More Important Topics Cylinder

The Inca empire proved short-lived: by AD 1533, Atahualpa, the last Inca emperor, called a Sapa Inca, was killed on the orders of the conquistador Francisco Pizarro, marking the beginning of Spanish rule.

The Quechua name was Tawantin Suyu which can be translated The Four Regions or The Four United Regions. Before the Quechua spelling reform it was written in Spanish as Tahuantinsuyo.

Tawantin is a group of four things (tawa "four" with the suffix -ntin which names a group); suyu means "region" or "province". The empire was divided into four suyus, whose corners met at the capital, Cusco (Qosqo), in modern-day Peru.

The official language of the empire was Quechua, although over seven hundred local languages were spoken. The Inca leadership encouraged the worship of their gods, the foremost of which was Inti, the sun god.

The Inca people began as a tribe in the Cuzco area around the 12th century AD. Under the leadership of Manco Capac, they formed the small city-state of Cuzco (Quechua Qosqo), shown in red on the map. In 1438 AD, under the command of Sapa Inca (paramount leader) Pachacuti, whose name literally meant "world-shaker", they began a far-reaching expansion.

The land Pachacuti conquered was about the size of the Thirteen Colonies of the United States in 1776, and consisted of nearly the entire Andes mountain range.

Pachacuti reorganized the kingdom of Cuzco into an empire, the Tahuantinsuyu, a federalist system which consisted of a central government with the Inca at its head and four provincial governments with strong leaders: Chinchasuyu (NW), Antisuyu (NE), Contisuyu (SW), and Collasuyu (SE). Pachacuti is also thought to have built Machu Picchu, either as a family home or as a Camp David-like retreat.

Pachacuti would send spies to regions he wanted in his empire who would report back on their political organization, military might and wealth.

He would then send messages to the leaders of these lands extolling 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 subject rulers of the Inca. Most accepted the rule of the Inca as a fait accompli and acquiesced peacefully.

The ruler's children would then be brought to Cuzco to be taught about Inca administration systems, then return to rule their native lands. This allowed the Inca to indoctrinate the former ruler's children into the Inca nobility, and, with luck, marry their daughters into families at various corners of the empire.

It was traditional for the Inca's son to lead the army; Pachacuti's son Túpac Inca began conquests to the north in 1463, and continued them as Inca after Pachucuti's death in 1471. His most important conquest was the Kingdom of Chimor, the Inca's only serious rival for the coast of Peru. Túpac Inca's empire stretched north into modern day Ecuador and Colombia.

Túpac Inca's son Huayna Cápac added significant territory to the south. At its height, Tahuantinsuyu included Peru and Bolivia, most of what is now Ecuador, a large portion of modern-day Chile, and extended into corners of Argentina and Colombia.

Tahuantinsuyu was a patchwork of languages, cultures and peoples. The components of the empire were not all uniformly loyal, nor were the local cultures all fully integrated.

For instance, the Chimú used money in their commerce, while the Inca empire as a whole had an economy based on exchange and taxation of luxury goods and labour (it is said that Inca tax collectors would take the head lice of the lame and old as a symbolic tribute).

The portions of the Chachapoya that had been conquered were almost openly hostile to the Inca, and the Inca nobles rejected an offer of refuge in their kingdom after their troubles with the Spanish.

Leadership systems at all levels within the Inca Empire were structured by moieties entitled the hanan (upper) and the urin (lower), in keeping with the ideal of duality. The leaders of the two moieties ruled together and were ranked equally, although the hanan leader had greater prestige and therefore dominance.

At the time of the Spanish conquest of Peru the supreme leader of the empire of the hanan moiety was called the Sapa Inca.

This concept of duality was lost to the Spanish, whose post-conquest chroniclers only recorded the names of the Sapa Inca, the empire's hanan ruler at the time, and his

"queens", and left off the hurin.

The Sapa Inca of the first dynasty of the Kingdom of Cuzco were, in order, Manco Capac, Sinchi Roca, Lloque Yupanqui, Mayta Capac, and Capac Yupanqui. Little is known of these early rulers, but as a rough guide, in later years capac meant warlord and sinchi meant leader. The beginning of the dynasty is generally taken as about 1200 CE.

The Sapa Inca of the second dynasty of the Kingdom of Cuzco were, in order, Inca Roca, Yahuar Huacac, Viracocha, and Pachacuti. The second dynasty marked the transition in dominance from the hurin to hanan family.

The first Sapa Inca of the Tawantin Suyu, or Inca empire, was Pachacuti (1438-1471). He was followed by Tupac Inca Yupanqui (1471-1493), Huayna Capac (1493-1527), Ninan Cuyochi (?-1527), Huascar (1527-1532), and, finally, Atahualpa (1532-1533).

Pachacuti reorganized the empire into four suyus (provinces), each governed by an Apo with several layers of administration below him. He also adopted the Chimú custom of split inheritance.

Under this system one potential heir would receive the political inheritance while property and water rights would be split between the other potential heirs.

This sated the other potential heirs materially and encouraged the new Inca to conquer new territory to acquire property.

Ninan Cuyochi, who was Inca for only a few days, is sometimes left off the list of Sapa Incas because news of his death from smallpox arrived in Cuzco shortly after he was declared Sapa Inca.

