The Incans

The Inca civilization started some time around the 12th or 13th century when they were
still a small tribe of the Killke culture. This civilization thrived along the western coast of Peru
and during the reign of Manco Capac, the legendary first Sapa Inca, they formed the city of
Cuzco. More than a century later, another Sapa Inca named Pachacuti came to power. This ruler
is believed to have built Machu Picchu which is one of the most well known landmarks today.
He also led the Inca to conquer the area through a series of wars. Cuzco became the new capital
of the Inca Empire, which was separated into four parts: Chinchasuyu, Antisuyu, Contisuyu, and
Collasuyu.
Truly, this Inca emperor was clever. Instead of killing off the sons of the ruling families
of the regions he captured, he had them sent to Cuzco. In Cuzco these children were taught the
Inca values and their way of government. They became part of Inca nobility, and this led to two
things happening. Later when they returned home to rule over their territories, they would rule
their lands the way they had been taught in Cuzco. Furthermore, this method of training the new
generation of leaders kept the leaders of the territories loyal to the Sapa Inca.
Starting from Pachacuti, the Inca Empire held firm for hundreds of years and continued
to expand. After Manco Capac’s death, his son Topu began continued to expand in both north
and south directions. Topu’s son, Huanya Capac, expanded even further upon his ancestor’s
work and added a large portion to the southern part of the empire. However, the Inca Empire had
reached its peak. By this time, the Inca empire was so large that Huanya Capac was forced to
split his empire into two parts; one for each of his sons to rule.
Sadly, this division of power would prove to be one of the key factors in the downfall of
the empire. As soon as Huanya Capac died, the empire was thrown into a great civil war over
who would become the new ruler. Eventually Atahualpa killed his brother, making himself the
emperor. At the same time as this was going on, there was a smallpox epidemic. It was purely by
chance that while all this was happening, the Spanish conquistadors arrived in Peru.
Francisco Pizzaro was the head of the Spanish conquistadors that arrived to take over
the Inca Empire. He had with him only one hundred and eighty men. On the other hand
Atahualpa had tens of thousands of men. However, Pizarro used his intelligence to avoid many
direct battles. When he met with Atahualpa, the Inca emperor in some way offended the
conquistadors and he was arrested. They asked for a ransom fee from the Incas of two roomfuls
of gold, and they paid it in full, however in the end Atahualpa was still killed by the
conquistadors.
Pizarro placed Atahualpa’s brother, Manco II as emperor, hoping that he would be
obedient to the Spanish. However, Manco II managed to put together an army and retake Cuzco,
and when that failed, he started a war of guerilla warfare. His downfall was his attempt to coexist
with the Spanish by inviting them into his house. He was killed in an accident while playing a
game with them and his son took over. His son happened to be a peace loving person, so he went
to the Spaniards to try to talk peace. He was killed and his brother became emperor. After his
death in 1570, Manco’s third son, Tupac Amaru took over. In 1571, Tupac Amaru was killed,
marking the death of the last Sapa Inca.
The Incans were talented artists. They worked with many types of materials such as
precious metals, ceramics, and textiles. Their works included pots painted with geometric
designs, masks, jewelry, and figurines of pure gold and silver, and colorful tapestries made of
alpaca. They also made small ceramic figurines of their gods. These works of arts were usually
used for religious purposes. The simpler figurines of the gods were used to teach children
religion. The gold or silver llama figurines were used for sacrifices. The gold masks and
ornaments were worn during religious events. The golden works of art represented the sun god
Inti’s importance. However, few works made of precious metals remain because the Spanish
melted them down for raw gold and silver. These are the few samples of precious metal artwork
that remain.
Architecture can also be considered an Incan art. Machu picchu, “The lost city of the
Incas”, contains many intact, complex buildings. The most prominent are Intihuatana, the
Temple of the Sun, and the Room of Three Windows. Amazingly, there were no modern tools.
Stones were carved by hand. The carving was so precise that no mortar was needed to hold the
stones in place.
The Incans had many dances and songs. Some of these are qamili, qhashwatinky,
Sarawayllu, Tinkaches, and Kiyu-Kiyu. Qamili is a large dance. It has many people wearing
special dresses and clothing. There is a large chorale to accompany the dance. This dance is
performed during saratarpuy. Satarpuy is a time when the corn is sowed and the dance is
performed to pray for a good harvest. Qhashwatinky is a dance where big dance groups compete
against each other. Young people play big flutes called pinkullos to accompany the dancers.
Sarawayllu is a song performed when someone finishes building a house. Guests gather at the
newly built house and sing it. Tinkaches is a dance where people ask their gods to take care of
their land and animals. Kiyu-Kiyu is a dance for the rain. People dance in the rain to celebrate it.
