Inca PERSIAN Chart Key
ERA: 600 C.E. to 1450
POLITICAL
 Leaders/groups
 Forms of government
 Empires
 State building/expansion
 Political structures
 Courts/laws
 Nationalism/nations
 Revolts/revolutions
Inca
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ECONOMIC
 Agricultural, pastoral
 Economic systems
 Labor systems/ organizations
 Industrialization
 Technology/industry
 Capital/money
 Business organizations
RELIGIOUS
 Belief systems/ teachings
 Philosophy
 Holy books
 Conversion
 Key figures
 Deities
SOCIAL
 Family/ kinship
 Gender roles/relations
 Social and economic classes
 Racial/ ethnic factors
 Entertainment
 Lifestyles
 “Haves” & “have nots”
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Genius for state organization and bureaucratic control over peoples of different cultures
and languages
Large states continued to be important in the Andean cultural hearth after the breakup of
the large horizon states”
Inca – group of clans centered at Cuzco that were able to create empire in Andean
civilization
Pachacuti, the Cuzco launched a series of military alliances and campaigns that brought
them control of the whole area form Cuzco to the shores of Lake Titicaca.
Split inheritance – all the political power and titles of the ruler went to his successor
but all his palaces, wealth, land, and possessions remained in the hands of his male
descendants, who used them to support the cult of the dead Inca’s mummy for eternity
Empire ruled by the Inca, who was considered almost a god from his court at Cuzco,
which was also the site of the major temple; the high priest usually was a close relative
Land divided into four great provinces, each under a governor, and then divided again
Incas developed a state bureaucracy where almost all nobles played a role
Curacas – local rulers who were allowed to maintain their positions and were given
privileges by the Inca in return for their loyalty
Local or ethnic headmen were left in place but over them were Inca administrators
drawn from the Inca nobility in Cuzco
State claimed all resources and redistributed them
Labor extracted from conquered areas for lands assigned to the state and the religion
Mita – labor turns; communities took turns working on state and church lands and
sometimes on building projects or in mining; used in post-classical period
Each community aimed for self-sufficiency but depended on the state for goods it could
not acquire easily.
Cult of ancestors - deceased rulers were mummified and then treated as middle-men
between the people and the gods; paraded in public during festivals, offered food and
gifts, and consulted on important matters by special oracles.
Sun = the highest deity and considered the Inca to be the sun’s representative on earthy.
Temple of the Sun in Cuzco was the center of the state religion; held the mummies of
the past Incas
Cult of the sun spread throughout the empire
Did not discourage the worshiping of local gods
Belief in animism that endowed many natural phenomena with spiritual power
Huacas – holy shrines (mountains, stones, rivers, caves, tombs, and temples) where
prayers were offered and animals, goods, and people were offered as sacrifices
Temple priests were responsible mainly for the great festivals and celebrations.
Conquered peoples were enlisted in the Inca armies under Inca officers and were
rewarded with goods from new conquests
Subject people received access to new forms of goods
Women required to weave high-quality cloth for the court and for religious purposes;
Incas provided the wool and the women the labor.
Some women were concubines for the Inca; others were servants at the temples, the
“Virgins of the Sun”
Incas accommodated regional and ethnic differences despite overall imperial
organization/ structure.
Community controlled by the ayllus; vast majority of the men were peasants and
herders; women worked in the fields, wove cloth, and cared for the household
Recognized parallel descent (so that property rights within the ayllus and among the
Copyright Allen ISD 2013
Inca PERSIAN Chart Key
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INTERACTIONS
 War/conflict
 Diplomacy/treaties
 Alliances
 Exchanges between
individuals, groups, &
empires/nations
 Trade/commerce
 Globalization
ARTS
 Art
 Music
 Writing/literature
 Philosophy
 Math
 Science
 Education
 Architecture
 Technology
 Innovations
 Transportation
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ENVIRONMENTAL
 Location
 Physical
 Human/environment
 Migration/movement
 Region
 Demography
 Neighborhood
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nobility passed in both the male and female lines)
Women passed rights and property to daughters, men to sons.
Uncommon for women to be leaders of the ayllus under the Inca
Emphasis on military virtues reinforced inequalities between men and women
Inca queen (head wife and usually a sister) was seen as a link to the moon (queen and
sister to the sun or Inca); represented imperial authority to all women
Residents of Cuzco were given noble status to enable them to serve in high bureaucratic
posts
Nobles distinguished by dress and by customs; only ones entitled to wear the large ear
spools that enlarged the ears
Distinct merchant class was absent in the Inca Empire; emphasis on self-sufficiency and
state regulation of production and surplus limited trade
Empire became weakened by civil strife due to rival claimants for power and the
possibility of civil war
Combined aspects of previous Andean cultures and fused them together in new ways
(state organization and bureaucratic control over different cultures and languages)
Complex system of roads with bridges (rope suspension bridges over mountain gorges
and rivers) and causeways when needed; linked the empire together with almost 2,500
miles of roads
Tambos – way stations that were placed about a day’s walk apart to serve as inns,
storehouses, and supply centers for Inca armies on the move; also served as relay points
for the system of runners who carried messages throughout the empire; more than
10,000 maintained
Large irrigation and building projects
Andean cloth weaving = political and religious significance
Beautiful pottery and cloth
Inca metalworking; artisans worked gold and silver while copper and bronze was used
for weapons and tools
Had no system of writing but used a quipu to record numerical and perhaps other
information; worked like an abacus; Inca used it to take censuses and keep financial
records
Passion for numerical order; population was divided into decimal units from which
population, military enlistment , and work details could be calculated
Land and water management
Terrace farming – agricultural terraces on the steep slopes of the Andes, using a
complex technology of irrigation to water their crops
Accurate stone cutting used to build buildings with large, fitted stones without the use of
masonry; solid structures
Andean highlands 3,000 miles in extent
Few large urban areas in the southern Andean highlands
Incas controlled the whole area from Cuzco to the shores of Lake Titicaca but expanded
into the state of Chimor.
Inca Empire stretched from present-day Colombia to Chile to eastward across Lake
Titicaca and Bolivia to northern Argentina
Between 9 and 13 million people of different ethnic backgrounds and languages under
Inca rule
Copyright Allen ISD 2013