He had been with Huayna Capac when he died of smallpox. The death of Ninan, the presumed heir, led to a war of succession between Huascar and Atahualpa, a weakness that the Spanish exploited when they conquered the Incas.

After the Spanish conquest, there were several more Sapa Incas before the Inca leadership system dissolved completely. They were Tupac Huallpa (1533), Manco Inca Yupanqui (1533-1545), Sayri Tupaq (1545-1560), Titu Cusi (1560-1571), and, most famously, Tupac Amarú.

Entre los grandes mitos está el de Manco Cápac y su hermana y esposa Mama Ocllo, formando otra gran leyenda sobre los precursores de este Imperio.

Manco Cápac y Mama Ocllo son -en este mito- la primera pareja de pobladores sagrados de la tierra, los primeros incas que se establecen en ella.

Dice la leyenda que surgieron al mundo de la Isla del Sol en el Lago Titicaca, en cuya isla fueron puestos por la mano de Tiqsi Huiracocha, de acuerdo con lo que le había ordenado su padre, el dios Sol o Inti.

Los dos hermanos se unieron en matrimonio, abriendo de este modo el ritual de los matrimonios del Inca con su hermana; Manco Cápac se dedicó a fecundar la tierra con un bastón de oro que el dios Tiqsi Huiracocha le había dado, y haciendo crecer las nuevas plantas, iba creando beneficios para la raza de los pobres mortales, para quienes también iba dando forma a los ríos y arroyos, hacía brotar árboles y pastos y construía ricas habitaciones en las que pudieran vivir con decencia.

Mama Ocllo se dedicaba a hacer su gran tarea enseñando a las mujeres las artes e industrias que les permitieran sacar todo el provecho posible a las riquezas que su hermano producía; así, haciendo prodigios, la real pareja llegó hasta un lugar en el que, con su mágico bastón de oro, señaló el centro del imperio, la futura ciudad del Cusco.

Pero hay distintas versiones de la llegada al mundo del primer Inca: una de ellas, en la que se mezcla el relato de Manco Cápac y Mama Ocllo con el de los hermanos Ayar, hace que el Inca aparezca junto a otros tres seres bien distintos; ya no son ellos, los dos hermanos, quienes van a estar en solitario al frente de la creación del Imperio Inca.

Mayta Capac (Quechua Mayta Qhapaq Inka) was the fourth Sapa Inca of the Kingdom of Cuzco (beginning around CE 1290) and a member of the Hurin dynasty. As son of Lloque Yupanqui, he was his heir and the father of Capac Yupanqui. His wife's name is given as Mama Tankariy Yachiy.

The chroniclers describe him as a great warrior who conquered territories as far as Lake Titicaca, Arequipa, and Potosí. In fact, his kingdom was still limited to the valley of Cuzco. His great military feat may have been the

subjugation of another tribe in the valley, the Alcaviza.

As a young boy, he was terribly strong and a bit of a bully. At the age of 12, he killed three peasants. Here are some more odd facts...

At the age of 2 he was the size of a 6-year-old.

Some say that he was born with at least 7 adult teeth.

Capac Yupanqui (Quechua Qhapaq Yupanki Inka, "splendid accountant Inca") was the fifth Sapa Inca of the Kingdom of Cuzco (beginning around CE 1320) and the last of the Hurin dynasty.

He was the son and successor of Mayta Capac. His wife Mama Cusi Hilpay or Qorihillpay was the daughter of the lord of Anta, previously a great enemy of the Incas. His son, founder of the Hanan dynasty, was Inca Roca.

In legend he is a great conqueror; the chronicler Juan de Betanzos says that he was the first Inca to conquer territory outside the valley of Cuzco-- which may be taken to delimit the importance of his predecessors. Garcilaso de

la Vega reports that he improved the city of Cuzco with many buildings, bridges, roads, and aqueducts.

His father was the Inca Capac Yupanqui, but his heir apparent (by his wife Cusi Hilpay) was his son Quispe Yupanqui. After Capac Yupanqui's death, however, the hanan moiety rebelled against the hurin, killed Quispe Yupanqui, and gave the throne to Inca Roca, son of another of Capac Yupanqui's wives, Cusi Chimbo. Inca Roca moved his palace into the hurin section of Cuzco.

In legend, he is said to have conquered the Chancas (among other peoples), as well as established the yachaywasi, schools for teaching nobles. More soberly, he seems to have improved the irrigation works of Cuzco and neighboring areas, but the Chancas continued to trouble his successors.

The Story Of Inca Roca And His Kidnapped Son

A girl called Mama Mikay, from the Huayallaca cult, was torn between two

lovers: The Ayarmaca leader, and the Inca Leader, Inca Roca.

Eventually she chose Inca Roca. The Ayarmaca leader wasn't too happy about this. He declared he would be avenged, and kidnapped the new couple's first son, Yahuar Huacac, aged 8. Inca Roca was furious.

"Give him back!" he shouted.

The Ayarmaca refused.

"Give him back or else!" shouted Inca Roca again.

"Or else what?" came the reply.

The Incas could not think of an 'or else', so they just waited for Huacac's return for years and years. Huacac was about twenty when he returned..The Incas must have looked pretty silly, but of course that was the Ayarmaca leader's plan.

Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (or Pachacutec; Quechua Pachakutiq, literally "world-turner", i.e. "world-transformer") was the ninth Sapa Inca (1438-71 CE) of the Kingdom of Cuzco, which he transformed into an empire, Tahuantinsuyu.

