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60-513: The Inca Empire was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. Inca , Inka , or İncə may also refer to: Inca Empire The Inca Empire , officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts ( Quechua : Tawantinsuyu , lit.  "land of four parts" ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America . The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in

120-644: A "Greater Qullasuyu" (or Qullana Suyu Marka ) which would incorporate a territory similar to the former Tawantinsuyu in extent. This ideal has been proposed by the office of the Apu Mallku and the parliament of the Qullana. Qullasuyu was the largest of the four suyu (or "quarters", the largest divisions of the Inca empire) in terms of area. This suyu encompassed the Bolivian Altiplano and much of

180-521: A blind eye to his son's lack of capability. Following a revolt during which Amaru almost led the Inca forces to defeat, the Sapa Inca decided to replace the co-ruler with another one of his sons, Topa Inca Yupanqui . Túpac Inca Yupanqui began conquests to the north in 1463 and continued them as Inca ruler after Pachacuti's death in 1471. Túpac Inca's most important conquest was the Kingdom of Chimor ,

240-451: A child, Sinchi Roca . The people who were already living in Cusco fought hard to keep their land, but Mama Huaca was a good fighter. When the enemy attacked, she threw her bolas (several stones tied together that spun through the air when thrown) at a soldier (gualla) and killed him instantly. The other people became afraid and ran away. After that, Ayar Manco became known as Manco Capac ,

300-604: 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. Many local forms of worship persisted in the empire, most of them concerning local sacred huacas or wak’a , but the Inca leadership encouraged the sun worship of Inti —their sun god—and imposed its sovereignty above other religious groups, such as that of Pachamama . The Incas considered their king,

360-415: A method of taxation: For as is well known to all, not a single village of the highlands or the plains failed to pay the tribute levied on it by those who were in charge of these matters. There were even provinces where, when the natives alleged that they were unable to pay their tribute, the Inca ordered that each inhabitant should be obliged to turn in every four months a large quill full of live lice, which

420-538: A third point Troll pointed out irrigation technology as advantageous to Inca state-building. While Troll theorized concerning environmental influences on the Inca Empire, he opposed environmental determinism , arguing that culture lay at the core of the Inca civilization. The Inca people were a pastoral tribe in the Cusco area around the 12th century. Indigenous Andean oral history tells two main origin stories:

480-528: A union of provinces. The Spanish normally transliterated the name as Tahuatinsuyo . While the term 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. In that sense, the Inca nobles were a small percentage of the total population of

540-486: A written form of language; however, they visually recorded narratives through paintings on vases and cups ( qirus ). These paintings are usually accompanied by geometric patterns known as toqapu, which are also found in textiles. Researchers have speculated that toqapu patterns could have served as a form of written communication (e.g. heraldry, or glyphs), however this remains unclear. The Incas also kept records by using quipus . The high infant mortality rates that plagued

600-607: Is actually a family of languages rather than one single language, parallel to the Romance or Slavic languages in Europe. Most communities within the empire, even those resistant to Inca rule, learned to speak a variety of Quechua (forming new regional varieties with distinct phonetics) in order to communicate with the Inca lords and mitma colonists, as well as the wider integrating society, but largely retained their native languages as well. The Incas also had their own ethnic language, which

660-462: Is four and - ntin is a suffix naming a group, so that a tawantin is a quartet, a group of four things taken together, in this case the four suyu ("regions" or "provinces") whose corners met at the capital. The four suyu were: Chinchaysuyu (north), Antisuyu (east; the Amazon jungle), Qullasuyu (south) and Kuntisuyu (west). The name Tawantinsuyu was, therefore, a descriptive term indicating

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720-518: Is one of at least five civilizations in the world deemed by scholars to be "pristine." The concept of a "pristine" civilization refers to a civilization that has developed independently of external influences and is not a derivative of other civilizations. The Inca Empire was preceded by two large-scale empires in the Andes: the Tiwanaku ( c.  300 –1100 AD), based around Lake Titicaca , and

780-453: Is thought to have been closely related to or a dialect of Puquina . There are several common misconceptions about the history of Quechua, as it is frequently identified as the "Inca language". Quechua did not originate with the Incas, had been a lingua franca in multiple areas before the Inca expansions, was diverse before the rise of the Incas, and it was not the native or original language of

