Inca

South American Indians who, at the time of the Spanish conquest in 1532, ruled an empire that extended along the Pacific coast and Andean highlands from the northern border of modern Ecuador to the Maule River in central Chile. The Inca established their capital at Cuzco (Peru) in the 12th century. They began their conquests in the early 15th century and within 100 years had gained control of an Andean population of about 12,000,000 people. These Quechua-speaking tribes' origins are uncertain. Their vast empire had a centralized organization and at its head was the ruler, 'Son of the Sun', worshipped as a god in his own lifetime. As a divine king he was above the law, and as a despotic ruler he was very much the political head of the state. Administration was in the hands of officials drawn from the Inca nobility and from the chiefs of conquered tribes. An efficient road system, along which relays of messengers could travel 250 km in a day, ensured that Cuzco was kept informed of developments all over the empire. These same roads allowed Inca forces to be quickly moved into any province which showed signs of rebellion. This centralization was both the strength and the weakness of the Inca state. The unifying force was the ruler in person, and the death of Huayna Capac precipitated a crisis. Civil war broke out when two of his sons, Huascar and Atahuallpa, disputed the succession. Atahuallpa won the war, but before he could consolidate his position he was seized and murdered by Francisco Pizarro's Spaniards in 1532. Without a leader the Inca system could not function. Most of the empire was quickly brought under Spanish control, but an independent Inca group held out in the Urubamba valley until 1572. Viracocha Inca was the creator, culture hero, and supreme deity of the Inca, but the religion embraced a pantheon of gods of nature. The most actively worshipped were the sun and, by extension, the emperor, who was considered the son of the sun. The Temple of the Sun, built at the pre-Incan ceremonial center of Pachacamac suggests some incorporation of earlier religions. Archaeologically, the Inca culture is characterized by fine quality stone masonry, agricultural terraces, mass-produced and standardized pottery forms (aryballus), and metal objects. The considerable architectural skill of the Inca is reflected in Cyclopean masonry, although many buildings were constructed using rectangular dressed stone blocks as well as adobe. The basic dwelling-unit was a cluster of single rooms arranged around a rectangular courtyard and was most often enclosed by a wall. Writing was unknown, but the quipu was used for keeping records. Agriculture was based on plant foods, especially potato, manioc, quinoa, and maize. Domesticated animals included dog, llama, cava (guinea pig), and alpaca. Fine textiles were woven using a simple backstrap loom. The civilization was the largest and most powerful political unit in all the prehistoric America. It has been argued that the whole of Inca achievement relied heavily on a variety of political, societal and religious infrastructures already in place before their ascendancy.

Easily the largest and most powerful political unit in all of prehistoric America, the Inca empire stretched from the Maule River in southern Chile to southern Colombia and supported, at its height, a population of six million. A recognizable entity by cl200, the Quechua-speaking Inca were just another group of minor raiders in the Urubamba area of Peru until a decisive victory over the Chanka at Cuzco in 1438. Over the next 38 years they conquered and absorbed the Aymara kingdoms, the Chimu and the Chincha and came to control the major population centres of the Titicaca Basin and north-coast Peru. The years 1476-1532 represent the period of continuing Inca dominance (see Late Horizon). The empire was divided into four quarters (the literal meaning of the Quechua word for empire, Tawantinguyu) and was ruled through a hierarchical pyramid of administrators at the top of which was an absolute ruler, the emperor. Local religions were tolerated, and often local rulers were left in command as provincial governors rather than replaced. The Quechua language, however, was imposed on all conquered peoples. Every societal unit in the empire, down to the smallest ayllu{a. kin-based village group) paid taxes in the form of labour service {mita). An impressive system of roads with way stations {tambos) and distance markers and a complex system of record keeping {quipu) facilitated administration to a great extent. Inca subsistence was principally agricultural and included maize, potato, manioc, cotton and a great variety of other plants, many of which were grown on irrigated land. Although some hunting took place (e.g. deer and guanaco), there were numerous domesticated animals. The cavy (guinea pig) was bred principally for its meat and the llama and alpaca, though sometimes eaten, were most often bred for wool and for use as pack animals. Inca ceramics were standardized and mass-produced; the diagnostic ceramic is a tall, narrow-necked conical-based jar named an aryballus because of its similarity to the classical Greek form. The considerable architectural skill of the Inca is reflected in cyclopean masonry (see Cuzco and Sacsahuaman), although many buildings were constructed using rectangular dressed stone blocks as well as adobe. The basic dwelling-unit was a cluster of single rooms arranged around a rectangular courtyard and was most often enclosed by a wall. Huge urban agglomerations were not the norm. The trapezoidal doorway, narrowing at the top, and the storage niche are common architectural features; the chullpa borrowed from earlier cultures was a common funerary structure. Viracocha Inca was the creator, culture hero and supreme deity of the Inca, but religion embraced a pantheon of natural gods (earth, sea, thunder etc.). The most actively worshipped were the sun and, by extension, the emperor, who was considered the son of the sun. The Temple of the Sun, built at the pre-Incan ceremonial centre of Pachac-amac suggests some incorporation of earlier religions. Indeed, it has been argued that the whole of Inca achievement relied heavily on a variety of political, societal and religious infrastructures already in place before their ascendancy (e.g. Tiahuanaco, Aymara etc). The arrival of the Spanish in 1532 brought a rapid end to this grand empire. Their apparently easy conquest is legend; however, it was due less to miltary acuity than to other factors: the fact that the authoritarian nature of the Inca administration was tailor-made for control by a very few; the Spanish were able to capitalize on the disaffection resulting from a recent civil war, and the devastation wrought by imported European diseases on a population with no natural immunity had already considerably reduced resistance.