He began the era of conquest that, within three generations, expanded the Inca dominion from the valley of Cuzco to nearly the whole of civilized South America. He was the fourth of the Hanan dynasty, and his wife's name is given as Mama Anawarkhi.

His given name was Cusi Yupanqui. According to many

chroniclers, his career began when Cuzco came under attack from the rival Chancas. His father Viracocha abandoned the city, along with the heir apparent Urco. Cusi Yupanqui defended the city and defeated the enemy; then, pushing his brother aside, he proclaimed himself Inca. (Some chroniclers, confusingly, assign this deed to Viracocha instead.)

In the early part of his reign, he established Inca control over a swath of the Andes from north of modern Lima to Lake Titicaca. In 1463, as was common with the Incas, he put his son Tupac Inca in charge of the Inca army. Tupac Inca continued to conquer territiories to the north, reaching what is now Ecuador by his father's death in 1471.

Meanwhile, Pachacuti reorganized the new empire, the Tahuantinsuyu or "the united four provinces". Under his system, there were four apos that each controlled one of four provinces (suyu). Below these governors were t'oqrikoq, or local leaders, who ran a city, valley, or mine.

By the time of the Spanish conquest of Peru, each apo had around 15 t'oqrikoq below him, but we can assume there were fewer when Pachacuti first organized this system. He also established a separate chain of command for the army and priesthood to establish a system of checks and balances on power.

He rebuilt much of Cuzco, designing it to serve the needs of an imperial city, and indeed as a representation of the empire. There was a sector of the city for each suyu, centering on the road leading to that province; nobles and immigrants lived in the sector corresponding to their origin. Each sector was further divided into areas for the hanan (upper) and hurin (lower) moieties. The Inca and his family lived in the center; the more prestigious a noble was, the closer he lived to the center.

Despite Pachacuti's political and military talents, he did not improve upon the system of choosing the next Inca. His son became the next Inca without any known dispute, but in future generations the next Inca had to gain control of the empire by winning enough support from the apos, priesthood, and military to either win a civil war or intimidate anyone else from trying to wrest control of the empire.

Machu Picchu is believed to date to the time of Pachacuti.

In Quechua Pachakutiq means he who changes the world. He certainly turned his little hamlet into an empire that could compete with the Chimu, and would eventually incorporate them within the Inca empire.

His father appointed him to head the Inca army in 1463. He extended the realm northward along the Andes through modern Ecuador, and developed a special fondness for the city of Quito, which he rebuilt with architects from Cuzco. During this time his father Pachacuti reorganized the kingdom of Cuzco into the Tahuantinsuyu, the "four

provinces".

He became Inca in his turn upon his father's death in 1471, ruling until his own death in 1493. He conquered Chimor, which occupied the northern coast of what is now Peru, the largest remaining rival to the Incas.

The Pacific expedition

Tupac Inca Yupanqui is also credited with leading a circa 10 month-long voyage of exploration into the Pacific around 1480, although many have

regarded this as a fabrication. Reportedly visiting islands he called Nina chumpi ("Fire Island") and Hahua chumpi (or Avachumpi, "Outer Island" - note that chumpi, "girdle"; figuratively "encircled land", seems to indicate the presence of a coral reef), which are sometimes identified with the Galápagos Islands but more probably relate to some islands in Western Polynesia, probably as far out as the Tuamotu or Marquesas Islands.

It is often suggested that one of the islands was Easter Island, but there are no records in local oral tradition of a large fleet of explorers. However, the natives were obviously not unaccustomed with sea-going ships when Jakob Roggeveen arrived there (despite not being able to build them themselves as by then the island had been devoid of sufficient quantities of larger trees for some time), and there are indications - South American microorganisms in the lake sediment of Rano Raraku appearing at a compatible date, the nga'atu/totora bulrush otherwise known from Lake Titicaca of

which still-living plants were used by the Incans for thatching ship superstructures, and possibly the Incan-style masonry of Ahu Vinapu) - suggesting that at least one stray ship from the exploring fleet may have indeed happened upon Easter Island. Intriguingly, Easter Island genealogies mentions a Tupa Ariki (= "Prince/King Tupa") who has been (controversially) conjectured to have ruled around 1485 for a short time and then left by ship.

There exists an oral tradition on Mangareva in the Tuamotus, telling of an incident during the reign of the brothers Tavere and Taroi (which are, however, presumed to have ruled at a considerably earlier date, though this is not based on exact data) where an important chief named Tupa with skin redder than the Mangarevans' arrived with many ships from the East. The Incan legends, on the other hand, speak of "black people" and artefacts being brought back from Nina and Hahua chumpi.

The artefacts, unfortunately, seem to have been lost after the Spanish conquest. While there are some discrepancies between the legends and known fact, these can be the result of oral transmission over several generations. From what is known about the shipbuilding and seafaring skills of the peoples involved, such a voyage would have been at least technically possible.

On his way back to Cusco to claim his recently won throne, Atahualpa stopped in the Andean city of Cajamarca with his army of over 80,000 troops. By this time the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro had established the city of

Piura, the first Spanish settlement in Peru on July of 1532. After two months on the march, Pizarro had arrived at Cajamarca with just 168 men under his command and sent Hernando de Soto, friar Vicente de Valverde and native interpreter Felipillo to speak with Atahualpa about the Spanish presence.