840-724: The Mapuche , who later would strategically defeat the Spanish as they expanded further south . The first engagement between the Inca and the Spanish was the Battle of Puná , near present-day Guayaquil , Ecuador, on the Pacific Coast; Pizarro then founded the city of Piura in July 1532. Hernando de Soto was sent inland to explore the interior and returned with an invitation to meet the Inca, Atahualpa, who had defeated his brother in

900-470: The Old World . Anthropologist Gordon McEwan wrote that the Incas were able to construct "one of the greatest imperial states in human history" without the use of the wheel, draft animals, knowledge of iron or steel, or even a system of writing. Notable features of the Inca Empire included its monumental architecture , especially stonework, extensive road network ( Qhapaq Ñan ) reaching all corners of

960-573: The Sapa Inca , to be the "son of the Sun". The Inca economy, especially in the past, was often the subject of scholarly debate. Darrell E. La Lone, in his work The Inca as a Nonmarket Economy , noted that scholars have previously described it as "feudal, slave, [or] socialist," as well as "a system based on reciprocity and redistribution; a system with markets and commerce; or an Asiatic mode of production ." The Inca referred to their empire as Tawantinsuyu , "the suyu of four [parts]". In Quechua , tawa

1020-690: The Wari or Huari ( c.  600 –1100 AD), centered near the city of Ayacucho . The Wari occupied the Cuzco area for about 400 years. Thus, many of the characteristics of the Inca Empire derived from earlier multi-ethnic and expansive Andean cultures. To those earlier civilizations may be owed some of the accomplishments cited for the Inca Empire: "thousands of kilometres/miles of roads and dozens of large administrative centers with elaborate stone construction...terraced mountainsides and filled in valleys", and

1080-458: The " Requerimiento " that demanded that he and his empire accept the rule of King Charles I of Spain and convert to Christianity. Atahualpa dismissed the message and asked them to leave. After this, the Spanish began their attack against the mostly unarmed Inca, captured Atahualpa as hostage, and forced the Inca to collaborate. Atahualpa offered the Spaniards enough gold to fill the room he

1140-523: The Acamama Valley; therefore, the couple decided to remain there and informed the inhabitants of the area that they were sent by the Sun God . They then proceeded to teach them agriculture and weaving. Thus, the Inca civilization began. Under the leadership of Manco Capac, the Inca formed the small city-state Kingdom of Cuzco (Quechua Qusqu ). In 1438, they began a far-reaching expansion under

1200-434: The Inca ). It narrates the adventure of a couple, Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo , who were sent by the Sun God and emerged from the depths of Lake Titicaca ( pacarina ~ paqarina "sacred place of origin") and marched north. They carried a golden staff, given by the Sun God ; the message was clear: in the place where the golden staff sank, they would establish a city and settle there. The staff sank at Mount Guanacaure in

1260-419: The Inca Empire caused all newborn infants to be given the term wawa when they were born. Most families did not invest very much into their child until they reached the age of two or three years old. Once the child reached the age of three, a "coming of age" ceremony occurred, called the rutuchikuy . For the Incas, this ceremony indicated that the child had entered the stage of "ignorance". During this ceremony,

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1320-483: The Inca state and chuño has been questioned, as other crops such as maize can also be dried with only sunlight. Troll also argued that llamas , the Incas' pack animal, can be found in their largest numbers in this very same region. The maximum extent of the Inca Empire roughly coincided with the distribution of llamas and alpacas , the only large domesticated animals in Pre-Hispanic America . As

1380-455: The Inca to indoctrinate them into the Inca nobility and, with luck, marry their daughters into families at various corners of the empire. Pachacuti had named his favorite son, Amaru Yupanqui, as his co-ruler and successor. However, as co-ruler Amaru showed little interest in military affairs. Due to this lack of military talent, he faced much opposition from the Inca nobility, who began to plot against him. Despite this, Pachacuti decided to take

1440-459: 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 fight

1500-423: The Inca's only serious rival for the coast. Túpac Inca's empire then stretched north into what are today Ecuador and Colombia . Topa Inca's son Huayna Capac added a small portion of land to the north in what is today Ecuador. At its height, the Inca Empire included modern-day Peru, what are today western and south central Bolivia , southwest Ecuador and Colombia and a large portion of modern-day Chile , at

1560-408: The Incas. However, the Incas left a linguistic legacy, in that they introduced Quechua to many areas where it is still widely spoken today, including Ecuador, southern Bolivia, southern Colombia, and parts of the Amazon basin. The Spanish conquerors continued the official usage of Quechua during the early colonial period, and transformed it into a literary language. The Incas were not known to develop

