Civilizations Around the World: The Inca

The Inca Empire: Rise and Fall

The Inca Empire
Image courtesy of EuroHistory Teacher, Wikipedia Commons

The Incas began as a hill tribe from Peru. Over a course of 300 years, they dominated the whole area of the Andes mountains.

By the 1500s, their empire became known as Tawantinsuyu, “The Four United Provinces” in Quencha, the language of the people of the central Andes of South America.

Their four provinces (or suyu in Quencha) include ChinchaySuyu, AntiSuyu, KuntiSuyu, QullaSuyu, and the coners of these provinces meet at the center, Cusco, the Inca capital. 

Religion and Culture

The Inca referred to themselves as “children of the Sun,” as they belived they were descendents of the sun god, Inti. Other than Inti, they worshiped many gods that relate to nature:

• Viracocha (also Pachacamac) - Created all living beings
• Apu Illapu - Rain God, prayed to when they need rain
• Ayar Cachi - Hot-tempered God, causes earthquakes
• Illapa - Goddess of lightning and thunder (also Yakumama water goddess)
• Inti - sun god and patron deity of the holy city of Cuzco (home of the sun)
• Kuychi - Rainbow God, connected with fertility
• Mama Kilya - Wife of Inti, called Moon Mother
• Mama Occlo - Wisdom to civilize the people, taught women to weave cloth, and build houses
• Manco Cápac - known for his courage and sent to earth to become first king of the Incas, taught people how to grow plants, make weapons, work together, share resources, and worship the Gods
• Pachamama - The Goddess of earth and wife of Viracocha, people give her offerings of coca leafs and beer and pray to her for major agricultural occasions
• Qochamama - Goddess of the sea
• Sachamama - Means Mother Tree, goddess in the shape of a snake with two heads
• Yakumama - Means mother Water, represented as a snake, when she came to earth she transformed into a great river (also Illapa)

They worshiped their deities daily because they believed without doing so the gods would intervene and cause problems. The Incas also worshiped huacas - sacred places or objects. A huaca could range from being a large building or a tiny toy statue. Every family had a huaca amd would offer it daily prayers. Priests performed daily ceremonies at the temples, offering prayers to the huacas in their care.

The Inca believed in the afterlife and mummified their dead like the ancient Egyptians. Those who obeyed the Incan moral code — ama suwa, ama llulla, ama quella (do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy) — "went to live in the Sun's warmth while others spent their eternal days in the cold earth." The mummies of dead rulers remained in their palaces and were treated as if they were still alive. They were brought offerings and were paraded through the streets on special occasions.

The Inca practiced cranial deformation. They would wrap tight cloth straps around the heads of newborns in order to alter the shape of their soft skulls into a more conical form; this cranial deformation was made to distinguish the nobility apart from the common people.

Once and every month, the Incas held a major religious festival. Festivals were held outside and included many kinds of games, songs, dancing, food, parades, and sacrifice (of animals usually). If something special was happening, like the crowning of a new emperor or a drought, the Incas would include human sacrifice as part of the festival. The biggest and most important festivity held once a year during the winter solstice of the southern hemisphere was Inti Raymi, the feast of the sun The "Inti Raymi" or "Sun Festivity". It was aimed to worship the "Apu Inti" (Sun God) in the great Cuzco Main Plaza.

Architecture

By far the best example of Inca architecture is the breath taking site of Machu Picchu:  

Machu Picchu, Image courtesy of Martin St-Amant, Wikipedia Commons

Inca buildings were constructed of white granite or limestone. The temples were constructed without any use or mortar because the stone block fit together so perfectly. The stones that were used fit together because they were sculpted by repeatedly lowering a rock onto another rock and carving away any sections on the lower rock. Another technique used was narrowing of the top than at the bottom of walls of temples and palaces. They are not perpendicular but slope slightly inward. The doors of Inca houses were usually high and trapezoidal shape. As in ancient Egypt, the bottom of the door is wider than the top.