Through the interpreter, Valverde delivered the "Requirement," indicating that Atahualpa and his people must convert to Christianity, and if he refused he would be considered an enemy of the Church and of Spain. Atahualpa refused the Spanish presence in his land by saying he would "be no man's tributary". The Spanish envoys returned to Pizarro, who prepared a surprise

attack against Atahualpa's army in what became the Battle of Cajamarca on November 16, 1532.

According to Spanish law, Atahualpa’s refusal of the requirement allowed the Spanish to officially declare war on the Inca people. When Atahualpa coldly asked the priest Valverde by what authority did he and his people have to say such things, Valverde offered him a Bible saying that the authority derived from the words in It. He read it and then asked that if this was it why did it not speak to him.

He then threw to the ground. That gave the Spaniards the excuse they needed. Then the Spanish opened fire. Over six thousand unarmed Inca soldiers were killed over the course of two hours, and the Spanish imprisoned Atahualpa in the Temple of the Sun.

Atahualpa still could not believe the Spanish intended to take control of his kingdom. He thought if he gave them the gold and silver they sought they would leave/In exchange for his release, he agreed to fill a large room with gold and promised the Spanish twice that amount in silver. Although he was stunned by the offer,

Pizarro had no intention of releasing the Inca because he needed the ruler's influence over the native people to maintain order in the surrounding country or, more to the point, he meant to depose Atahualpa, placing the entire empire under the rule of Spain's King Charles I (Holy Roman Emperor Charles V), with himself as viceroy.

Still outnumbered and fearing an imminent attack from the Inca general Rumiñahui, after several months the Spanish saw Atahualpa as too much of a liability and chose to have him executed. Pizarro staged a mock trial and found Atahualpa guilty of revolting against the Spanish, practicing idolatry and murdering Huáscar, his own brother. Atahualpa was sentenced to execution by burning.

He was horrified, since the Inca believed that the soul would not be able to go on to the afterlife if the body were burned. Friar Vicente de Valverde, who had earlier offered the bible to Atahualpa, intervened again, telling Atahualpa that if he agreed to convert to Christianity he would convince the rest to commute the sentence. Atahualpa agreed to be baptized under Christian faith.

He was given the name Juan Santos Atahualpa and, in accordance with his request, was strangled instead of being burned. Atahualpa died on August 29, 1533. Atahualpa was succeeded by his brother, the puppet Inca Tupac Huallpa, and later by another brother Manco Inca Yupanqui.

Atahualpa's disastrous handling of the Spanish invasion notwithstanding, his actions leading up to the time of the invasion did contribute to the fall of the empire. One could see the parallel with Harold Godwinson's feud with his brother Tostig, which lead to the civil war and the Battle of Stamford Bridge as well as the Battle of Hastings as it severely weakened their positions in a time of crisis.

However given that there were less than 200 Spaniards and 1000 Native allies, it is easy to understand why Atahualpa did not immediately sense the threat. Unlike Montezuma who may have seen the Europeans as representatives of a returning deity, he quickly saw them as human beings and intruders to be dealt with at their leisure.

For all their weapons and horses he knew he had more than enough soldiers to handle Pizarro. In fact Atahualpa was planning to speak with them and then arrest them. He planned to put Pizarro and his officers to death. He would retain the needed specialists, such as the horsebreaker, blacksmith, and gunsmith to equip his army. In short he was planning on having Pizarro for lunch but Pizarro had him for breakfast.

Se dice que los chancas se dividieron en tres grandes bandos, uno de ellos se dirigió al Contisuyo, liderado por Malma e Irapa. El segundo ejército se dirigió al Antisuyo, guiado por Yana Vilca y Toquello Vilca.

El tercer bando se encaminó directamente hacia el Cusco, conducido por Tumay Waraca y Astu Huaraca. Cuando los chancas llegaron a Vilcacunga enviaron mensajeros al Cusco haciendo saber sus intenciones hacia los incas. Al enterarse de esto, el inca Viracocha huyó hacia el fuerte de Caquia Yaquiyaguanta, llevando consigo a sus hijos Urco y Socso.

En el Cusco quedó Cusi Yupanqui (antiguo nombre de Pachacútec), que era un supuesto hijo de Viracocha. Yupanqui se quedó con sus generales y sirvientes. Pachacútec envió a tres emisarios a pedir ayuda a los curacas vecinos, que negaron ayuda alguna debido a los temores hacia los chancas.

A pesar de la negativa de otras curacas, la de Chañan Cury Coca ayudó a Yupanqui. Juntos crearon una fosa cubierta de ramas y tierra alrededor de la ciudad. En la madrugada siguiente, los chancas descendieron del cerro Carmenca de forma estrepitosa y cayeron en la trampa.

Según el mito, en un momento crucial de la batalla, los purucaucas pasaron de ser simples piedras a fieros soldados responsables de la victoria de los Incas. La fama fue tal que algunas curacas se rendían por el solo temor de tener que enfrentarse a tan aguerrido enemigo.

Luego de la victoria, Yupanqui persiguió a sus enemigos para apoderarse de su estandarte. Los chancas se retiraron hasta Ichopampa. Los curacas vecinos al Cusco se habían quedado en la cima de los cerros aledaños a la espera del resultado.