1620-435: The Spanish colonists and re-create the Inca Empire until the late 18th century. See Juan Santos Atahualpa and Túpac Amaru II . The number of people inhabiting Tawantinsuyu at its peak is uncertain, with estimates ranging from 4–37 million. Most population estimates are in the range of 6 to 14 million. In spite of the fact that the Inca kept excellent census records using their quipus , knowledge of how to read them

1680-405: The Spanish conquest under the political authority of the Inca state. After the fall of the Inca Empire many aspects of Inca culture were systematically destroyed, including their sophisticated farming system, known as the vertical archipelago model of agriculture. Spanish colonial officials used the Inca mita corvée labor system for colonial aims, sometimes brutally. One member of each family

1740-426: The Spanish invaders first arrived in the empire. The spread was probably aided by the efficient Inca road system. Smallpox was only the first epidemic. Other diseases, including a probable typhus outbreak in 1546, influenza and smallpox together in 1558, smallpox again in 1589, diphtheria in 1614, and measles in 1618, all ravaged the Inca people. There would be periodic attempts by indigenous leaders to expel

1800-409: The Spanish retook the city afterwards. Manco Inca then retreated to the mountains of Vilcabamba and established the small Neo-Inca State , where he and his successors ruled for another 36 years, sometimes raiding the Spanish or inciting revolts against them. In 1572 the last Inca stronghold was conquered and the last ruler, Topa Amaru , Manco's son, was captured and executed. This ended resistance to

1860-594: The battle of the Maule was a stalemate, but argues the Incas lacked incentives for conquest they had had when fighting more complex societies such as the Chimú Empire . Silva also disputes the date given by traditional historiography for the battle: the late 15th century during the reign of Topa Inca Yupanqui (1471–93). Instead, he places it in 1532 during the Inca Civil War . Nevertheless, Silva agrees on

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1920-509: The benefits of joining his empire, offering them presents of luxury goods such as high quality textiles and promising that they would be materially richer as his subjects. Most accepted the rule of the Inca as a fait accompli and acquiesced peacefully. Refusal to accept Inca rule resulted in military conquest. Following conquest the local rulers were executed. The ruler's children were brought to Cuzco to learn about Inca administration systems, then return to rule their native lands. This allowed

1980-557: The city of Cusco . The Inca civilization rose from the Peruvian highlands sometime in the early 13th century . The Spanish began the conquest of the Inca Empire in 1532 and by 1572, the last Inca state was fully conquered. From 1438 to 1533, the Incas incorporated a large portion of western South America , centered on the Andean Mountains, using conquest and peaceful assimilation, among other methods. At its largest,

2040-442: The civil war and was resting at Cajamarca with his army of 80,000 troops, that were at the moment armed only with hunting tools (knives and lassos for hunting llamas). Pizarro and some of his men, most notably a friar named Vincente de Valverde , met with the Inca, who had brought only a small retinue. The Inca offered them ceremonial chicha in a golden cup, which the Spanish rejected. The Spanish interpreter, Friar Vincente, read

2100-695: The claim that the bulk of the Inca conquests were made during the late 15th century. At the time of the Inca Civil War an Inca army was, according to Diego de Rosales , subduing a revolt among the Diaguitas of Copiapó and Coquimbo . The empire's push into the Amazon Basin near the Chinchipe River was stopped by the Shuar in 1527. The empire extended into corners of what are today

2160-571: The command of Sapa Inca ("paramount leader") Pachacuti Cusi Yupanqui (Pachakutiy Kusi Yupanki), whose epithet Pachacuti means "the turn of the world". The name of Pachacuti was given to him after he conquered the tribe of the Chancas during the Chanka–Inca War (in modern-day Apurímac ). During his reign, he and his son Topa Yupanqui (Tupa Yupanki) brought much of the modern-day territory of Peru under Inca control. Pachacuti reorganized

2220-439: The diverse ethnic groups ruled by the Inca "welcomed the Spanish invaders as liberators and willingly settled down with them to share rule of Andean farmers and miners". Many regional leaders, known as kurakas , continued to serve the Spanish overlords, called encomenderos , as they had served the Inca overlords. Other than efforts to spread the religion of Christianity , the Spanish benefited from and made little effort to change

2280-413: The empire joined modern-day Peru , what are now western Ecuador , western and south central Bolivia , northwest Argentina , the southwesternmost tip of Colombia and a large portion of modern-day Chile into a state comparable to the historical empires of Eurasia . Its official language was Quechua . The Inca Empire was unique in that it lacked many of the features associated with civilization in

