Inca
The Inca, also referred to as the Incas or Inka, were a prominent indigenous civilization that established a vast empire in the Andes Mountains of South America, flourishing from the early 1400s until the mid-1500s. Emerging from a small organized state in southeastern Peru during the 1100s, the Incas expanded significantly under the leadership of Pachacuti, who became emperor in the 1430s. This period saw the construction of remarkable sites such as Machu Picchu, a stone city that served as an imperial retreat, showcasing Incan architectural ingenuity without the use of wheels or iron.
Inca society was hierarchical and largely agrarian, with most people engaged in farming and textile weaving, a source of cultural pride. They communicated primarily through the Quechua language and utilized a system of knotted cords known as quipu for record-keeping. The Incas practiced a complex religious system with a pantheon of deities, including Viracocha, the creator god, and Inti, the sun god, often involving sacrifices to appease these gods.
The empire faced rapid decline following the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in the 1530s, exacerbated by internal strife and the introduction of diseases. Despite the collapse of the empire, many modern-day Peruvians trace their ancestry to the Incas, maintaining traditions such as weaving and the Quechua language. Today, Machu Picchu remains a prominent cultural and historical site, attracting numerous tourists and scholars interested in Inca heritage.
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Inca
The Inca (also known as the Incas or Inka) were a native South American people who ruled an expansive empire in the region of the Andes Mountains in western South America from the early 1400s to the mid-1500s. They are thought to have first appeared in southeastern Peru in the 1100s, but they remained only a small, organized state until the 1430s, when the great military leader Pachacuti became emperor of the Incas. His more than thirty-year rule saw the Incas build a colossal empire in the territories of their conquered foes. Perhaps the Incas' most famous creation from this period is the stone city of Machu Picchu, an imperial retreat built on the slopes of the Andes in modern-day Peru.
The Inca Empire collapsed quickly after the arrival of Spanish conquistadors searching for riches in South America in the 1530s. This did not entirely spell the end of Inca culture, however. Many families in modern-day Peru descend from the Inca people. Some of these descendants continued such Inca traditions as weaving textiles and speaking the Incas' Quechua language. Meanwhile, Machu Picchu and other Incan sites remain popular as tourist attractions.
Background
A creation myth of the Incas themselves told of the people's origins by an act of the sun god Inti. The god sent his son Manco Capac into the world through a cave. Once he arrived, Manco Capac killed his brothers and then wandered with his sisters through the wilderness before arriving in a lush valley near the city of Cusco (or Cuzco) in what is now southeastern Peru in about 1200 CE. Historians have found that the Inca people indeed began as a small community near Cusco in the late 1100s CE.
The Incas started expanding during the rule of Mayta Capac, their fourth emperor. This expansion was minimal, however, and the Incas would take more than one hundred years to become a truly formidable imperial force. Viracocha Inca, the Incas' eighth emperor, assumed power in the early 1400s. He had descended from a family of soldiers and proved himself a capable warrior when he led the Incas to victory against the Ayarmaca kingdom south of Cusco. The Incas thereby gained control of the Urubamba Valley.
The Chanca people attacked Cusco in about 1438. Viracocha Inca left his son, Cusi Inca Yupanqui, to defend the city while he himself retreated to a safe haven. Cusi Inca Yupanqui displayed great skill in fending off the Chancas, and that year, he took the name Pachacuti and became the Incas' new emperor. Pachacuti's reign began what would become a golden age for the Incas, as the empire expanded significantly over the next several decades.
The city of Cusco itself aided the Incas in their expansion. Several earlier, smaller Andean empires had also been based near the urban center, leaving the Incas with a great deal of existing infrastructure on which to build their own civilization. This included principally highways and several forms of hydraulic machinery.
Pachacuti's successful invasions of foreign territory brought the Incas hundreds of miles of new land. The emperor usually attempted first to befriend other peoples, generally by giving gifts or making marriage offerings, and to annex their dominions peacefully. If the people rejected the Incas' peace terms, Pachacuti conquered them by force.