Al ver que el ejército de Yupanqui iniciaba la persecución, estas curacas se unieron a las fuerzas victoriosas. La segunda batalla se llevó a cabo en Ichopampa en donde los dos jefes chancas fueron asesinados con lo que el ejército inca, junto con las otras curacas vecinas unidas a estos deseosos de victoria, se apoderaron de un valioso botín, y consecuentemente abrieron el paso a un importante desarrollo del Imperio Incaico.

The Inca army was a large, well trained, and fast moving. Every Inca province sent soldiers with their own banners onto the battlefields. Each unit of ten warriors served under a local leader.

These groups of ten were combined into bigger units of 2,500 soldiers under a captain’s supervision. The commander, the next higher in rank, was in charge of 5,000 men.

The commander-in-chief, who was in charge of the army, was usually one of the Sapa Inca’s brothers. Inca soldiers fought with slings, spears, bows and arrows, axes, and blowguns with darts.

At the battle of Cajamarca, the Spaniards killed many of the Incas for there gold. The Spaniards had bigger numbers the metal weapons. The weapons were use to cut through the Inca cotton armor.

Inca weapons were not as tough as the Spaniards. The Spanish had helmets and their armor protected them from the Inca weapons. The Inca also had no guns and the Spaniards did. After the battle of Cajamarca, the Spaniards continued to conquer the Inca until their eventual victory.

In the other parts of the valley people farmed high and low so they could have many different crops. More than 40 different plants were grown before the Spaniards arrived.

The Incas used bird droppings to keep the soil fertile. Llamas and alpacas were used for their wool by the Inca.

The Inca kept dogs and guinea pigs for meat and hunted wild animals. They made fine cloth from fleece that they got from alpacas. Llamas were also used to transport their food. The finest cloth was made from the silky vicuna.

A vicuna is an animal related to the camel, bred for its fine, silky wool.

The Inca farmed by making terraces. A terrace is a flat area created on a hillside so that it can be farmed.

The Incas made many terraces because most of the land was steep. They had to bring water to the fields in stone channels to irrigate the land.

Married farmers paid taxes by working on land for Sapa Inca and the gods.

They also worked in their own fields. All of the crops stayed in the state storehouses. The plowing started in August. Everybody worked together while farming.

Alpacas are kept in herds that graze on the level heights of the Andes of Ecuador, southern Peru, northern Bolivia, and northern Chile at an altitude of 3500 to 5000 meters above sea-level, throughout the year. Alpacas are considerably smaller than llamas, and unlike them are not used as beasts of burden but are valued only for their fiber. Alpacas

only have fleece fibers, not woolen fibers, used for making knitted and woven items much as sheeps wool is. These items include: blankets, sweaters, hats, gloves, scarves, a wide variety of textiles and ponchos in South America, and sweaters, socks and coats in other parts of the world.

The fiber comes in more than 52 natural colors as classified in Peru, 12 as classified in Australia and 22 as classified in America. Alpacas and llamas differ in that llamas have banana shaped ears and long tails and alpacas have straight ears and stubby tails. Aside from these differences, llamas in general are on average 1-2 feet taller, and bigger in proportion than alpacas.

In the textile industry, "alpaca" primarily refers to the hair of Peruvian alpaca, but more broadly it refers to a style of fabric originally made from alpaca hair but now often made from similar fibers, such as mohair, Icelandic sheep wool, or even high-quality English wool. In trade, distinctions are made between alpacas and the several styles of mohair and luster.

Inca education during the time of the Inca Empire was divided into two principal spheres: education for the upper classes and education for the general population.

The royal classes and a few specially-chosen individuals from the provinces of the Empire were formally educated by the Amautas (wise men), while the general population were passed on knowledge and skills by their immediate forbears.

The Amautas constituted a special class of wise men similar to the bards of

Great Britain. They included illustrious philosophers, poets, and priests who kept the oral histories of the Incas alive by imparting the knowledge of their culture, history, customs and traditions throughout the kingdom.

Considered the most highly-educated and respected men in the Empire, the Amautas were largely entrusted with educating those of royal blood, as well as other young members of conquered cultures specially-chosen to administer the regions.

Thus, education throughout the territories of the Incas was

socially discriminatory, barring the rank and file from the formal education that royalty received.

The Amautas did ensure that the general population learn Quechua as the language of the Empire, much in the same way the Romans promoted Latin throughout Europe; however, this was done more for political reasons than educational ones.

Education of the Inca nobility

According to Fray Martín de Murúa, a chronicler of time, the education the young novices (yachakuq runa, in Quechua) received from the Amautas began at age 13 in the houses of knowledge (yachaywasi in Quechua) located in Cuzco. The Amautas used their erudition to teach the young novices of the empire about Inca religion, history and government, and moral norms.

They also ensured a thorough understanding of the Quipu, the Incas' unique logical-numerical system which used knotted strings to keep accurate records of troops, supplies, population data, and agricultural inventories. In addition, the young men were given careful training in physical education and military techniques.

Most Inca novices finished their education at around age 19. After passing their examinations, the young men would receive their wara (a special type of underwear) as proof of their maturity and virility. Their education ended with a special ceremony, attended by the Empire’s oldest and most illustrious Incas and Amautas, at which the new young nobles, as future rulers, demonstrated their physical prowess and warrior skills and proved their masculinity.

