THE INCA CIVILIZATION

THE LOST EMPIRE

• the Inca Empire encompassed present Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, the south of
present-day Colombia, and part of the north of Argentina and Chile.
geography
• They were centered on the Andean mountain ranges.
• Andes created a natural barrier between the coastal desert on one side and forest
on the other.
• Amazon forest on its periphery provided natural resources to the civilization.
Expansion
• The Inca began expanding their land holdings by the reign of their fourth
emperor, Mayta Capac.
• Under Viracocha inca, the eighth, they began a program of permanent conquest
by establishing garrisons among the settlements of the peoples whom they had
conquered.
Expansion
• When the rival Chancas attacked circa 1438, Cusi Inca Yupanqui, successfully
defended Cusco.
• Taking the title of Pachacuti, Inca Yupanqui became one of the Inca’s most
influential rulers.
Political organization

• The highest authority was the king or Inca, considered the son of the Sun, who
ruled by divine right.
Political organization
• The highest positions in the administration of the Empire were held by
the Inca‘s relatives. These formed a nobility that dealt with the complex
organization of the State.
Political organization

• A powerful army, led by generals from the royal family, dealt with the
expansion, conquest and control of the conquered territories.
social organization

• The highest place in the social scale was occupied by the Inca, who was
considered a divinity. The Inca‘s relatives were the nobility.
• Below the nobility, there was the rest of the population: the artisans,
the peasants.
• The peasants were organized in communities of related people
called ayllus headed by a curaca.
social organization
• the hierarchies established the activities that each one carried out, the clothes that
could be used and the products that could be consumed.
• Some materials, such as gold, silver and certain textiles were reserved for
the Inca and could only be used by him and by some of his direct relatives.
Economy
• The Inca economy was based on agricultural production. The lands belonged
to the state that distributed them.
• variety of products were obtained from nature.
Economy
• The redistribution among people or in regions suffering difficulties was
important. These concepts worked both on a local scale, and on a general
scale, between the Inca and his subjects.
• Local governors were responsible for exacting the labor tax on which the empire
was based.
• Inland and long distance trade was also important.
Religion
• The inca religion was Pantheist.
• Subjects of the empire were allowed to worship their ancestral gods as long as
they accepted the supremacy of Inti, the sun god.
• the main festival was the annual sun-celebration, when thanksgiving for the
crop was given and prayers for an even better harvest next year.
Religion: major deities
Name Function
Viracocha Creator and supreme God.
Inti God of the sun.
Goddess of nature and
Pacha mama
mother earth.
Mama Quilla Goddess of the moon.
Mama Sara Goddess of corn and food.
Mama Cocha Goddess of femininity.
Illapa God of lightning and battle.
Coyllur Goddess of the stars.
Supay God of Death.
Wasikamayuq God of the home.
Food and Farming
• The Inca cultivated food crops on dry pacific coastlines, high on the slopes of the
Andes, and in the lowland Amazon rainforest.
• In mountainous Andean environments, they made extensive use of terraced
fields.
• The Inca also raised ilamas and alpacas for their wool and meat and to use them
as pack animals.
Food and Farming
• Inca cultivated around 70 crop species. The main crops were potatoes, sweet
potatoes, maize, chili peppers, cotton, tomatoes, peanuts, an edible root
called oca, and a grain known as quinoa.
• The Inca diet consisted primarily of fish and vegetables, supplemented less
frequently with the meat of guinea pigs and camelids.
Architecture and Engineering
• Architecture was by far the most important of the Inca arts, with pottery and
textiles reflecting motifs that were at their height in architecture.
• The most notable example is machu picchu, which was constructed by inca
engineers.
Architecture and Engineering
• the Incas constructed large buildings, walls and fortifications using
finely-worked blocks - either regular or polygonal - which fitted together so
precisely no mortar was needed.
• The Inca road network covered over 40,000 km and as well as allowing for the
easy movement of armies, administrators, and trade goods.
Architecture and Engineering
• One of the most common Inca buildings was the one-room storage warehouse
the qollqa. The kallanka was a very large hall used for community gatherings.
Architecture and Engineering
• More modest buildings include the kancha - a group of small single-room and
rectangular buildings with thatched roofs built around a courtyard enclosed by a
high wall.
Collapse and Spanish conquest
• In 1532, Spanish explorers led by Francisco pizarro arrived on the coast
of Peru.
• However, a war of succession and unrest among newly conquered
territories had already considerably weakened the empire.
Collapse and Spanish conquest
• Pizarro did not have a formidable force; with fewer than 200 men and only
27 horses. However, many people joined Pizarro's army on the way,
increasing the force to several thousand.
• Atahualpa and his army fought fiercely against the Spanish conquistadors
during the Battle of Cajamarca, but could not simultaneously face the
technology of the Spanish and rebellion among subject tribes.
Collapse and Spanish conquest
• Cuzco was definitively lost in 1536. On August 29, 1553, Atahualpa was
executed by the Spanish.
• The Inca leadership retreated to the mountain regions of Vilcabamba, where it
remained for over another thirty years. In 1572, the last of the Inca rulers, Túpac
Amaru, was beheaded and Tahuantinsuyu officially came to an end.
Aftermath of Spanish conquest
• After the fall of Tahuantinsuyu, the new Spanish rulers brutally repressed the
people and their traditions.
• Many aspects of Inca culture were systematically destroyed, including their
sophisticated farming system.
• The Spanish used the Inca Mita (mandatory public service) system to literally
work the people to death.
Spanish conquest aftermath
• The Spanish saw little or no reason to preserve anything they encountered in Inca
civilization. They plundered its wealth and left the civilization in ruin.
• They were greedy for the wealth, which existed in fabulous proportion, not the
culture.
• The Indians "were enslaved, tortured, and worked to death to provide the
Europeans with gold. They were infected by the newcomers with tuberculosis,
measles, and smallpox“
Spanish conquest aftermath
• Writers comment it was for “God, gold, and glory” that the conquest of the
New World took place.
• “The great dance had been their reality; they awoke into the nightmare of
chaos" (263) says Edward hyams.
Submitted by:-
Shivansh Shukla (13)
History’23