The Inca Empire, along with other native tribes, had their own types of music,
with various types being dedicated to special occasions. They are best known for their wind and
percussion instruments, such as panpipes, flutes, and the kena. Some of their wind instruments
include the Zampoña and Quena. For their percussion instruments, they have the Wankars and
Tinyas, and the Cajón. The Incan guitar is the Charango. It is a small guitar with 10 strings and
made from an armadillo shell of wood. The Inca have songs that are specialized for different
occasions. Haylli are war songs. Ayarachi are funeral melodies. Trilla-takiy are Agriculture labor
melodies that talk about love, anecdotes, and funny things. they were sung during agriculture
work days and often made the labor more entertaining.
The Inca civilization, at the height of its power, expanded as far as the Roman Empire—
its reign was great and supreme. The Inca emperor was somehow able to rule over his millions
of subjects lacking many essential conveniences we have today, such as wheels, horses, and a
written language. How did he do this, you may ask? Through the revolution of food.
Although they may not look like it, the Inca civilization had developed advanced techniques of
efficient food distribution and preservation. They would place storehouses of food spread across
the empire, filled with enough vegetables, meat, and rice to last 3 to 7 years. These did not rot
away however. The Incas, as it so happens, had discovered the first method of freeze-drying--
applying this process to a variety of staples such as potatoes and beef. They would leave these
foods out at night during winter to freeze. During the day, when the temperatures rose, the water
would evaporate. They called freeze-dried potatoes charqui, and beef was called chuño, now
known as beef jerky. Another food that originated from the Incas was popcorn.
There are only two mealtimes in an Inca daily life—one at nine in the morning and four
in the evening. A mildly alcoholic drink, chicha, would be served at these meals. Chicha is
created by fermenting a special kind of maize, usually called different things dependent on which
kind of maize is used. For example, using yellow maize produces chicha de jora, while using
purple maize creates chicha morada. Combined with the maize is a variety of fruits. If you were
to visit Cuzco during that time, you would have seen that water was rarely drunk; it was only
seen when chicha was not available. Chicha is served today throughout modern Peru, along with
many other dishes that have influenced Peruvian cuisine. Of these include lomo saltado,
anticuchos, and cebiche.
The Inca Empire was the largest Native American civilization on the western
hemisphere. It was separated in to 4 different sections known as 'Ttahuantin-suyu' or "land of the
four quarters” with each ruled by governor or viceroy called 'Apu-cuna' under the leadership of
the central 'Sapa Inca', who is the leader of the entire empire. Cuzco, or modern day Peru, was
the central capital where the Sapa Inca ruled. According to oral tradition, the kingdom was ruled
by 14 kings in succession. An allyu is a clan, and the Inca Empire was essentially Andean allyus
lead by a few Inca allyus. Allyus functioned as an economical unit since people paid their taxes
to the Inca through the allyu leader and allyus represent a collective ownership on land. They
also functioned as a social unit and a large family. The language they spoke is called Quechua.
They had a social hierarchy. The peasants were the lowest and the Sapa Inca was the highest in
class. Even so, the government must respect all of the legal rights that are owed to a person
according to the law. The women’s principle role in society was to care for their children, cook,
weave, make chica beer and work in the field. The women were typically married by 16. Men of
lower rank could only have one wife while the aristocracy could have multiple wives. They had
trial marriages. The man and woman would agree to try out being married to one another for a
few years. Once the marriage was made final; they could only divorce if the woman could not
have children. In the Inca society, a wedding was not a joyous celebration. Instead, it was a
business-like agreement. Clothing often represented status. Cloth was divided into three classes.
Awaska was used for household use and usually made from llama wool. Finer cloth, qunpi, was
divided into two classes. The first, woven by male qunpikamayuq (keepers of fine cloth) from
alpaca wool, was collected as tribute from throughout the country and was used for trade, to
adorn rulers and to be given as gifts to political allies and subjects to cement loyalty. The other
class of qunpi ranked highest. It was woven in the Acllawasi (acllahuasi) by "aclla" (female
virgins of the sun god temple) from vicuña wool and used only for royal and religious use. The
Inca believed in reincarnation; they mummified their dead and usually buried them in a sitting
position, they also put various precious belongings along with the deceased individual.
The Incas were polytheistic, meaning that they believed in many gods. Viracocha was the
said to be the creator of the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, with the Sun as Viracocha's most loyal
servant. The Incas praised and admired the Sun the most, for the Sun was the power that gave
them food and water. They believed that the Sun was the father of the Inca emperor. Besides
worshiping gods, the Incas also worshiped sacred places, called huacas. Huacas were located
everywhere throughout the Inca empire. The most common were at mountaintops, because man
could not penetrate them, and an emperor's palace after his death. Others included caves,
springs, quarries, and battlefields. Traditionally, people would sprinkle cocoa leaves if passing
by a huaca. If they did not possess any at the time, they would place a rock where the huaca was
located; so many people could tell where a huaca was due to the presence of a pile of rocks.