Inca

The ruined Inca city of Machu Picchu, northwest of Cuzco in Peru.

Remains of the Inca city of Machu Picchu, set on terraces high above the Urubamba river in southern Peru. The prominent peak of Huayna Picchu dominates the city's towers, temples, and stepped streets (the Incas had not invented the wheel). Since Spanish conquerors never found the city, it was not destroyed like many other contemporary sites. After centuries lost in the jungle, Machu Picchu was rediscovered in 1911 by the American archaeologist Hiram Bingham.

Ancient Peruvian civilization of Quechua-speaking American Indians that began in the Andean highlands about AD 1200. By the time the Spanish conquered the region in the 1530s, the Inca ruled an empire that stretched from Ecuador in the north to Chile in the south. The word Inca was used for the title of the emperor as well as the people. The empire was based on an agricultural economy, and ruled as a theocracy (a political system run by priests). Centres such as Machu Picchu testify to their advanced engineering and architectural ability. Once defeated, the Inca were enslaved by the Spanish, but many Quechua-speaking Peruvians today are their descendants.

The Inca had a well-defined class hierarchy with the emperor, who owned all the land, at the top, and the farmers, peasants, and servants at the bottom. The Inca empire dominated the Andean region by force. They relocated conquered peoples, sometimes entire kingdoms, to strategic locations, often near their capital, Cuzco. When they had been assimilated into Inca culture, they were resettled in other parts of the Inca empire. Over time, the empire grew to a population of about 13 million people, most of them workers.

Inca society was very religious and worshipped many gods, among them gods of the sun, moon, stars, earth, and sea. The most important was the sun god, from whom the Inca thought the emperor was descended. The priests of the Inca religion ruled the empire alongside the emperor. The Inca priesthood allotted labour for irrigation, farming, and mining, and for building temples and fortresses. Inventories of populations and goods were kept using knotted cords called ‘quipus’, as the Inca did not have a written language. Government officials called quipu camayocs worked throughout the empire overseeing the villages. Medicine and advanced surgery were practised and the dead were mummified (artificially preserved).

Teams of chasquis (runners) carried official messages by word of mouth throughout the empire. An extensive road system united the highland and coastal cities. The Inca ruin of Machu Picchu, a mountain settlement and stronghold built about 1500, is near Cuzco. It was rediscovered in 1911 by US archaeologist Hiram Bingham. In 1987 a book describing the Inca empire by the Spanish writer Juan de Betanzos was rediscovered after 400 years.

History Between AD 1200 and 1400 the Inca were one of a group of warring city states in southern-central Peru. Legends tell of the emergence of the first emperor, Manco Capac, from a cave. He claimed to have instructions from the Sun to build a capital where a golden rod plunged deep into the earth. As a result of his vision, the city of Cuzco was founded.

The military struggle for supremacy in the region did not end until 1438 when an attack by a rival people, the Chanca, was repelled by the ninth emperor, Cusi Inca Yupanqui. Yupanqui overthrew his father and brothers and became supreme ruler, or Sapa Inca; he took the name Pachacuti. He united and strengthened the empire, and reorganized its government system. In 1471 Pachacuti abdicated in favour of his son, Topa Inca, who extended the empire northwards as far as northern Ecuador, and southwards into what is now Chile and Argentina. Topa died in 1493, the year after Italian explorer Christopher Columbus first sighted the Americas. Topa's son, Huayna Capac, made few territorial gains, mainly in Amazonia and Ecuador, but set about constructing a second capital at Quito.

Huayna Capac's death in 1525 left the empire divided between the two capitals, led by his two sons, Huáscar and Atahualpa. Civil war began in which Atahualpa was victorious, but his victory was short-lived for in 1532 the Spanish conquistador, Francisco Pizarro, with a band of only 180 men, marched into the empire, assassinated Atahualpa, and stole gold and silver from Cuzco.

Religion The Inca creator god was Viracocha (identified with Kon-Tiki). The ruling Inca was regarded as the son of the Sun, the chief god, to whom both human and animal sacrifices were made. There were many other gods, national and local, all of whom received offerings and sacrifice. Ancestors were also worshipped as a link between the living and the gods. The Inca believed in a heaven and an underworld, or hell. Religious festivals took place according to an astronomical calendar, and involved much ceremony and the sacrifice of live animals. Human sacrifice was only practised at times of great importance, such as the emperor's coronation or during a disaster or other crisis.

Science and learning Astronomical observation enabled the Inca to develop a 12-month lunar calendar, every third year being made up of 13 months; the calendar regulated ritual observance and agricultural practice, such as planting and harvesting. There was no system of writing, only the mnemonic devices of coloured and knotted strings called ‘quipus’.

Administration The Inca were extremely well organized to manage an empire which stretched over 3,500 km/2,800 mi from north to south. The king ruled supreme, but had a system of governors, lesser officials, and local lords to rule provinces and even groups of as few as 50 people.

Economy Every Inca was assigned work according to his status in the hierarchy, for example a worker would be told to work specifically in the maize fields or on building a road. Roughly two thirds of the goods produced went into a tax system, the rest was kept by the producer. Taxed produce was redistributed according to a quota system, or stored by the government, or used in religious ceremonies. Although gold and silver were mined they were only used for ceremonial or decorative purposes among the highest ranks of society. The Inca also traded in luxury items, such as the drug coca and spondylus (thorny oyster) shell, with Amazonia and the coast of Colombia. Maize (corn) and potatoes were the principal crops. The Inca never discovered the wheel and their only beasts of burden were llamas, which cannot carry more than 36 kg/80 lb each.

Building The Inca were great engineers and architects; they constructed fine buildings using large, well-dressed stone blocks, fitted together without mortar. Agricultural terraces were built on the steep hillsides. Long irrigation canals were built to carry water to the fields.

New towns were built throughout the empire, based on the style of Cuzco; these towns became provincial capitals and assisted the ‘Incanization’ of the empire.

A system of paved roads covered the whole country, linking every major city to Cuzco. Tambos (roadside rest-stops providing food and shelter) were built along the roads at intervals equivalent to a day's march. The Inca built bridges to cross streams and ravines; small bridges were built of logs, or of stone slabs resting on stone piers. Larger rivers were spanned by pontoon bridges. Deep gullies were crossed by simple suspension bridges, made from five cables each up to 40 cm/16 in in diameter. Three formed the deck, and the other two were handrails. Such bridges still exist, and are rebuilt every year or two.