INTRO THE INKAS1438-1533AD

By 1532, when Pizarro invaded, the Inca Empire stretched from what is now southern Colombia all the way to central Chile

The Inca Empire extended for some 3,000 miles making it as long as the lower 48 sates of the U.S.The Incas incorporated ideas and cultures from many different peoples and fused them into a truly unique society.

Between 9 and 13 million people lived under Incan rule!! Truly remarkable when you consider the geography and limited technology of the empire.

Capital City: Cuzco by Lake TiticacaControlled coastline, highlands, part of the rainforest. Modern day Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile

The Inca EmpireThe greatest Inca emperor was Pachacuti who reigned from 1438 to 1471 and his son Tupac Inca Yupanqui from 1471 to 1493.

Pachacuti created a vast empire very rapidly in part by building on the efforts of those who came before him.

The term Inka means "ruler" or "lord" in Quechua and was used to refer to the ruling class or the ruling family in the empire.

The Spanish adopted the term (transliterated as Inca in Spanish) as an ethnic term referring to all subjects of the empire rather than simply the ruling class.

GovernmentLed by Sapa Inca” Supreme Ruler, seen as a god.

Authoritarian ruler who controlled marriage, movement, and production.

Created centralized bureaucracy- educated elites, Priests were officials.

Used military force and resettlement to control people

Economy

No money system- collected taxes in form of goods, food, services

Very rich in gold and silver

Stressed self-sufficient communal farming

Used system of roads for trade and communication

Emperor expanded control over regional neighbors

Relocated conquered people to live in cities dominated by loyal citizens

RoadsThe Inca Road is one of the most extraordinary feats of engineering in the world. By the 16th Century it had helped transform a tiny kingdom into the largest empire in the Western hemisphere.

And to the envy of modern engineers, substantial parts of the 24,000-mile (39,000-km) network survive today, linking hundreds of communities throughout Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

Facilitated communication, trade, troop movements, travel

A message from the extreme south would reach the extreme north in about 9 days!

Way stations were placed around a day’s walk apart to serve as inns, storehouses and supply centers for the Inca armies.

Incredibly, it was constructed entirely by hand, without iron or wheeled transportation.

Quipu

The quipu is a series of colored, knotted strings. The type of knot indicated a number, and the knot's placement signified units of 1, 10, 100, or more.

All the cords hung from a main string, and their positions and colors likely signaled what was being counted—gold, corn, or other goods.

No written language.

Religion Death was a passage to the next world that was full of difficulties. The spirit of the dead, camaquen. would need to follow a long dark road and during the trip the assistance of a black dog that was able to see in the dark was required. Most Incas imagined the after world to be very similar to the Euro-American notion of heaven, with flower-covered fields and snow-capped mountains. It was important for the Inca to ensure they did not die as a result of burning or that the body of the deceased did not become incinerated. This is because of the underlying belief that a vital force would disappear and threaten their passage to the after world. Those who obeyed the Inca moral code—ama suwa, ama llulla, ama quella (do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy) —"went to live in the Sun's warmth while others spent their eternal days in the cold earth

Religion The Incas made human sacrifices. As many as 4,000 servants, court officials, favorites, and concubines were killed upon the death of the Inca Huayna Capac in 1527, for example. The Incas also performed child sacrifices during or after important events, such as the death of the Sapa Inca or during a famine. These sacrifices were known as capacocha.

Huacas: object that represents something revered, typically a monument of some kind. The term huaca can refer to natural locations, such as immense rocks. Some huacas have been associated with veneration and ritual. Incas believed every object has a physical presence and two camaquen (spirits), one to create it and another to animate it. They would invoke its spirits for the object to function.

ReligionThe Inca Empire consisted of many different religions.

New conquered people were allowed to keep their deities and some were even adapted into the Inca religion.

There are, however, common traits such as the existence of a Pachamama and Viracocha.

