1438 TO 1533
INCA EMPIRE
Society Culture Architecture
BARC- 01002
CONTENT
Introduction and Timeline of the Inca Empire
All about Incas- Who, When, Where
WHAT WE'LL DISCUSS
Inca Expansion and its Government
Achievements of Incan empire
Societal Heirarchy
Incan Laws
Marriages
About Cusco- City of Puma
Climate and Landforms
Flora and Fauna
Families in Incan Empire
Religion and Spiritual Beliefs
Livelihood
Incan Dressing Style and Materials Used in the Textiles
Architecture
Art Forms
INTRODUCTION
The largest empire in Pre-Columbian
America
Administrative, political, and military
center- City of Cusco
Population - about 12 million people
Language - Quechua (official) and
Aymara, Puquina, Jaqi and Muchik
1438 1529–1532 1533 1572
Manco capac Civil war between Spanish conquest End of the last Inca
established the Huascar and led by Francisco resistance
Incan empire Atahualpa Pizarro
TIMELINE OF THE INCA EMPIRE
The Incas were a civilization in South America formed by ethnic
ALL ABOUT INCAS Quechua people also known as Amerindians.
The Inca Civilization was an Agrarian civilization and at its height
in 1500 AD reached more than 10 million people.
The ancestors of the Incas were hunters who came from Asia
crossing the Bering Strait. It took several thousand years to
populate and create civilizations in the Americas.
They dominated and improved on their ancestors’ achievements
creating the largest Pre-Columbian civilization in the America, the
Inca Civilization.
Inca was applicable to the descendants of the 12 individuals only
who are said to have ruled from Cusco.
INCA GOVERNMENT
The Inca empire was an absolute monarchy with the "SAPA INCA"
exercising the ultimate government authority. His powers were
not limited by law.
The empire was divided into two large areas: Hanan and Urin,
north and south respectively. Each one included two of the four
administrative governments or Suyus: Antisuyu (Northeast),
Chichasuyu (Northwest), Contisuyu (Southwest), and Collasuyu
(Southeast). The Suyus had a hierarchical government managed by
a loyal bureaucracy and led by a governor, a male member of the
nobility.
The governor appointed administrators to manage the households
in his province, they were known as Curacas. Curacas distributed
the land each family was given, collected taxes, and administered
Inca law.
They used a three-pronged approach of
DIPLOMACY, FORTIFICATION, LOGISTICS for
expansion.
INCA EXPANSION
Once the Incas arrived in a new region they tried
to establish a relationship with the tribe’s head.
He offered gifts such as wool clothing, coca
leaves, and mullu .
If they did not accept the gifts they used force to
subdue the tribe and since the Incas had a more
powerful military force they always succeeded
The Inca collected taxes from all its conquered
territories, this tax was known as Mita. Everyone
was obliged to work and contribute to the Mita
for the good of the state.
The Incas were magnificent engineers. They built a system of roads and
bridges across the roughest terrains of the Andes.
Bridges were built everywhere in the empire. Their suspension bridges
were built using natural fibers.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Inca’s central planning economy was the most efficient and successful.
Ayllu was the base of economic activity. Members of Ayllu worked for
the land and took care of the cattle and other related works.
In exchange, Inca would secure food throughout the year, provide
agricultural products that are not produced within that area, and
education and health facilities.
The medicine practiced by the Incas was related to religion and rituals.
The Incas also performed cranial surgery called Trepanation in order to
cure mental illnesses or injuries.
The Incas did not have a written language but had an accounting system.
The Quipu was a collection of colored strings of alpaca, llama, or cotton
threads used to record accounting information in the form of knots.
SOCIETAL HIERARCHY
INCAN LAWS
The Incas imposed a set of three laws on its The Inca government promoted peace among
citizens: “Ama Sua. Ama Llulla. Ama Quella” or its citizens, there was very little crime, but
“Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not be lazy”. when a crime was committed the punishment
was ruthless. Inca laws were severe and any
kind of law transgression was considered an
action against divinities
Regional leaders had the power to decide in When the Incas conquered a new territory local
matters of law, however, they would lose laws and rules continued to be applied . If the
authority when the penalty was mutilation or leader of the newly conquered territory
death which was ruled by a higher authority. opposed the new set of rules, he would be
Social stability in the Inca Empire was achieved executed and a new loyal leader would oversee
by applying the laws to maintain a moral and and secure loyalty among the population
disciplined society.
Women and men had paralleled roles, but were
separate in Inca society. They were equally valued for
MARRIAGES the part they played in their society despite their
differing roles.
Trial marriages were typical of Inca culture. In this type
of marriage, the man and woman would agree to try out
being married to one another for a few years.
In the Inca society, marriage was looked at more as a
business-like agreement. . Parents on either side had to come
to an agreement before the marriage took place and the
couple could not be directly related to one another.
ABOUT CUSCO- Inca Manco Capac was the founder of the city of Cusco. The inner
city of Cusco was laid out in the shape of a puma whose head was
THE CITY OF the fortress of Sacsahuaman.
PUMA Cusco was the most important city in the Inca Empire; the place of residence of the elite,
and a sacred city. The city was organized around a central plaza from which the roads
leading to the four provincial governments or suyus originated. Important architectural
development took place in Cusco, palaces and schools were built for the elite, temples
including Coricancha or Temple of the Sun and a very important network of roads. Cusco
was a spectacular capital city.
To protect the city from invaders, Cusco was guarded by the fortress
of Sacsayhuaman. It stood on a hill above the city and contained an
arsenal, a temple, reservoirs, storerooms, and a throne for the Sapa
Inca.