2340-506: The empire, finely-woven textiles , use of knotted strings ( quipu or khipu ) for record keeping and communication, agricultural innovations and production in a difficult environment, and the organization and management fostered or imposed on its people and their labor. The Inca Empire functioned largely without money and without markets. Instead, exchange of goods and services was based on reciprocity between individuals and among individuals, groups, and Inca rulers. "Taxes" consisted of

2400-483: The empire, probably numbering only 15,000 to 40,000, but ruling a population of around 10 million people. When the Spanish arrived in the Empire of the Incas, they gave the name Peru to what the natives knew as Tawantinsuyu. The name "Inca Empire" originated from the Chronicles of the 16th century. The Inca Empire was the last chapter of thousands of years of Andean civilizations . The Andean civilization

2460-505: The empire. Perhaps more importantly, smallpox , influenza , typhus and measles had spread from Central America. The first epidemic of European disease in the Inca Empire was probably in the 1520s, killing Huayna Capac, his designated heir, and an unknown, probably large, number of other Inca subjects. The forces led by Pizarro consisted of 168 men, along with one cannon and 27 horses . The conquistadors were armed with lances , arquebuses , steel armor and long swords . In contrast,

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2520-432: The family would invite all relatives to their house for food and dance, and then each member of the family would receive a lock of hair from the child. After each family member had received a lock, the father would shave the child's head. This stage of life was categorized by a stage of "ignorance, inexperience, and lack of reason, a condition that the child would overcome with time". For Inca society, in order to advance from

2580-442: The founder of the Inca. It is said that he and his sisters built the first Inca homes in the valley with their own hands. When the time came, Manco Capac turned to stone like his brothers before him. His son, Sinchi Roca, became the second emperor of the Inca. Legend collected by the mestizo chronicler Inca Garcilaso de la Vega in his work Los Comentarios Reales de los Incas ( transl.  The Royal Commentaries of

2640-435: The frontier regions. The exact linguistic topography of the pre-Columbian and early colonial Andes remains incompletely understood, owing to the extinction of several languages and the loss of historical records. In order to manage this diversity, the Inca lords promoted the usage of Quechua , especially the variety of what is now Lima , as the official language or lingua franca . Defined by mutual intelligibility, Quechua

2700-638: The kingdom of Cusco into the Tahuantinsuyu, which consisted of a central government with the Inca at its head and four provincial governments with strong leaders: Chinchaysuyu (NW), Antisuyu (NE), Kuntisuyu (SW) and Qullasuyu (SE). Pachacuti is thought to have built Machu Picchu , either as a family home or summer retreat, although it may have been an agricultural station. Pachacuti sent spies to regions he wanted in his empire and they brought to him reports on political organization, military strength and wealth. He then sent messages to their leaders extolling

2760-597: The legends of Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo, and that of the Ayar brothers. The center cave at Tambo Tocco (Tampu T’uqu) was named Capac Tocco (Qhapaq T’uqu, "principal niche"). The other caves were Maras Tocco (Maras T’uqu) and Sutic Tocco (Sutiq T’uqu). Four brothers and four sisters stepped out of the middle cave. They were: Ayar Manco (Ayar Manqu), Ayar Cachi (Ayar Kachi), Ayar Auca (Ayar Awka) and Ayar Uchu (Ayar Uchi); and Mama Ocllo (Mama Uqllu), Mama Raua (Mama Rawa), Mama Huaco (Mama Waqu) and Mama Coea (Mama Qura). Out of

2820-559: The north of Argentina and part of the southern Colombia . However, most of the southern portion of the Inca empire, the portion denominated as Qullasuyu, was located in the Altiplano . The Inca Empire was an amalgamation of languages, cultures and peoples. The components of the empire were not all uniformly loyal, nor were the local cultures all fully integrated. The Inca empire as a whole had an economy based on exchange and taxation of luxury goods and labour. The following quote describes

2880-514: The north of the Maule River . Traditional historiography claims the advance south halted after the Battle of the Maule where they met determined resistance from the Mapuche . This view is challenged by historian Osvaldo Silva who argues instead that it was the social and political framework of the Mapuche that posed the main difficulty in imposing imperial rule. Silva does accept that

2940-404: The onset of menstruation, upon which the girl would go into the forest alone and return only once the bleeding had ended. In the forest she would fast, and, once returned, the girl would be given a new name, adult clothing, and advice. This "folly" stage of life was the time young adults were allowed to have sex without being a parent. Qullasuyu Recently, there have been movements to form