Overview
Cusco was the center of Inca civilization throughout the empire's expansion. Inca society was complex and hierarchical. Most Incas were commoners who worked as farmers, growing corn, potatoes, and squash while raising llamas, alpacas, and dogs. There has been much scholarly debate in interpreting the Incan economic system, as the Incas did not have money or commerce in the same sense as any other large civilization. Instead, the government provided citizens with such life necessities as clothing and tools. Clothing, especially, was important to the Incas. The people took pride in their weaving of textiles, or fabrics, which usually featured colorful designs. The Incas spoke the Quechua language but did not develop a writing system. They used knotted cords known as quipu to organize items in government records. (Some researchers have suggested that quipus do in fact represent a writing system, but such claims are disputed.)
The Incas had a complex religious system that involved a range of gods. Viracocha was their creator god, while Inti was the god of the sun. Illapa was the god of thunder, and Pachamama was the mother of Earth. The Incas believed they had to appease their gods regularly through prayer, fasting, and animal and human sacrifice. The people sacrificed are thought to have often been children and teens, whom they first fattened with rich diets of corn and meat.
One of the Incas' most notable accomplishments of the mid to late 1400s was the stone city of Machu Picchu. This imperial retreat was built onto eighty thousand acres of land on the slopes of Peru's Andes Mountains. The city, terraced on levels of land on the mountainside, featured homes, plazas, gardens, and religious temples for the Incas' elite leaders to enjoy. All the infrastructure of Machu Picchu was built of cut stone laid without mortar. Historians later noted the ingenuity of the city, since the Incas had constructed it without using wheels or ironworks. The Incas are believed to have left Machu Picchu at some point for unknown reasons.
By the 1520s, the Inca Empire was increasingly strained by internal divisions, leaving it vulnerable as conquistadors from Spain reached the area. The Europeans carried with them diseases such as smallpox, which quickly killed large numbers of Incas. An Incan civil war also broke out over a succession dispute. The Spanish then invaded Cusco, looted its treasures, and killed its leaders. Some Incas rebelled against the Spanish in ensuing decades, but the empire had already been lost and would never recover.
Little was heard of the Inca civilization again until the 1910s, when American explorer Hiram Bingham III discovered Machu Picchu by mistake. His reports on the site brought tourists to Peru by the thousands to see the remains of the once mighty Inca Empire. In the twenty-first century, Dutch historian Ronald Elward began researching the lineages of about forty Peruvian families whom he claimed descended from the members of the Inca royalty who were conquered by the Spanish. Some of these individuals knew of their family histories, while others were ignorant of them. Many farmers and other people who live in Peru's Andes Mountains still speak the Quechua language, weave textiles, and grow the food eaten by the Incas. Machu Picchu remains a popular tourist destination, and historians and other scholars continue to study Inca society.
Bibliography
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Jarus, Owen. "The Incas Empire." LiveScience, 5 Nov. 2018, www.livescience.com/41346-the-incas-history-of-andean-empire.html. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.
Jarus, Owen. "Machu Picchu: The Incan Estate 8,000 Feet High in the Andes." LiveScience, 3 Aug. 2023, www.livescience.com/22869-machu-picchu.html. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.
Major, Caroline. "Lima Specialist Ronald Elward on Finding the Inca Descendants." Aracari, 11 Sept. 2014, www.aracari.com/ronald-elward-peru-inca-descendants/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2016.
Pringle, Heather. "Lofty Ambitions of the Inca." National Geographic, Apr. 2011, ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/04/inca-empire/pringle-text. Accessed 21 Nov. 2016.
Ramadurai, Charukesi. "Gateway to Machu Picchu, Cusco Was the Ancient Centre of the Inca Civilisation." Economic Times, 13 Nov. 2016, economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/gateway-to-machu-picchu-cusco-was-the-ancient-centre-of-the-inca-civilisation/articleshow/55391675.cms. Accessed 21 Nov. 2016.
"Who Were the Incas? Where Did the Incas Come From?" Discover Peru, www.discover-peru.org/who-were-the-incas-where-did-the-incas-come-from/. Accessed 20 Aug. 2024.