The candidates were also presented to the Inca sovereign, who pierced their ears with large pendants and congratulated the young aspirants on the proficiency they had shown, reminding them of the responsibilities attached to their station (and birth, in the case of members of the royalty) and calling them the new "Children of the Sun."

Some historians and authors have pointed to feminine schools ("Aqlla wasi", in Quechua) for Inca princesses and other women. It is believed the education given at the Acllahuasi in Cuzco was much different than that given at the other Acllahuasis in the provinces of the empire.

The women learned Inca lore and the art of womanhood as well as skills related to governance, but on a limited scale in comparison to the men. Other skills learned included spinning, weaving, and chicha brewing.

When the Spanish chroniclers and conquistadors arrived they viewed these institutions as the Inca version of the European nunnery. Like the men, women were brought in to the Acllahuasis from faraway villages throughout the empire after being specifically chosen by Inca agents.

After finishing their training, some women would stay to train newly-arrived girls, while lower-ranking women might be chosen to be secondary wives of the Sapa Inca, if he wished it, or be sent as rewards to other men who had done something to please the sovereign.

Popular Education

The general population of the Inca Empire did not go to formal schools like the Inca nobility did, and thus did not have access to the scientific or theoretical knowledge of the Amautas.

The education of the common person was largely based on the knowledge transmitted by their elders, such as practical education in the aspects of agriculture, hunting, fishing, and stonework, as well as religion, arts and morality.

This type of knowledge was passed on by the fathers and eldest family members through the generations. Even without the benefit of Amauta knowledge, it was the general population that was responsible for building most of the Inca road system, rope bridges, water fountains, agricultural development, irrigation systems, massive stone buildings, fortress temples and the rest of the impressive building-prowess for which the Incas are still renowned today.

The Incas developed an extensive road system spanning most of the western length of the continent.

Inca rope bridges could be considered the world's first suspension bridges. Because the Incas used no wheels or horses they built their roads and bridges for foot traffic. Much of present day architecture at the former Inca capital Cusco shows both Incan and Spanish influences.

The famous lost city Machu Picchu is the best surviving example of Incan architecture. Another significant site is Ollantaytambo. The Inca were sophisticated stone cutters whose masonry used no mortar.

The most powerful figure in the empire was the Sapa Inca ('the unique Inca'). When a new ruler was chosen, his subjects would build his family a new royal dwelling.

The former royal dwelling would remain the dwelling of the former Inca's family. Only descendants of the original Inca tribe ever ascended to the level of Inca. Most young members of the Inca's family attended Yachayhuasis (houses of knowledge) to obtain their education.

The Tahuantinsuyu was a federalist system which consisted of a central government with the Inca at its head and four provinces: Chinchaysuyu (NW), Antisuyu (NE), Qontisuyu (SW), and Qollasuyu (SE). The four corners of these

provinces met at the center, Cuzco. Each province had a governor who oversaw local officials, who in turn supervised agriculturally-productive river valleys, cities and mines.

There were separate chains of command for both the military and religious institutions, which created a system of partial checks and balances on power. The local officials were responsible for settling disputes and keeping track of each family's contribution to the mita (mandatory public service).

The four provincial governors were called apos. The next rank down, the tukuyrikuq (local leaders), numbered about 90 in total and typically managed a city and its hinterlands. Below them were four levels of administration:

Level name Mita payers

Hunu kuraqa 10,000

Waranqa kuraqa 1,000

Pachaka Kuraqa 100

Chunka kamayuq 10

Every five waranqa curaca, pachaka curaca, and chunka kamayuq had an intermediary to the next level called, respectively, picqa waranqa curaca, picqa pacaka curaca, and picqa conka kamayoq. This means that the middle managers managed either two or five people, while the conka kamayoq (at the worker manager level) and the apos and t'oqrikoq (in upper management) each had about 20 people reporting to them.

The descendants of the original Inca tribe were not numerous enough to administer their empire without help. To cope with the need for leadership at all levels the Inca established a civil service system. Boys at age of 13 and girls at age of first menstruation had their intelligence tested by the local Inca officials.

If they failed, their ayllu (extended family group) would teach them one of many trades, such as farming, gold working, weaving, or military skills. If they passed the test, they were sent to Cuzco to attend school to become administrators.

There they learned to read the quipu (knotted cord records) and were taught Inca iconography, leadership skills, religion, and, most importantly, mathematics. The graduates of this school constituted the nobility and were expected to marry within that nobility.

While some workers were held in great esteem, such as royal goldsmiths and weavers, they could never themselves enter the ruling classes. The best they could hope for was that their children might pass the exam as adolescents to enter the civil service.

Although workers were considered the lowest social class, they were entitled to a modicum of what today we call due process, and all classes were equally subject to the rule of law. For example, if a worker was accused of stealing and the charges were proven false, the local official could be punished for not doing his job properly.

Childhood

Inca childhood was harsh by modern standards. When a baby was born, the Inca would wash the child in cold water and wrap it in a blanket. Soon after, the baby was put in a pit dug in the ground like a playpen. By about age one, they expected the baby to crawl and walk independently. At age two, the child was ceremonially named and were considered to have left infancy.

From then on, boys and girls were expected to help around the house. Misbehaving during this time could result in very severe punishment. At age fourteen, boys received a loincloth in a ceremony to mark their manhood.

