Ancient Inca’s

Introduction

The Inca empire only lasted about 100 years. The Inca civilization began in Cuzco in about 1200 CE as a village high in the Ande’s mountains. In 1438, another tribe tried to conquer them, but Pachacuti, the Sopa Inca’s son, defeated them and this began the Inca empire. By 1532 Francisco Pizzaro arrives from Spain and within 10 years the Inca’s are defeated. The Inca’s lived on a strip of land that ran from north sto south along the western side of South America in the Andes mountains, the Atacama desert and in the Amazon jungle. Living 11,000 feet above sea level, the Inca’s built bridges between mountain peaks and over gorges to connect their long stretch of land. These rope bridges could be burned to stop an invasion.

Government

The head of the Inca government had many names, those names included “Sapa Inca”, “Capac Apu”, “Intip Cori”, or “Inca.” The Sapa Inca was an all powerful leader similar to a monarch. Each Sapa Inca put his relatives, along with the nobles, in positions of power, to help him rule the Inca empire. Each Sapa Inca had four top advisors, who made sure the relatives and nobles did the work they were assigned to do.

The Incan Empire expanded through conquest. Each time a new tribe was conquered,a governorwas put in charge of the new area. As the population grew, so did the number of government officials, including the number oftax collectors.

When a new law was put in place by the Sapa Inca, word went down the line from the top officials until it reached the bottom officials and from there to the common people. Since the common people had no say in government, that was the law until a new law was made.This system worked well, and the Inca population grew to about 12 million people.

Economy

There were two classes of people in the Inca Empire, the nobles or royals and the commoners. All the nobles lived a life of luxury. They could own land, but they did not have to farm it themselves, or pay taxes. The commoners did that job. Some nobles actually had jobs in the government, but most nobles spent their time trying to look more attractive, and trying to think of ways to entertain the Sapa Inca and his family.

The government controlled the Inca economy. Commoners paid taxes with labor instead of currency (money). In exchange for their taxes the commoners were provided with all of the necessities of life.

The common people lived and worked in small groups or units. There were a dozen or so people in each unit. Each person in each unit had a job to do. If you did not do your work, you were breaking the law, and could be killed.

Most commoners, as usual, were farmers. The emperor controlled all the land and each group worked a plot of land given to them by a government official. That official let them keep food to feed themselves and their families. The rest was given to the nobles and the emperor.

Social Life

It was easy to tell if someone was a royal. When a royal was just a small child, a board would be strapped to their heads. This would force the top of their heads to grow almost to a point. Men had their ears pierced when they were about 12-14 years old. The men all wore really heavy earrings, designed to change the shape of their earlobes. By the time they were 20 years old or so, their earlobes had been pulled so out of shape that they rested on their shoulders.

Rich and poor dressed in the same fashion, although perhaps not with the same softness of fabric. Men wore knee length tunic, with a poncho for warmth. The women wore long dresses and wrapped themselves in colorful blankets or capes as needed. Men and women wore jewelry. The Inca people loved anything that glittered. They lovedembroidery.

The common people had no freedom. By Inca law, they could not travel on the roads. By law, they could not be idle. They had a little time each day for bathing and eating and sleeping, and the rest of the time, they had to be working.

There was a tax on the food the common people kept. But the Incas did not use money. This "tax" was paid in labor. When the farmers were not farming, they were mining, or fixing the roads (the only time they could walk on the roads), or building something.

There were many laws that kept commoners tightly controlled. For example, if a man did not marry by the time he was twenty, a wife would be selected for him, and he had to marry her. Babies were left alone all day, by law, because care for crying babies took time away from work. The only training kids of the common people received was how to do a job. The job they were assigned as a child was their job for life.

The common people, except for craftsmen, did not live in the city. Each unit lived together in a hut in their field. Homes had no windows and no way to leave except by the front door. The door was covered only by a piece of leather or woven cloth. Inspectors checked to make sure all people were in their homes only when they should be.

Religion

The Inca religion was polytheistic, this means that they worshipped more than one god. Although they had many gods, their main god was Inti-the sun god. To worship Inti and their many gods, the Inca built large temples that were maintained by priests. At the temples, many rituals were performed including sacrifices. They would also present offerings of food, drink and clothing. Priests held many ceremonies such as, dancing, feasts, games, songs, and parades at the temple. These were held on special days.

Divination was an important part of Incan life. Divination is the practice of using symbols or signs to predict the future. In order to do this, they studied animal organs, flames of fire, or the movement of animals. Government decisions or a decision about where it was best to plant crops were not made without divination. They used divination to answer many of their questions.