TAHUANTINSUYO

S 13º 30.471 / W 071º 58.834

A MA LU YA - DO NOT LIE
A MA SU WA - DO NOT STEAL
A MA QUELLA - DO NOT BE LAZY

However phoenitically incorrect, and my appologies to those fluent in quechua - these are the three sacred words passed down from the Inca to the people of the TAHUANTINSUYO...

The greatest and oldest empire, developed in the American continent and that had the city of Cusco as its headquarters, goes back to the year 1200 A.C. The word Tawantinsuyo comes from a name composed by two Quechua terms: Tawa, which means four; and Suyo, which means State.

The territory area of the Empire was enormous, it occupied over 3'000,000 Km2 and it also encompassed 5000 km (3,107 miles) of coast over the Pacific Ocean, which currently represents the double of the Peruvian area.

The name of the city itself indicates us the territory division, which was based on duality, tripartition, and four-partition relations, typical from the Inca mentality. The four "suyos" or nations used Cusco as a geographic and political center. These nations were distributed in the following way: to the northwest by the Chinchaysuyo, which goes up to the Ancashmayo River in Pasto (Colombia); to the northeast we could find the Antisuyo in the subtropical valleys, occupying part of the Low Amazon Jungle; to the southwest, the Contisuyo occupied part of the Peruvian coast up to the Maule River (Chile); and to the southeast, we could find the Collasuyo that, nowadays, occupies most of the Bolivian territory up to Tucuman (Argentina).

All the lands belonged to the Sun, the Inca and the State, and these were distributed in such a way that each inhabitant received one parcel of fertile ground to be worked. Men received one topu or tupu (2700 m2; 0.27 Ha, 0.67 acres) when they were born, whereas women received half a topo. They were not allowed to sell them nor to inherit them, since the State, and not them, was the only owner. Therefore, every time a person passed away their lands were destined to a new inhabitant

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