Transcript of Inca Empire. While Mexica was building an empire in Mesoamerica, there was a small community of...
- Slide 1
- Inca Empire
- Slide 2
- While Mexica was building an empire in Mesoamerica, there was a
small community of Quechua (catch-wha) speaking people, known to us
as the Inca were building the Western Hemispheres largest imperial
state located by the Andes Mountains. They took in previous
civilizations cultures and land. It controlled some 2,500 m and 10
million people. Encompassed almost the whole of Andean
civilization. Rag to Riches
- Slide 3
- The Incas, in comparison to the Aztecs, had a more bureaucratic
empire. Like the Mandate of Heaven in China the ruler in the Inca
culture was believed to be a descendant of the creator god
Viracocha and sun god Inti. The state controlled all the land and
resources, and had governors for all of the eighty regions. People
were split into various sizes of hierarchical units. These units
were led by a local official who was in turn supervised by a the
governor of the region. The imperial center used inspectors to keep
these rulers in line and to report any bad behavior. The Inca were
very much into keeping track of marriages, deaths, and etc. It was
recorded on quipus which were knotted cords used for accounting.
Into (modern depiction) ViracochaQuipus
- Slide 4
- The Incas displaced 25% of the population in order to quell
rebellion or resistance. Conquered people were forced to learn
Quechua and their sons were moved to the capital Cuzco to learn
Incan culture and language. This Quechua language is still alive in
South America today and is even an official language in Peru. The
human variety required a lot of flexibility on the part of the
Incans. The Incas sometimes were able to work with the prior
political systems but also in some cases had to create one from
scratch. They faced resistance but also some were accepting of them
in order to benefit themselves. The Incans incorporated local
people into the lower level political levels. Religious freedom was
allowed but they had to acknowledge the power of some Inca gods.
This system then made it more essential to accommodate the local
people rather then the Incas demands or desires.
- Slide 5
- Inca demands on their people were a labor service,known as
mita, was a periodical required work of a household. What was made
in home usually stayed there but also they had to work for the
state. Some examples are people working on farms that supported
religious temples or institutes, military service, or
state-directed construction.
- Slide 6
- Wives of the sun People with specialized skills were put to
work in making goods. An example of this were the chosen women
- Slide 7
- These were women that were taken from their hoes at a young age
in order to be trained in Inca ideology and make beer and cloth in
State centers. When they grew up these women were given to ranking
officials or sent to serve as priestesses in temples. There they
got the nickname as Wives of the Sun. In return the Incas provided
large feasts for their services.
- Slide 8
- Incas and the Aztecs both believed that men and women were in
two separate but equal spheres. In the Andes the men reckoned their
descent from their fathers and girls from their mothers. On the
other hand Mesoamericans belonged equally to their mother and their
father. Parallel religious cults grew for both men and women in
this region. WomenMoon Mama Killa MenSun
- Slide 9
- As the empire grew, there grew a parallel hierarchy. Women and
men were seen doing separate jobs still but they were thought of as
equal in their respective sphere. This still meant not full gender
equality. Men occupied the top political and religious roles.
Military life, that was exclusively for men, grew in prestige. The
Inca rulers adapted the local gender systems of the people
conquered. Inca rulers, sapay Inca, co-ruled with their female
counter parts the coya. Each claiming descent of their respected
moon or sun god.
- Slide 10
- The End