Viracocha: creator of all things

Inti: The sun god

Pachamama: the earth goddess

Virracocha Viracocha was one of the most important deities in the Inca pantheon and seen as the creator of all things, or the substance from which all things are created, and intimately associated with the sea.

Viracocha created the universe, sun, moon, and stars, time (by commanding the sun to move over the sky) and civilization itself.

Viracocha was worshipped as god of the sun and of storms.

He was represented as wearing the sun for a crown, with thunderbolts in his hands, and tears descending from his eyes as rain.

IntiInti is the ancient Incan sun god. He is revered as the national patron of the Inca state. Worshiped as a patron deity of the Inca Empire. The most common story says that he is the son of Viracocha, the god of civilization.

The founding Inca ancestor, known as Manco Cápac, was thought to have been the son of Inti. According to an ancient myth, Inti taught his son Manco Cápac and his daughter Mama Ocllo the arts of civilization and they were sent to earth to pass this.

Inti ordered his children to build the Inca capital where a divine golden wedge they carried with them would penetrate the earth.

Incas believed that this happened in the city of Cusco.

The Inca ruler was considered to be the living representative of Inti.

Inti as depicted on the 1822 version of the Peruvian flag.

PachamamaPachamama is a fertility goddess who presides over planting and harvesting, embodies the mountains, and causes earthquakes. She is also an ever-present and independent deity who has her own self-sufficient and creative power to sustain life on this earth. Her shrines are hallowed rocks, and artists envision her as an adult female bearing harvests of potatoes and coca leaves.

In pre-Hispanic culture, Pachamama is often a cruel goddess eager to collect her sacrifices. As Andes cultures form modern nations, Pachamama remains benevolent, giving, and a local name for Mother Nature. Thus, many in South America believe that problems arise when people take too much from nature because they are taking too much from Pachamama.

The Goddess of earth and wife of Viracocha, people give her offerings of coca leaves and beer and pray to her for major agricultural occasions

Social ClassesInca society was strictly organized from the emperor and royal family down to the peasants. The emperor as thought to be descended from the sun god, Inti, and he therefore ruled within divine authority. All power rested in his hands

Just beneath the ruler were the head priest and commander of the armies

The next group consisted of regional army and commanders

Below them were the temple priests and skilled workers

The bottom level were the farmers, herders and soldiers.

Gregorian month Inca month TranslationJanuary Camay Fasting and Penitence

February Hatun-pucuy Great Ripening

March Pacha-puchuy Earth Ripening

April Ayrihua or Camay Inca Raymi Festival of the Inca

May Aymoray qu or Hatun Cuzqui Harvesting

June Inti RaymiFeast of the Sun and the great festival in honour of the sun for the harvest

July Chahua-huarquiz, Chacra Ricuichi or Chacra Cona The Harvest Festival

August Yapaquis, Chacra Ayaqui or Capac Siquis Sowing month

September Coya Raymi and Citua Festival of the Moon

October K'antaray or Uma Raymi Month of crop watching

November Ayamarca Festival of the dead

December Capac Raymi Magnificent festival

Inca calendar: The Incan calendar had 12 months of 30 days, with each month having its own festival, and a five-day feast at the end, before the new year began. The Incan year started in December, and began with Capac Raymi, the magnificent festival

Art & ArchitectureArchitecture was by far the most important of the Inca arts, with textiles reflecting motifs that were at their height in architecture.

The site of Machu Picchu was constructed by Inca engineers.

The stone temples constructed by the Inca used a mortarless construction that fit together so well that a knife could not be fitted through the stonework.

Art & Architecture

Almost all of the gold and silver work of the empire was melted down by the conquistadors.

Ceramics were painted using the polychrome technique portraying numerous motifs including animals, birds, waves, felines and geometric patterns found in the Nazca style of ceramics.

In culture without a written language, ceramics portrayed the very basic scenes of everyday life, including the smelting of metals, relationships and scenes of tribal warfare.

It is through these preserved ceramics that we know what life was like for the ancient South Americans.