Advertisement
Published: March 27th 2007
Edit Blog Post
The Inca Empire (or Inka Empire) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political and military center of the empire was located in Cuzco. The Inca Empire arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in early 13th century. From 1438 to 1533, the Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean mountain ranges, including large parts of modern Ecuador, Peru, western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, and north and north-central Chile. The Incas identified themselves as "children of the sun."
In 1533, Atahualpa, the last Inca sovereign emperor (Qhapaq Inka, also Sapa Inca), was executed on the orders of the conquistador Francisco Pizarro, marking the beginning of Spanish rule in South America. The Inca Empire was organized in dominions with a stratified society, in which the supreme ruler was the Inca. It was supported by an economy based on the collective ownership of the land.
The Quechua name for the empire was Tawantin Suyu which can be translated The Four Regions or The Four United Regions. Before the Quechua spelling reform it was written in Spanish as Tahuantinsuyo. Tawantin is a
group of four things (tawa "four" with the suffix -ntin which names a group); suyu means "region" or "province".
The empire was divided into four Suyus, whose corners met at the capital, Cuzco (Qosqo), in modern-day Peru.
The official language of the empire was Quechua (also pronounced Chichequwa), although scores if not hundreds of local languages were spoken.
Atahualpa offered the Spaniards enough gold to fill the room he was imprisoned in, and twice that amount of silver. The Inca fulfilled this ransom, but Pizarro deceived them refusing to release the Inca afterwards. During Atahualpa's imprisonment Huascar was assassinated elsewhere. The Spaniards maintained that this was at Atahualpa's orders; this was used as one of the charges against Atahualpa when the Spaniards finally decided to put him to death, in August 1533.
The Spanish installed Atahualpa's brother Manco Inca Yupanqui in power; for some time Manco cooperated with the Spanish, while the Spanish fought to put down resistance in the north. Meanwhile an associate of Pizarro's, Diego de Almagro, attempted to claim Cuzco for himself. Manco tried to use this intra-Spanish feud to his advantage, recapturing Cuzco (1536), but the Spanish retook the city afterwards.
Manco Inca then
retreated to the mountains of Vilcabamba, where he and his successors ruled for another 36 years, sometimes raiding the Spanish or inciting revolts against them. In 1572 the last Inca stronghold was discovered, and the last ruler, Túpac Amaru, Manco's son, was captured and executed. This ended resistance to the Spanish conquest under the political authority of the Inca state.
After the Spanish conquest
After the fall of Tawantinsuyu, the new Spanish rulers brutally repressed the people and their traditions. Many aspects of Inca culture were systematically destroyed, including their sophisticated farming system. The Spaniards used the Inca mita (mandatory public service) system to literally work the people to death. One member of each family was forced to work in the gold and silver mines, the foremost of which was the titanic silver mine at PotosÃ. When a family member died, which would usually happen within a year or two, the family would be required to send a replacement.
Today in Modern Cozco there are remains of the old Incas structures
Having moved up to San Blas the artists quarter,I might add by taxis as it seems wherever you go it´s up a steep hill I strolled down to
Plaza Amas,the main Plaza.In Inca times it was twice the size of today.The Spà nards destroyed just about everything Incas,they created churches and forced Christianity on the population.the major structural foundations of all the churches and buildings are to this day Inca. Cozco has suffered several earthquakes and the only thing standing is the Inca foundations the rest had to be rebuilt.You can see the precision of the stone work not even a knife blade can get between the stones .Up at San Blas there are still the narrow streets of Inca times ,the taxis of today are little daewoo mini cars that can negoiate the narrow streets ,mind you they are old and battered,the streets are a labyrinth.and every where you go you are approached for money, either begging or trying to sell you wares,it get iratating eg wearing open toed sandles and you are approached to polish you feet!!
Phileas
Advertisement
Tot: 0.157s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 8; qc: 56; dbt: 0.0718s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb