The Inca Empire

The Inca civilization flourished in ancient Peru between c. 1400 and 1533 CE, and their empire eventually extended across western South America from Quito in the north to Santiago in the south, making it the largest empire ever seen in the Americas and the largest in the world at that time.

1. BoutkhilGuemide
University Mohammed Boudiaf, M’sila
Algeria

2. Inca Empire
TheIncabuiltoneofthelargest&
wealthiesempiresinthe
world
Itbeganinthemid-1400s
Itwaslocatedonthewestern
coastofSouthAmerica

4. Geography of Incan Empire
►ExtendedalongtheAndesMountainsinSouthAmerica
►Highelevation,steepterrain

5. Inca Empire
IncanEmpireextendedmore
than2,500miles&included
present-dayColombia,Ecuador,
Chile,Peru,Bolivia,&
Argentina— huge territory
covereddeserts,mountains,&
rainforests
Usedterracedmountain-sides&
irrigationstreamsforfarming

6. The Incan Empire
Pre-Incacivilizationbegantodevelopinwhatisnow
Peru.Fourmajorculturesdevelopedandbuiltsome
ofSouthAmerica’sfirstcities.
TheearlyIncasbeganasasmalltribeintheAndes
mountains.
ArulernamedPachacutiledtheIncastoexpandtheir
territorythroughagreementswith,orconquestsof,
othertribes.
LaterIncarulerscontinuedtoexpandtheirterritory.
Bythe1500stheIncanEmpirewashugeandhad
12millionpeople.
►Reacheditspeakintheearly1500’s
–Existedfrom1000AD-1560’sAD
►Empireexpandedover2,000miles
►Controlledover12millionpeople

8. The Incan Government
AstheIncasconqueredmorepeople,theyhadto
deviseawaytocontrolthem.
Theymadetheconqueredleadersmoveoutoftheir
villagesandmoveinwithleaderswhowereloyalto
theIncagovernment.
TheIncamadethechildrenoftheconqueredleaders
cometotheIncancapitaltolearnaboutIncanways.
TheIncasestablishedanofficiallanguage,Quechua.
TheycontrolledtheeconomybyhavingtheIncapay
ataxwiththeirlabor.
Therewerenomarketsormerchants.Instead,the
governmentwoulddistributegoods.Leftovergoods
werestoredinthecapitalforemergencies.

9. Society
►Societywasverystableandorganized
►Ruledbyanemperorwhohadabsolutepower
–Healsoactedasreligiousleader
–SonoftheSunGod
►Forcedconqueredpeoplestoassimilate
►The2
nd
highesttierofthepopulationwerethelocalgovernors
(collectedtaxes),Coya(religiousleaders)andNobles
►FortheInca,positioninsocietyaffecteddailylife.
►TheIncasmadegreatachievementsinbuilding,art,andoral
literature.
►Incasocietyhadtwomainsocialclasses—anupperandalower
class.TheIncasfromCuzco,thecapital,madeuptheupper
class.

10. UpperClass
•Kings,priests,and
government officials
made uptheInca
upperclass.
•Menworkedforthe
government, and
womenhadhousehold
duties.
•Sonswenttoschool.
•Upper-classfamilies
hadmanyprivileges,
suchasprivateschools,
stonehouses,andthe
bestclothes.
LowerClass
•Thelowerclasswas
madeupoffarmers,
artisans,andservants.
Therewerenoslavesin
Incasociety.
•They worked on
government farms,
servedinthearmy,
workedinmines,or
builtroads.
•Mostchildrendidnot
gotoschool,but
instead learned to
farm.
Society and Daily Life

11. Religion in the Inca Empire
TheIncaEmpirehadanofficialreligion.
Whentheyconquerednewregions,they
taughtthisreligiontotheconquered
people.
Theyallowedtheconqueredpeopleto
worshiptheirowngodsaswell.
Thegodofthesunwasthemostimportant
godtotheIncas.Theybelievedtheirkings
wererelatedtothesungod.
TheIncasrarelysacrificedhumans.
Instead,theysacrificedllamas,cloth,or
food.

12. The Inca made great achievements in building,
art, and oral literature.
TheIncashadstrongtraditionsofbuilding,art,and
storytelling.Manyoftheircreationsstillexisttoday.
IncaContributionstoCulture
TheIncawereknownfortheirmassivebuildingsand
fortsmadeofhugestoneblocks.Blockswerecutso
preciselythateventodayitisnearlyimpossibletofita
knifebladebetweenthestones.
TheIncaalsobuiltasystemofroadsthatconnected
allpartsoftheempire.
TheIncaartisansmadejewelryofsilverandgold.
Oralliteraturewasmadeupofstorytellingandsongs.
TheIncaalsopasseddowntheirsongs,dances,and
religiouspractices.

13. Architecture

14. Incan Cities
►Cuzco
–Capital city
►Machu Picchu
–Most well preserved
city

15. Inca
Empire
Most
famous
city was
Machu
Picchu

18. Agriculture
►Terracedfarming
►Farmedcorn,potatoes,coffee,
andgrain

20. Religion
►Polytheistic
►Offered food, clothing
and drink
►Some sacrifice, not as
much as Aztecs
►Sun God of Inti

21. Achievements
►Elaborate system of roads
►Domesticated the Llama
►Terraced farming
►Communication/record keeping
–Quipus: Knotted ropes
►Excelled in medicine
►Expertise in metal works

22. Decline
CivilWarbetweentwobrothers
FrancescoPizarroandhis
associateDiegodiAlmagro
arrivesduringthischaoswith
200Spaniards
*Incapopulationatthattime:
morethan6million!
Hismenaredrivenbygreedand
lustforgold
PizarrokidnappedAtahuallpa,
heldhimforransom,and
eventuallyexecutedhim.
1532-1560–Struggleforthe
Inca
By1560,Spaniardshave
dominantcontrolofwhatisleft
ofthegreatIncanEmpire.