3000-400: The production of "vast quantities of goods". Carl Troll has argued that the development of the Inca state in the central Andes was aided by conditions that allow for the elaboration of the staple food chuño . Chuño, which can be stored for long periods, is made of potato dried at the freezing temperatures that are common at nighttime in the southern Andean highlands. Such a link between

3060-556: The region and be its viceroy . This approval was received as detailed in the following quote: "In July 1529 the 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". When the conquistadors returned to Peru in 1532, a war of succession between the sons of Sapa Inca Huayna Capac, Huáscar and Atahualpa , and unrest among newly conquered territories weakened

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3120-461: The side caves came the people who were to be the ancestors of all the Inca clans. Ayar Manco carried a magic staff made of the finest gold. Where this staff landed, the people would live. They traveled for a long time. On the way, Ayar Cachi boasted about his strength and power. His siblings tricked him into returning to the cave to get a sacred llama . When he went into the cave, they trapped him inside to get rid of him. Ayar Uchu decided to stay on

3180-475: The society and culture of the former Inca Empire until the rule of Francisco de Toledo as viceroy from 1569 to 1581. The Spanish installed Atahualpa's brother Manco Inca Yupanqui in power; for some time Manco cooperated with the Spanish while they fought to put down resistance in the north. Meanwhile, an associate of Pizarro, Diego de Almagro , attempted to claim Cusco. Manco tried to use this intra-Spanish feud to his advantage, recapturing Cusco in 1536, but

3240-591: The southern Andes, running down into northwest Argentina and as far south as the Maule river near modern Santiago, Chile. Along with Kuntisuyu , it was part of the Hurin Suyukuna or "Lower Quarters" of the empire. From Quechua , composite of qulla (meaning south , but also the namesake people ) and suyu (region, quarter of the Inca Empire ), with the meaning of "southern region". Each suyu

3300-571: The stage of ignorance to development the child must learn the roles associated with their gender. The next important ritual was to celebrate the maturity of a child. Unlike the coming of age ceremony, the celebration of maturity signified the child's sexual potency. This celebration of puberty was called warachikuy for boys and qikuchikuy for girls. The warachikuy ceremony included dancing, fasting, tasks to display strength, and family ceremonies. The boy would also be given new clothes and taught how to act as an unmarried man. The qikuchikuy signified

3360-401: The top of the cave to look over the Inca people. The minute he proclaimed that, he turned to stone. They built a shrine around the stone and it became a sacred object. Ayar Auca grew tired of all this and decided to travel alone. Only Ayar Manco and his four sisters remained. Finally, they reached Cusco. The staff sank into the ground. Before they arrived, Mama Ocllo had already borne Ayar Manco

3420-516: Was forced to work in the gold and silver mines, the foremost of which was the titanic silver mine at Potosí . When a family member died, which would usually happen within a year or two, the family was required to send a replacement. Although smallpox is usually presumed to have spread through the Empire before the arrival of the Spaniards, the devastation is also consistent with other theories. Beginning in Colombia , smallpox spread rapidly before

3480-517: Was imprisoned in and twice that amount of silver. The Inca fulfilled this ransom, but Pizarro deceived them, refusing to release the Inca afterwards. During Atahualpa's imprisonment, Huascar was assassinated elsewhere. The Spaniards maintained that this was at Atahualpa's orders; this was used as one of the charges against Atahualpa when the Spaniards finally executed him, in August 1533. Although "defeat" often implies an unwanted loss in battle, many of

3540-757: Was lost as almost all fell into disuse and disintegrated over time or were destroyed by the Spaniards. The empire was linguistically diverse. Some of the most important languages were Quechua , Aymara , Puquina and Mochica , respectively mainly spoken in the Central Andes, the Altiplano ( Qullasuyu ), the south coast ( Kuntisuyu ), and the area of the north coast ( Chinchaysuyu ) around Chan Chan , today Trujillo . Other languages included Quignam , Jaqaru , Leco , Uru-Chipaya languages , Kunza , Humahuaca , Cacán , Mapudungun , Culle , Chachapoya , Catacao languages , Manta , Barbacoan languages , and Cañari–Puruhá as well as numerous Amazonian languages on

3600-402: Was the Inca's way of teaching and accustoming them to pay tribute. Spanish conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro and his brothers explored south from what is today Panama , reaching Inca territory by 1526. 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

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