Boys from noble families were subjected to many different tests of endurance and knowledge. After the test, they received earplugs and a weapon, whose color represented rank in society.

The most powerful figure in the empire was the Sapa Inca ('the unique Inca'). When a new ruler was chosen, his subjects would build his family a new royal dwelling. The former royal dwelling would remain the dwelling of the former Inca's family.

Only descendants of the original Inca tribe ever ascended to the level of Inca. Most young members of the Inca's family attended Yachayhuasis (houses of knowledge) to obtain their education.

The Tahuantinsuyu was a federalist system which consisted

of a central government with the Inca at its head and four provinces: Chinchaysuyu (NW), Antisuyu (NE), Qontisuyu (SW), and Qollasuyu (SE). The four corners of these provinces met at the center, Cuzco.

Each province had a governor who oversaw local officials, who in turn supervised agriculturally-productive river valleys, cities and mines. There were separate chains of command for both the military and religious institutions, which created a system of partial checks and balances on power. The local officials were responsible for settling disputes and keeping track of each family's contribution to the mita (mandatory public service).

The four provincial governors were called apos. The next rank down, the tukuyrikuq (local leaders), numbered about 90 in total and typically managed a city and its hinterlands. Below them were four levels of administration:

Level name Mita payers

Hunu kuraqa 10,000

Waranqa kuraqa 1,000

Pachaka Kuraqa 100

Chunka kamayuq 10

Every five waranqa curaca, pachaka curaca, and chunka kamayuq had an intermediary to the next level called, respectively, picqa waranqa curaca, picqa pacaka curaca, and picqa conka kamayoq. This means that the middle managers managed either two or five people, while the conka kamayoq (at the worker manager level) and the apos and t'oqrikoq (in upper management) each had about 20 people reporting to them.

The descendants of the original Inca tribe were not numerous enough to administer their empire without help. To cope with the need for leadership at all levels the Inca established a civil service system. Boys at age of 13 and girls at age of first menstruation had their intelligence tested by the local Inca officials.

If they failed, their ayllu (extended family group) would teach them one of many trades, such as farming, gold working, weaving, or military skills. If they passed the test, they were sent to Cuzco to attend school to become administrators.

There they learned to read the quipu (knotted cord records) and were taught Inca iconography, leadership skills, religion, and, most importantly, mathematics. The graduates of this school constituted the nobility and were expected to marry within that nobility.

While some workers were held in great esteem, such as royal goldsmiths and weavers, they could never themselves enter the ruling classes. The best they could hope for was that their children might pass the exam as adolescents to enter the civil service.

Although workers were considered the lowest social class, they were entitled to a modicum of what today we call due process, and all classes were equally subject to the rule of law. For example, if a worker was accused of stealing and the charges were proven false, the local official could be punished for not doing his job properly.

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 which not only allowed them to put to use the mineral-rich mountain soil which other peoples left fallow, but also took advantage of micro-climates conducive to a variety of crops being cultivated throughout the year.

Agricultural tools consisted mostly of simple digging sticks.

The Inca also raised llamas and alpacas for their wool and meat and to use them as pack animals, and captured wild vicuñas for their fine hair. The Inca road system was key to farming success as it allowed distribution of foodstuffs over long distances. The Inca also constructed vast storehouses, which allowed them to live through El Niño years in style while neighboring civilizations suffered.

Inca leaders kept records of what each ayllu in the empire produced, but did not tax them on their production. They instead used the mita for the support of the empire. The Inca diet consisted primarily of fish and vegetables, supplemented less frequently with the meat of cuyes (guinea pigs) and camelids. In addition, they hunted various animals for meat, skins and feathers. Maize was used to make chicha, a fermented beverage.

The language was the quechua. Quechua (Runa Simi) is a Native American language of South America.

It was the language of the Inca Empire, and is today spoken in various dialects by some 10 million people throughout South America, including modern southern Colombia and Ecuador, throughout Peru and Bolivia, north-western Argentina and northern Chile. It is the most widely spoken of all American Indian languages.

The hierarchical network swept down the ranks from important chiefs in a decimalized system.

One of the curacas might be responsible for ten thousand men; under him two lower chiefs were each responsible for five thousand, and so on until in the smallest hamlets there was one man responsible for ten others.

Women weren't counted in the census. For the Incas, a household was represented by the man and only he was obliged to fulfil tribute duties on behalf of the allyu.

Within the family the woman's role was dependent on her relationship with the dominant man - be he father, brother, husband, or eldest son.

In their conquests the Incas absorbed craftsmen from every corner of the empire. Goldsmiths, potters, carpenters, sculptors, masons and quipumayocs (accountants) were frequently removed from their homes to work directly for the emperor in Cusco.

These skilled men lost no time in developing into a new and entirely separate class of citizens. The work of even the lowest servant in the palace was highly regulated by a rigid division of labour. If a man was employed to be a woodcutter he wouldn't be expected to gather wood from the forests; that was the task of another employee.

Throughout the empire young girls, usually about nine or ten years old, were constantly selected for their beauty and serene intelligence. Those deemed perfect enough were taken to an acclahuasi - a special sanctuary for the " chosen women " - where they were trained in specific tasks, including the

spinning and weaving of fine cloth, and the higher culinary arts. Most chosen women were destined ultimately to become mamaconas (Virgins of the Sun) or the concubines of either nobles or the Sapa Inca himself. Occasionally some of them were sacrificed by strangulation in order to appease the gods.

