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Bibliography

Benson, Sonia G. "Inca Government and Economy." GALE. World History in Context, 2005. Web. 18 Feb. 2017.

Crystal, Ellie. "Inca Civilization." Inca Civilization - Crystalinks. Crystalinks, 1995. Web. 18 Feb. 2017.

Cartwright, Mark. "Inca Civilization." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 15 Sept. 2014. Web. 18 Feb. 2017.

"Inca Art Forms." Discover Peru. Peru Cultural Society, 2005. Web. 18 Feb. 2017.

"Inca Government : A Brief on Ancient Inca Goverment System." Machu Picchu- Inca's Lost City. Macchupicchu-inca.com, 2007. Web. 18 Feb. 2017.

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Final Judgement...

Judging by the criteria that was analyzed about the Inca Empire and civilization, there is no huge area that stands out that would cause the Incas to be unsuccessful or to succumb to any threat that they may encounter. They were fairly advanced and organized in all aspects, they were wealthy, and were constantly growing in population and power. Their social structure was organized and very similar to other social structure of civilizations that lasted for centuries, their economy was very fair to all and left almost everyone prosperous, they were advanced in the medical field, they depended on religion greatly and respected it, and their government was very organized. A flaw was that many people had little free will but were treated fairly well by their government and this was extremely common at the time. Although essentially everything was successful in the empire, Spaniards started to explore South America in 1524, bringing smallpox with them, causing disaster for the Incas. This is how Sapa Inca Huayna Capac died, which started a second major disaster for the Incas. Huayna Capac had trouble deciding between making Atahualpa, a loved one, or Huascar, the actual next successor the leader of the Inca Empire. These two men were brothers so Capac decided to split the land and let them both lead it. This decision became disastrous as the two brothers fought and started the Inca Civil War or The War of the Two Brothers, resulting in at least 100 000 people being killed and a city-state being destroyed. Although Atahualpa was victorious, this huge event weakened the empire greatly on all levels and left the empire extremely vulnerable to any threat that was to come. Before 1524, the Inca Empire was extremely successful and would be very prepared to meet the new world but unfortunately, these two major events left them much less prepared than they needed to be, making their potential success questionable.

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General information about the Inca Empire 

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Timeline of the rise and fall of the Inca Empire

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Science

The Incas were extremely practical people and focused on adapting the skills of states they conquered and then improve them. They were very good engineers. In order for the farming industry to flourish, the Incas would build irrigation systems and terraces on the mountains to utilize space for growing crops. They also used an Andean road system and built it up across the entire empire and built excellent bridges for transport. Their skills in medicine were also advanced. Although the Incas did not write, they had quipus, which were instruments made to record information. A quipu is a long cord with around one hundred knotted strings hanging from it. The knots indicate units of multiples of ten, starting at zero. Information was recorded by using different knots or colours to count items and record inventory, or to keep track of labour obligations and populations. Extensive training in memorization was needed to become a professional at keeping records; quipus were essential in the running of the empire. As for medicine, the Incas has a good understanding of how herbs and plants could help them and they performed surgery successfully, with accounts of brain surgery being performed on living patients who survived the surgeries to repair injuries like chronic headaches or epilepsy. Since the Incas did not write, their calendars were based on the movement of stars and planets and they also used astronomy to correctly time planting and harvesting. Overall, the Incas were considered very advanced for their time despite their lack of writing.

A quipu.

The holes that were found in Incan skulls from brain surgery.

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Economy

The Inca Empire had a very unique economy. Even though they mainly lived on the Andes Mountains and the desert plains of Peru, their main industry was farming. All land suitable for farming was put to use or used to raise llamas for their wool, meat, or to be pack animals; the Incas were extremely efficient with their land. When the Incas came to new lands that already had free trade systems, they encouraged the regions to set up colonies and become self-sufficient without all of the trading. What made the Incan economy strange was that there was no money system and there was no commerce or free trade. The government controlled everything carefully so that each region had the land and goods they needed to survive without trading by themselves—the government did that if necessary. There was a tax imposed on commoners: they were not required to pay money but were required to work on public projects like roads or buildings or transporting goods for a certain amount of time each year. This tax was called mit’a. The surplus of goods from mit’a labour were used for the sick or elderly but also used during famine. The Incas would invest mit’a labour instead of money. Since people did not work all year long, they would advance culturally by creating art or metal work or clothing. The Inca economy could be considered a welfare state or even a socialist system. This economical system worked very well for the empire and resulted in vast amounts of wealth and supply and most people prospered.

Along with farming, metalwork was a major industry in the Inca Empire.

