Unit 3 Mesoamerican civilizations: Inca civilization

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 398.

Inca civilization was also known as Tiwantinsuya. As with all ancient civilizations, its exact origin is unknown.

Four hundred years ago many wonderful stories told people of the western world about glittering realm of gold and silver of the Inca of Peru and since then their lands were systematically plundered by Spanish conquistadors. The booty they carried home supplied the whole European economic system, but that wasn't enough to leave the Inca in peace. A highly developed civilization, a single government of which managed to control huge territories under their control, was ruined.

The Inca Empire was quite short-lived. It lasted just 100 years, from 1438 AD until the coming of the Spaniards in 1532. Inca's chief Pachacuti and especially his son Topa Inca were the greatest conquerors that during the next 50 years brought under their control the area of present-day Peru, Bolivia, northern Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador. Within this area, the Inca established a totalitarian state that enabled the tribal ruler and a small minority of nobles to dominate the population. At its peak, Incan society had more than six million people.

Inca society was made up of clans of families who lived and worked together. Each clan was supervised by a chief. Families lived in houses built of stone and mud. Furnishings were unknown with families sitting and sleeping on the floor. Potatoes were a basic Inca food. The Imperial Incas clothed themselves in garments made from Alpaca and wore sandals on their feet.

Inca believed in one powerful god of Wiraqocha, or Sun god. They also believed in reincarnation. Their capital city of Cuzco with its advanced hydraulic engineering, agricultural techniques, marvelous architecture, textiles, ceramics and ironworks was the home of the Inca Lord and site of the sacred Temple of the Sun.

Money existed in the form of work. Each subject of the empire paid taxes by laboring and rulers paid them in clothing and food. Silver and gold, found in Incas' ground, were only used for aesthetics, but just this wealth brought disaster to the empire in the 16th century, when Spanish soldiers came to this land seeking riches.