]]s were strongly tied to [[astronomy]]. Inca astronomers understood [[equinox]]es, [[solstice]]s and [[zenith]] passages, along with the [[Transit of Venus|Venus cycle]]. They could not, however, predict [[eclipse]]s. The Inca calendar was essentially [[lunisolar]], as two calendars were maintained in parallel, one [[solar calendar|solar]] and one [[lunar calendar|lunar]]. As 12 lunar months fall 11 days short of a full 365-day solar year, those in charge of the calendar had to adjust every winter solstice. Each lunar month was marked with festivals and rituals.{{sfn|D'Altroy|2014|pp=150–154}} Apparently, the days of the week were not named and days were not grouped into weeks. Similarly, months were not grouped into seasons. Time during a day was not measured in hours or minutes, but in terms of how far the sun had travelled or in how long it had taken to perform a task.{{sfn|McEwan|2008|pp=185–187}}

According to mid-17th-century Jesuit chronicler Bernabé Cobo,<ref>Cobo, B., (1983 [1653]), Obras del P. Bernabé Cobo, Vol. 1, Edited and preliminary study By Francisco Mateos, Biblioteca de Autores Españoles, vol. 91, Madrid, Ediciones Atlas.</ref> the Inca designated officials to perform accounting-related tasks. These officials were called quipo camayos. Study of khipu sample VA 42527 (Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin)<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sáez-Rodríguez |first=A. |date=2012 |title=An Ethnomathematics Exercise for Analyzing a Khipu Sample from Pachacamac (Perú) |journal=Revista Latinoamericana de Etnomatemática |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=62–88 |url=http://www.revista.etnomatematica.org/index.php/RLE/article/view/37}}</ref> revealed that the numbers arranged in calendrically significant patterns were used for agricultural purposes in the "farm account books" kept by the khipukamayuq (accountant or warehouse keeper) to facilitate the closing of accounting books.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sáez-Rodríguez |first=A. |date=2013 |title=Knot numbers used as labels for identifying subject matter of a khipu |journal=Revista Latinoamericana de Etnomatemática |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=4–19 |url=http://www.revista.etnomatematica.org/index.php/RLE/article/view/52}}</ref>

=== Weapons, armor and warfare ===

{{Main|Inca army}}

[[File:Sacsayhuaman - 51188929520.jpg|thumb|left|[[Sacsayhuamán]], the largest Inca ''[[pukara]]'' (fortresses)]]

[[File:Cabezas de Bronce.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Copper]] heads for maces]]

The Incas had no iron or steel and their weapons were not much more effective than those of their opponents so they often defeated opponents by sheer force of numbers, or else by persuading them to surrender beforehand by offering generous terms.<ref name="AHE"/> Inca weaponry included "hardwood spears launched using [[Spear-thrower|throwers]], arrows, javelins, slings, the [[bolas]], clubs, and maces with star-shaped heads made of copper or bronze".<ref name=AHE>{{Cite web |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Inca_Warfare/ |title=Inca Warfare |last=Cartwright |first=Mark |date=19 May 2016 |website=[[World History Encyclopedia]]}}</ref><ref name="MacQuarrie2008">{{cite book |author=Kim MacQuarrie |title=The Last Days of the Incas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Emql_kU0QLIC&pg=PA144 |date=17 June 2008 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-0-7432-6050-3 |page=144}}</ref> Rolling rocks downhill onto the enemy was a common strategy, taking advantage of the hilly terrain.<ref name="Parker2008">{{cite book |author=Geoffrey Parker |title=The Cambridge Illustrated History of Warfare: The Triumph of the West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yqNj5BlEMtcC&pg=PA136 |date=29 September 2008 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-73806-4 |page=136}}</ref> Fighting was sometimes accompanied by drums and trumpets made of wood, shell or bone.<ref name="Stevenson1968">{{cite book |author=Robert Stevenson |title=Music in Aztec & Inca Territory |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b2Gk32Zn2tgC&pg=PA77 |date=1 January 1968 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-03169-2 |page=77}}</ref><ref name="CoboHamilton1990">{{cite book |author1=Father Bernabe Cobo |author2=Roland Hamilton |title=Inca Religion and Customs |url=https://archive.org/details/incareligioncust0000cobo |url-access=registration |date=1 May 1990 |publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] |isbn=978-0-292-73861-4 |page=218}}</ref> Armor included:<ref name="AHE"/><ref name="Burland1968">{{cite book |author=Cottie Arthur Burland |title=Peru Under the Incas |url=https://archive.org/details/peruunderincas00burl |url-access=registration |date=1968 |publisher=Putnam |page=101 |quote=The sling was the most deadly projectile weapon. Spear, long-handled axe and bronze-headed mace were the effective weapons. Protection was afforded by a wooden helmet covered with bronze, long quilted tunic and flexible quilted shield.}}</ref>

{{Commons and category|Inca|Inca}}

* [http://www.antiquebooks.net/readpage.html#peru Conquest nts.html Inca Land] by [[Hiram Bingham III|Hiram Bingham]] (published 1912–1922).

* [https://web.archive.org/web/19990203171454/http://www2.nationalgeographic.com/mummy/index.html "Ice Treasures of the Inca"], National Geographic site.

* [http://red-coral.net/Pach.html "The Sacred Hymns of Pachacutec"], poetry of an Inca emperor.

[[Category:16th century in South America]]

[[Category:Andean civilizations]]

[[Category:History of Ecuador]]

[[Category:History of Indigenous peoples of the Americas]]