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Religion

The Religious beliefs of the Incan people consisted of a belief of deities that occupy three realms, these realms include Hanan Pacha: the celestial realm in the sky, Uku Pacha: the inner earth, and Cay Pacha: the outer earth where humans live. The most influential deities in Hanah Pacha were Inti the sun god and Mama Quilla the moon goddess. The largest and most important festival of all revolved around the sun god and it was called Inti Raymi. In Cay Pacha there was Viracocha who was the first god who was the creator of all three realms and their inhabitants, In the realm of Uku Pacha was Pachamama, the earth mother and Kanopa the god of pregnancy. Huacas were sacred sites or things located across the Inca empire, these Huacas were entities that resided in natural objects such as mountains, boulders, and battlefields and any place that was connected with a past Incan ruler. Spiritual leaders would pray and leave offerings to speak with these Huacas to get advice or assistance, human sacrifice was a part in Incan rituals where they would sacrifice a child or a slave, they believed it to be an honour to die for an offering. Incans were deeply religious, and feared that evil would come to them at any moment; sorcerers were high on the hierarchy as people would depend on them to keep them safe from spirits. They also believed in reincarnation and were very superstitious Since there were so many complexities to the Inca religion and so many festivals that were celebrated across the empire, it is very clear that the Incas depended on religion a fair amount. The High Priest was just below the Sapa Inca and some even consider him to be on the same level, illustrating that religion was extremely important and prevalent in the Inca’s lives.

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Society

In Inca society, the emperor was at the very top of the hierarchy; he was called Sapa Inca (king) and had wives called the Coyas who controlled the empire with him. Next, there were nobles and High Priests who were often made up of the immediate family of the emperor. Below them were warriors and officials, followed by merchants, artisans and farmers, who were the commoners or peasants. At the bottom of the hierarchy were slaves and prisoners. Once someone was born into a class, they almost always stayed in that class.

 As for what these positions were meant for, nobles would run the government and control the army while living a fairly luxurious and wealthy lifestyle being so close to the emperor. However, the majority of people were commoners who were mainly farmers or fishermen who would grow crops and provide for the empire. Nobles were able to receive formal education from the Amawtakuna (philosopher-scholars), whereas the rest of the population only received knowledge that was passed down to them; this is the main reason why people stayed in the class they were born into. Women in Inca society were not equal to men and were taught different skills. They would learn about traditions and womanhood as well as skills like weaving and spinning, but the men would learn much more about governance. Inca society was very clear cut and organized in all aspects.

The 11th Inca Emperor, Huayna Capac, top of the hierarchy.

Nobles in traditional, luxurious clothing and accessories.

Nobles controlling slaves and commoners.

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Art

Inca art consisted of simple abstract geometric forms and stylized animal representation in ceramic, wood, textiles and metal works. Incas were very artistic people who used the materials they had at their disposal and a lot of the time their artwork had religious purposes. An understanding of the way they lived was left in their art as they had left almost no written records of their history. Their music consisted of some wind instruments like the pan flute and also instruments like guitars. 

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Government

Government and power was held in Cuzco, the Incan capital. Cuzco became significant around 1000 to 1400 CE, when the first great Inca leader Pachacuti arrived; Pachacuti was the 9th Incan ruler who founded the empire with conquests throughout the Cuzco valley. He was also credited with the founding of the site Machu Picchu. Pachacuti was the first Incan ruler who had plans of conquest to capture land all the way up until the Spanish conquest in 1532 when the Inca empire was ended. They had a federal government established otherwise known as Tahuantinsuyu where it was all run under the Sapa Inca (Pachacuti) and Inca noblemen ran the other provincial governments. These nobles were called the four Apos and they ran the four quarters of the government where every quarter was made up of multiple provinces and each province was ran by an official. After 1438, Incans set out on a mission of conquest for the next fifty years resulting in land that is now present day Peru, Bolivia, Northern Argentina, Chile and Ecuador. The empire continuously grew larger and stronger due to the leadership of the Sapa Incas.

This picture depicts how much the empire expanded throughout a short amount of time, led by four Sapa Incas during the time period of the legitimate Inca Empire.

This picture depicts where the capital, Cuzco, was and what modern-day countries were within the Inca Empire.

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General Information

The Incan Empire was short-lived. Although Inca civilization began in the 12th century, the actual empire began in 1438 CE and was taken over in 1532 CE. The empire took up around two million square kilometres of land on the western coast of South America. The capital of the empire was in Cuzco, Peru and their main language was Quechua; there were six kings or Sapa Incas throughout the time of the legitimate empire, but sixteen throughout the whole civilization.  At their largest and after many conquests, there was around twelve million people in the Inca Empire.