Chapter 16.4: The Inca Create a Mountain Empire
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The Inca Come to Power
Inca built their empire on cultural foundations thousands of years old
o Chavin, Moche, Nazca, CHimu
Incan Beginnings
Inca- originally name of the ruling family of a group of people living in a high plateau of the
Andes
Valley of Cuzco
Belief that Incan ruler was descended from the sun god, Inti
11 families of orejones (Big Ears), large plugs worn in earlobes…leader chosen
Custom of worshipping dead rulers…preserved as sacred mummies
o Split inheritance
Pachacuti Builds an Empire
At first, Incan kingdom grew slowly
1438- Pachacuti took the throne
o Nicknamed Earthshaker
o Inca expanded quickly and conquered all of Peru, and moved on to neighboring lands
o 2,500 mile long empire…western coast of South America, Ecuador in north to Chile and
Argentina in the south
o Tihuantinsuya “Land of Four Quarters”
o Diplomacy and military force
 Offered honorable surrender- allow them to keep their own customs and rulers
in exchange for loyalty to the Incan state
Incan Government Creates Unity
Extraordinary organizers and administrators
Divided their territory and its people into manageable units, governed by a central bureaucracy
o Efficient economic system
o Extensive road system
o Single official language, Quechua
Incan Cities Show Government Presence
Inca built many cities in conquered areas
Consistency of architecture of government buildings
All roads led to the capital, Cuzco
Inca were masterful engineers and stonemasons
o But no iron tools and did not use the wheel
o Blocks fitted together without mortar
Incan Government Organizes Communities
Based on age-old patterns of community cooperation
Ayllu: small groups of people who worked together for the common good, built irrigation canals
and agricultural terraces on steep hillsides
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o Stored food and other supplies to distribute during hard times
Community organization and welfare
o Ayllu structure into governing system based on decimal system
o Families divided into groups of 10, 100, 1000 and 10,000
 Each group led by a chief
 Part of a chain of command
 Cuzco: Incan ruler and council of state held court
Main demand the Incan state placed on its subjects was for tribute, mainly in the form of labor
MITA= labor tribute system
o Required all able-bodied citizens to work for the state a certain number of days every
year (unpaid)
o Labor on state farmlands, produce craft goods for state warehouses, help build public
works, such roads, palaces, or irrigation canals
Roads Link the Empire
Incan road system- most spectacular public works project
o Symbolized the power of the Incan state
o 14,000 mile long network of roads and bridges spanned the empire
o Series of guest houses to provide shelter
o Runners called Chasquis, traveled roads as a type of postal service
o Also allowed easy movement of troops to bring control to zones where trouble might be
brewing
State Controls the Economy
Incan state controlled most economic activity
o Regulating the production and distribution of goods
 Inca allowed little private commerce or trade
Land ownership was divided into
o State lands, religious lands, and community lands
o Farmers worked on all three types
o Massive water management system
o Andenes: terraced mountain sides
 Produced maize and quinoa
 Freeze-dried potatoes, chuno
Government Keeps Records
QUIPU- knotted strings
Elaborate calendar system
Religion Supports the State
Religion was important to the Inca and helped reinforce the power of the state
Inca worshiped fewer gods than the Aztecs
Inca focused on key nature spirits such as the moon, the stars, and thunder
IN the balance of nature, the Inca saw patterns for the way humans should relate to each other
and to the earth
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Chief of the Incan gods was a creator god called Viracocha
Next: Sun God, Inti
o Incan ruler was considered a descendant of Inti, therefore, sun worship amounted to
worship of the king
 Incan priests led the sun-worship services, assisted by young women known as mamakuna or
“virgins of the sun.”
o Unmarried women, drafted for a lifetime of religious service
o Trained as teachers, spinners, weavers, and beer makers
 Young men, yamacuna, served as full-time workers for the state and in religious activities
 Temple of the Sun- in Cuzco, most sacred of all Incan shrines
 Gold called “sweat of the sun”
 Cuzco was the administrative and ceremonial capital of the Incan Empire
o Sun temple and storage areas
 Machu Picchu, brought to international attention in 1912, by Hiram Bingham
IV.
Discord in the Empire
 In the early 1500’s, Inca empire was at the height of its glory
 King Huayna Capac
o Evil omen of butterflies and moths
o 1525, Huayna Capac died of disease
o Civil war between Huayna Capac’s sons, Atahualpa and Huascar
o Atahualpa own, but empire was weakened from the civil war
o Spaniards arrived…conquered by Pizarro