For most Inca women the allotted role was simply that of peasant/domestic work and rearing children. After giving birth a mother would wash her baby in a nearby stream to cleanse and purify it and return virtually immediately to normal daily activities, carrying the child in a cradle tied on her back with a shawl.

As they still are today, most babies were breast-fed for years before leaving their mothers to take the place in the domestic life-cycle. As adults their particular role in society was dependent first on sex, then on hierarchical status.

The stone temples constructed by the Inca used a mortarless construction process first used on a large scale by the Tiwanaku. The Inca imported the stoneworkers of the Tiwanaku region to Cusco when they conquered the lands south of Lake Titicaca.

The rocks used in construction were sculpted to fit together exactly by repeatedly lowering a rock onto another and carving away any sections on the lower rock where the dust was compressed. The tight fit and the concavity on the lower rocks made them extraordinarily stable in the frequent earthquakes that strike the area.

The Inca used straight walls except on important religious sites and constructed whole towns at once.

The Inca also sculpted the natural surroundings themselves. One could easily think that a rock along an Inca trail is completely natural, except if one sees it at the right time of year when the sun casts a stunning shadow, betraying its synthetic form.

The Inca rope bridges were also used to transport messages and materials by Chasqui running messengers.

The Inca also adopted the terraced agriculture that the previous Huari civilization had popularized. But they did not use the terraces solely for food production. At the Inca tambo, or inn, at Ollantaytambo there is evidence that the terraces were planted with flowers.

The terraces of Moray are a spectacular example of Incan terracing. It has been suggested that they were used to develop new strains of crops as large temperature diferentials between the top and bottom terraces have been observed, or they may have been purely decorative.

The Inca provincial thrones were often carved into natural outcroppings, and there were over 360 natural springs in the areas surrounding Cusco, such as the one at Tambo Machay.

At Tambo Machay the natural rock was sculpted and stonework was added, creating alcoves and directing the water into fountains. These pseudo-natural carvings functioned to show both the Inca's respect for nature and their command over it.

Among the many roads and trails constructed in pre-Columbian South America, the Inca road system (El Camino Inca) of Peru was the most extensive.

Traversing the Andes mountains and reaching heights of over 5,000 m (16,500 feet) above sea level, the trails connected the regions of the Inca empire from the northern provincial capital in Quito, Ecuador past the modern city of Santiago, Chile in the south.

The Inca road system covered approximately 22,500 km (14,000 mi) and provided access to over three million km² of territory.

Because the Incas did not make use of the wheel for transportation, and did not have horses until the arrival of the Spanish in Peru in the 16th century, the trails were used almost exclusively by people walking, sometimes accompanied by pack animals, usually the llama.

The trails were used by the Inca people as a means of relaying messages, carried via knotted-cord quipu and by memory; and for transporting goods. Messages could be carried by chasqui runners covering as much as 240 km (150 mi) per day, working in relay fashion much like the

Pony Express of the 1860s in North America.

There were approximately 2,000 inns, or tambos, placed at even intervals along the trails. The inns provided food, shelter and military supplies to the tens of thousands who traveled the roads. There were corrals for llamas and stored provisions such as corn, lima beans, dried potatoes, and llama jerky.

Along the roads, local villagers would plant fruit trees that were watered by irrigation ditches. This enabled chasqui runners and other travelers to be refreshed while on their journeys. Inca rope bridges provided access across valleys.

Many of the trails converge on the center of the empire, the Inca capital city of Cuzco. Therefore, it was easy for the Spanish conquistadors to locate the city. Traversing the trails on horseback proved to be difficult and treacherous for the Spanish in their attempts to conquer the Inca Empire.

Main routes

The most important Inca road was the Camino Real, as it is known in Spanish, with a length of 5,200 km (3,230 mi). It began in Quito, Ecuador, passed through Cusco, and ended in what is now Tucumán, Argentina. The Camino Real traversed the mountain ranges of the Andes, with peak altitudes of more than 5,000 m. El Camino de la Costa, the coastal trail, with a length of 4,000 km (2,420 mi), ran parallel to the sea and was linked with the Camino Real by many smaller routes.

Inca trail to Machu Picchu

By far the most popular of the Inca trails for trekking is the Capaq Nan trail, which leads from the village of Ollantaytambo to Machu Picchu, the so-called "Lost City of the Incas". There are many well-preserved ruins along the way, and hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the world make the three- or four-day trek each year, accompanied by guides.

The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is actually three routes, which all meet up near Inti-Pata, the 'Sun Gate' and entrance to Machu Picchu. The three trails are known as the Mollepata, Classic and One Day trails, with Mollepata being the longest of the three.

Passing through the Andes mountain range and sections of the Amazon rainforest, the Trail passes several well-preserved Inca ruins and settlements before ending at the Sun Gate on Machu Picchu mountain. The two longer routes require an ascent to beyond 12,000 ft (3,660 m) above sea level, which can result in altitude sickness.

Concern about overuse leading to erosion has led the Peruvian government to place a limit on the number of people who may hike this trail per season, and to sharply limit the companies that can provide guides. As a result, advance booking is mandatory. A maximum of 500 people, including guides and porters, are permitted to begin the trail every day. As a result, the high season books out very quickly.

Note that the trail is closed every February for cleaning.