The Inca Create a Mountain Empire

1) Ancient Cultures

• The Inca built their empire on cultural foundations thousands of years old.

• The Chimu civilization preceded the Inca.

• Inka

Incan nobles were called “Orejones” for the large plugs they wore in their earlobes. The plugs above are traced back to the Chimu.

Mysterious Machu Picchu

2) Royal mummies

• The Incas believed their rulers descended from the sun god.

• Dead rulers were preserved as sacred mummies which were brought to special events.

3) Pachacuti

• In 1438 a powerful ruler, Pachacuti, took the Inca throne.

• Pachacuti used diplomacy in conquest.

• By 1500 the Inca empire stretched 2500 miles along the western coast of South America.

4) Incan System of Government

• Conquered territories divided into manageable units

• Central bureaucracy

5) Incan Language

• Quechua was the single official language of the Incan empire.

6) Cities

• Inca built cities in conquered areas

• Architecture the same throughout the empire

• All roads led the to the capital, Cuzco.

The Inca were skilled stonemasons who used granite and limestone to build their cities.

7) Road system

• The Incan road system was a 14,000 mile long network of roads and bridges crossing high mountains and harsh deserts.

• Chasquis were postal runners who carried messages by relay.

8) Economy

• The Incan state controlled the production and distribution of goods.

• Very little private trade. • “Welfare state”

• Land ownership divided three ways: – State lands– Religious lands– Community lands

ChunosThe Incans developed a method for freeze-drying potatoes which could be kept indefinitely.

QUIPUThe Inca never developed a writing system. The Inca did keep records of dates and accounts with a an accounting device known as quipu, which was a set of knotted strings.

9) Religion

Religion was state controlled. The Incans focused on nature spirits. 1) Creator god Viracocha2) Sun god Inti (every

Incan king was a descendant of Inti)

• Young women, mamakuna, were drafted for a lifetime of religious service.

• Young men, yamacuna, also served as full-time workers for the state religion.

Recognizing purpose

• Ayllu– Community

organizations working for the common good

– Governing based on the decimal system with a chain of command• Groups of 10, 100, 1,000

and 10,000, each with a chief.

• Mita – State demand on

subjects– Tribute, primarily labor

• All citizens had to do manual labor for the state each year.

Decline of the Inca Empire

• The Inca empire was in its glory in the early 1500s.

• After King Huayna Capac died in 1525, civil war broke out between his sons.

• War tore the empire apart. A gift of butterflies was a bad omen for

King Huayna Capac.