The Inca Empire

1. The Inca Empire Created by Katrina Namnama & Kathleen DeGuzman (edited)

2. INCA The Incas never invented the wheel. They never invented a system of writing. Yet, high in the rugged Andes Mountains of South America, the Incas built thousands of miles of well-paved roads, everyone in the empire was well fed and no one was homeless.  Come meet the Children of the Sun. Welcome to the Inca Empire!

3. Main Ideas • The Inca built a huge empire in South America, but they were conquered by the Spanish. • The rise of the Inca Empire was due to conquest and the achievements of the Inca people. • Pizarro conquered the Incas and took control of the region. • The Incas had strong traditions of building, art, and storytelling. Many of their creations still exist today.

4. Background • Empire extended along the Pacific coast and Andean highlands from northern border of modern Ecuador to Maule River in central Chile • Inca originated in village of Paqari-tampu, about 15mi south of Cuzco • Official language: Quechua

5. Pachacuti (1438-1471) • Usurped throne from brother Inca Urcon • Considered the founder of the Inca Empire • Skilled warrior and chief religious leader • Claimed he was divine, son of the sun • Exercised absolute power

6. Francisco Pizarro • 1527: Pizarro wanted to discover wealth; embarked on his third voyage to the New World • Sept. to Nov. 1532: The Cajamarca massacre- Pizarro led 160 Spaniards to Cuzco, slaughtering over 2,000 Inca and injuring 5,000

7. Events leading to Rise and Fall • 1438: Manco Capac established capital at Cuzco (Peru) • 1400-1500: Pachacuti gained control of Andean population about 12 million people • 1525: Emperor Huayna Capac died of plague; civil war broke out between two sons because no successor named • 1532: Spanish arrived in Peru • 1535: Empire lost

8. Polytheistic religion- Pantheon headed by Inti-the sun god • combined features of animismand worship of nature gods • offered food, clothing, and drink • rituals included forms of divination, sacrifice of humans and animals

9. Machu Picchu • The ancient city of Machu Picchu was discovered in 1911. • Explorers found ruins of temples, palaces, fortresses, and a royal tomb.

10. Machu Picchu • They also found a Intihuatana – the ceremonial pyramid the Incas built to speak to their sun god. • The carved rock at the top was used by the Incan astronomers to predict the best times to plant crops

11. Important Positions • Local governors responsible for exacting labor tax which could be paid by service in army, on public works, or in agricultural work • Coyacarried out important religious duties and governed when Sapa Inca absent • Nobles ruled provinces w/ chieftains

12. Military Expansion • attacked, looted villages of neighboring peoples, assessing tribute • program of permanent conquest, establishing garrisons among settlements of peoples whom they conquered • conquered and assimilated people of Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru • gained territory south to the Titicaca Basin, north to present-day Quito making subject peoples of powerful Chancas, Quecha, kingdom of Chimu • empire reached southernmost extent in central Chile, last vestiges of resistance on southern Perurian coast eliminated • pushed northern boundary of empire to Ancasmayo River

13. Political Philosophy • policy of forced resettlement ensured political stability • officials collected taxes, enforced laws, kept records on a quipu (collection of knotted colored strings) which noted dates, events, population, crops • use of road system strictly limited to government, military business • all land belonged to Inca, crops allotted to specific groups, government took possession of each harvest • private property forbidden, crime nonexistent, citizens never starved • no written records; oral tradition preserved through generations

14. Economic Developments • constructed aquaducts, cities, temples, fortresses, short rock tunnels, suspension bridges, 2250mi road system • metal works of alloy, copper, tin, bronze, silver gold • developed important medical practices- surgery on human skull, anesthesia • resources-corn, potatoes, coffee, grain • created woven baskets, woodwinds

15. Cultural Conflict & Cooperation • religious institutions destroyed by Spanish conquerors’ campaign against idolatry • Spaniards superior military technology • horses, muskets, cannons, metal helmets, armor, steel swords and lances • Incan Bronze Age weapons • llamas, clubs, sticks, wooden spears and arrows • division & discontent among Inca, Spanish played on old feuds • disease brought by Europeans • survivors felt gods were less powerful than those of conquerors • Incans believed that disasters marked world’s end

16. Today • descendants of Inca are present day Quechua-speaking peasants of Andes, constitute about 45% population of Peru • combine farming, herding w/ simple traditional technology • rural settlements three kinds: families living in midst of fields, true village communities w/ fields outside of inhabited centers, combination of two • towns centers of mestizo (mixed-blood) population • Indian community close-knit, families usually intermarrying; much of agricultural work done cooperatively • religion is Roman Catholicism infused w/ pagan hierarchy of spirits and deities

17. Bibliography • Bernhard, Brendan. Pizarro, Orellana, and the Exploration of the Amazon. New York: Chealsea House Publishers, 1991. • Editors of Time-Life Books. Incas: Lords of Gold and Glory. Alexandria: Time-Life Books, 1992. • Ellis, Elizabeth Gaynor & Esler, Anthony. World History: Connections to Today. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 2001. • Ogburn, Dennis E. The Empire of the Incas. 7 Oct. 1997. 24 Feb. 2006 <http://www.millville.org/workshops_f/acker_inca/ inca.htm> • "Inca." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopedia Britannica Premium Service. 26 Feb. 2006 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/ article?tocId=9042237>. • “Inca.” Grolier Universal Encyclopedia. Volume 5. New York: Grolier Inc., 1965.