Pictures of the exterior wall of the Inca fortress of Sacsayhuaman, showing how the huge pieces of rock fit perfectly.
Image courtesy of Christophe Meneboeuf, Wikipedia Commons 

Stone wall, Image courtesy of Rutahsa Adventures

Doorway, Image courtesy of Lonely Planet Images

Social Order and Politics

The social order of the Inca varied from area to area, but it maintained the same basic structure. On top were the Sapa Inca. Inca translates to emperor, sapa means only - so Sapa Inca means "Only Ruler". Then came the nobles, these were often the priests and relatives of past emperors or the current ones. After, there were craftsmen and architects; they were very high on the social ladder because of their skills valued by the Empire. Then came the working class, often just farmers. After this, were the slaves and peasants of the society.

Inca empire expansion
Image courtesy of Spesh531, Wikipedia Commons

When the Chancas attacked, in the early 15th century, and Cusi Yupanqui took over his father's throne, Viracocha Inca, he managed to put the empire back together under the name of Pachacuti in alliance with his son Tupac Inca. With this, Tawantinsuyu was born.

"Through threat, negotiation, or actual bloody conquest, they subjugated new provinces, determined the number of tax-paying peasants, installed a local Inca governor, and then left an administration in place that was empowered to supervise and collect taxes before armies moved on. If cooperative, the local elites were allowed to retain their privileged positions and were rewarded handsomely for their collaboration. If uncooperative, the Incas exterminated them and wiped out their supporters. Peasants were a crop, a crop that could be harvested through periodic taxation. Docile, obedient workers who created surpluses, in fact, were more valuable than any of the ...potatoes...llamas...and alpacas..." - Kim MacQuarrie, "The Last Days of the Incas," pg. 45

Gold figurines, Image courtesy of Geyman.com

Art
The Inca sculpted pottery and ceramics which featured geometric designs painted in black, red, brown, yellow, and white. Metalworkers excelled making ornaments, tools, and weapons out silver, copper, gold, and bronze. Female statues are found with Inca offerings to the gods. Because llamas were very important in the Andean region, lots of stylized llama figures were made by metalworkers. 

Wooden llama, Image courtesy of lrb.com

Metal artwork is scarce. Spanish conquistadores took it upon themselves to melt down as much gold and silver as possible to send back to Spain. 

The Mystery of Machu Picchu
On July 24, 1911, Hiram Bingham (with the help of local Indians) stumbled upon what he believed was Vilcabamba, the lost city of the Inca where the last of the independent Inca rulers waged a years-long battle against the Spanish -- but what he found was not the lost city, but a forgotten city.

Since the Inca did not develop a writing system (they used a knotting system known as the quipu), they did not leave behind any documented clues on what the purpose of the location was. Bingham had to rely on excavating to determine what Machu Picchu was. At first he had belived it was some kind of a training ground for women since most skeletal remains found was mostly female (later analysis proved it was fifty-fifty male and female). The latest accepted idea (2007) is that this marvelous city, in fact, was a royal estate of Pachacuti.

"To commemorate his conquest of the Vilcabamba Valley, Pachacuti ordered that his third royal estate be built, this one very near the Chuquichaca bridge, on a high ridge overlooking what is now called the Urubamba River. The Inacas apparently called the new site Picchu, meaning 'peak.' Since the proposed citadel and nearby satellite communities were planned from the start to form a part of a luxurious private estate, the entire complex would display some of the finest examples of Inca engineering and art. [...] The citadel of Machu Picchu was thus the third and perhaps the most important jewel in the crown of architectural monuments that Pachacuti had created, after Pisac and Ollantaytambo." - Kim MacQuarrie, "The Last Days of the Incas," pg. 441, 443

Excavation at Machu Picchu is still continuing but any further evidence regarding the purpose of the location is highly unlikely. The best clues scientist and archaeologist have is only the remains that can reveal the reasons for its construction, the activities that took place long ago on the peak along the Urubamba River.

Learn more about the Incas!

Here are our recommendations:

  

References:

Jones, David M. The Myths & Religion of the Incas. UK: Southwater, 2008.

MacQuarrie, Kim. The Last Days of the Incas. UK: Piatkus, 2007.

"National Geographic Photo Gallery--Inca Culture." National Geographic. Web. 08 Jan. 2012. 

Williams, Bill. "The Incredible Incas for Kids." The Incredible Incas for Kids. Web. 08 Jan. 2012. 

About the Author

I'm Jose Pierre and I like learning about all aspects of culture, both ancient and modern. I enjoy learning how they communicated, expressed themselves, and their technology.