CLIMATE The Inca Empire developed in a
AND long strip that reached pretty
much north to south along the
LANDFORM western side of South America,
the side that faces the Pacific
Ocean. The geography was
rugged - Andes mountains, the
coastline deserts, and the
Amazon jungle. Here and there in
the Andes, there are active
volcanoes.
The Incas had no cows, sheep, pigs, chickens,
FAUNA or goats. Their only domesticated animals
were llamas, alpacas, and guinea pigs.
Most of the area is covered by grasses, shrubs, trees
silver. The forest vegetation is represented by trees
FLORA such as cedar, rosemary or Intimpa, laurel, etc. There
are also species like Ocotea, Podocarpus, Guarea,
Weinmania, Clusia, Cedropia, Cinchena, or Pisonay
Eritrina, and oak among others.
FAMILIES OF THE INCAN EMPIRE
One of the most important aspects of the Inca daily life was the Ayllu. The ayllu was a group of
families that worked a portion of land together. They shared most of their belongings with each
other just like a larger family. Everyone in the Inca Empire was a member of an Ayllu. Once a
person was born into an Ayllu, they remained part of that ayllu their entire life.
They practiced Incan religion which is Roman
Catholicism infused with the Pagan hierarchy
RELIGION AND
of spirits and deities which combined features
of animism, fetishism, and worship of nature SPIRITUAL BELIEFS
gods.
They believed that the human sacrifices of
both adults and children to Inti (Sun God) will
bring prosperity to them.
The Inca population believed that each crop
had a protective spirit named Conopas.
Domestic animals also had a protective spirit
called Illas.
The Inca population believed that some gods
especially the Anthropomorphous gods had a
human behavior pattern; they felt hatred, love,
compassion, or any other human feeling.
LIVELIHOOD
Working Life- Both males and females worked in the
fields using simple tools. Men might be required to
perform labor duties (building and maintaining Inca
roads or farming on Inca state lands) or military service
to the Inca rulers.
Most common people were farmers, artisans, or
servants. There were no slaves in Inca society. Lower-
class men and women farmed on government lands,
served in the army, worked in mines, and built roads.
The Inca ate potatoes and corn. They drank llama milk
and water and ate llamas and alpaca for their daily
protein because they didn't have pigs, cows, sheep, or
turkeys.
TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
For tools - Copper and bronze were used for basic farming tools. For use on fine masonry, the Incas had tools of
harder stones and bronze chisels. They also used earthen ramps to raise large stones if more than one row was
needed.
Techniques- The Inca built their cities with locally available materials, usually including limestone or granite. To
cut these hard rocks the Inca used stone, bronze, or copper tools, usually splitting the stones along the natural
fracture lines. Without the wheel, the stones were rolled up with wood beams on earth ramps.
MODES OF COMMUNICATION
To communicate and keep records, the
Inca sent information with Quipu . Quipu
was a system of strings tied together by
different knots to relay information.
Quipu could communicate a message
based on the fiber, color, and spin of a
string. Information was also conveyed by
the way strings were tied together.
Dressing Style-Women wore long
INCAN DRESSING STYLE
gowns with a sash at the waist. Men
AND MATERIALS USED IN
wore loincloths and sleeveless shirts
THE TEXTILES
that hung almost to the knees. Both
sexes wore sandals and long capes.
Textiles-Inca textiles were made using
cotton (especially on the coast and the
eastern lowlands) or llama, alpaca, and
vicuña wool (more common in the
highlands) which can be exceptionally
fine.
Clothes varied, based on the social
status and position in the society.
ARCHITECTURE
ARCHITECTURE
Inca architecture includes some of the most finely worked
stone structures from any ancient civilization.
The Incas used different forms of stone for their
construction projects. They used roughly shaped stones,
adobe, finely shaped stones, and mud or clay.
Some of the most sacred Inca buildings in Peru were
constructed with precisely fitting stones held together
by gravity alone. Peru is highly seismic and major
earthquakes are part of its history. But Inca
construction has a remarkable number of design
features that protect buildings against collapsing in an
earthquake.
The most famous Inca architectural heritage is Machu
Picchu, it is considered the best example of its architecture.
Other ruins include the fortress of Sacsayhuaman,
Coricancha Temple, and Ollantaytambo among others.
An extraordinary network of roads called the Qhapaq Ñan
or Great Inca Road integrated the empire's four regions. It
meandered across nearly 25,000 miles of varied landscape,
from rainforest to desert, up mountains and through valleys.
ART FORMS
DECLINE
The Inca Empire was a vast empire that flourished in the Andean region of
South America from the early 15th century A.D. up until its conquest by the
Spanish in the 1530s. The fall of the Inca empire is quite pitiful. After all the
hard work they had done to be one of the biggest Pre-Columbian
civilizations, they fall in a matter of days. Even after the conquest, Inca
leaders continued to resist the Spaniards up until 1572, when its last city,
Vilcabamba, was captured.
REFERENCES
https://www.ancient.eu/article/791/inca-
textiles/#:~:text=Inca%20textiles%20were%20made
%20using,which%20can%20be%20exceptionally%20f
ine
http://www.discover-peru.org/who-were-the-incas-
PRESENTATION BY
where-did-the-incas-come-from/
Sanyukta Telang 2020BARC002
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO5ktwPXsyM
Saara Chauhan 2020BARC014
Purvis Kathiriya 2020BARC044
Ankit Kumar 2020BARC072
Visave Poonam 2020BARC076
