ARCH 212 2024 THE INCAS LECTURE 11 A.ppt

inca civilization

1. ANDEAN CIVILIZATION
INCAS OF PERU 1200-1532

2. HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY ANDES
Varied ecology; rugged terrain
High Andes mountains
Dry coastal plains
Hot/humid east Andean regions
Tropical Rain Forest/Amazon basin
Rivers flowed eastwards into Pacific
Inca Empire ran north-south
ORIGINS
Area: Peru, Bolivia, etc.
Inca refers to title of Cusco rulers
Emerged around 1000-1400 CE
1200 settled Cusco on Lake Titicaca
EXPANSION & GOVT

3. EXPANSION & GOVERNMENT
 STRATEGIES OF EXPANSION
Gave 2 options to enemies: concede or brutal conquest
Incorporated subject peoples into Inca Empire
Used forced resettlement
 Expansion aimed at Ecological Exchanges
STRUCTURES OF GOVERNMENT
Sapa (unique) Inca was supreme ruler
Patron of royal cult of the Sun God
No orderly succession; royals fought for the throne
Elite classes included nobility, priests; noble women


4. ECONOMY

QUIPU
• KHIPU
•KHIPU/QUIPU (knotted cotton/fiber)
•knotting up different thread colours presents different numbers
•Used for keeping records, taxation, census
•Each town had a knot-keeper
•ECOLOGICAL EXCHANGES ROADS TEXTILE
•a. Highlands provided alpaca, llama, guinea/pigs
•b. Central valleys supplied potatoes, maize, manioc
•c. Arid coastal plain supplied fish, cotton, salt d. Amazonian produced coca, fruits

•LABOR MOBILIZATION
•Ayllu (Clan) labor provided local communal
•Mita labour was demanded by the state from males 25-50 years
•Mita labour was used to build roads, terracing, etc. Tributes were paid by artisans, peasants, etc. to the state

5. URBANIZATION & FACILITIES
•Urban: Cusco had 300,000 people ROAD
RIVERS
•ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
•Had walls, paved roads
•Gold-plastered palaces
•Roads of about 25, 000 miles
• 2 main roads running N-S
• Linked by 20 E-W routes
•Irrigation works, roads, bridges
•SIGNIFICANCE OF ROADS running north-south? URBAN CUSCO
•DECLINE

6. SUMMARY DECLINE OF AZTECS/INCAS COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE

Spanish Hernan Cortez arrived in Aztec 1520
Spanish Francisco Pizarro arrived in Inca 1522
Both led the conquest of respective empires
REASONS FOR DECLINE
1. Territorial extent of empires too huge to be managed
2. Hegemony & exploitation alienated subjects
 a. Aztec: Triple Alliance
 b. Incas: regional exchanges
 C. Incas’ post-1525 civil war crises
3. Social inequalities divided empires
 War captives, sacrificial victims; exploitation
4. Spread of European diseases
• Smallpox, typhus, cholera, measles
• 1527 nearly 50% had died
5. European superior armies: weapons & horses
• Cortez had 500 soldiers; 14 cannons; 16 horses
• 6. Natural disasters: volcano, earthquake, tsunami