Inca

In·ca

also In·ka I0146550 (ĭng′kə)n. pl. Inca or In·cas also Inka or In·kas 1. a. A member of the group of Quechuan peoples of highland Peru who established an empire from northern Ecuador to central Chile before the Spanish conquest.b. A ruler or high-ranking member of the Inca Empire.2. A member of any of the peoples ruled by the Incas.

[Spanish, from Quechua inka, ruler, man of royal lineage.]

Inca

(ˈɪŋkə) n, pl -ca or -cas1. (Peoples) a member of a South American Indian people whose great empire centred on Peru lasted from about 1100 ad to the Spanish conquest in the early 1530s and is famed for its complex culture2. (Anthropology & Ethnology) the ruler or king of this empire or any member of his family3. (Languages) the language of the Incas. See also Quechua[C16: from Spanish, from Quechua inka king] ˈIncan adj

In•ca

(ˈɪŋ kə)

n. 1. a member of any of the dominant groups of South American Indian peoples who established an empire in Peru prior to the Spanish conquest. 2. a ruler or member of the royal family in the Incan empire. [1585–95; < Sp < Quechua inka ruler of the Inca state] In•ca•ic (ɪŋˈkeɪ ɪk, ɪn-) adj. In′can, n., adj.

Inca

- A Quechua word meaning "king, lord, ruler."See also related terms for ruler.

Inca

A member of a people who ruled a South American empire centered on Peru and were overthrown by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	Inca - a ruler of the Incas (or a member of his family)Huayna Capac - the Incan ruler under whom the Incan empire reached its widest extent (died in 1525)ruler, swayer - a person who rules or commands; "swayer of the universe"
	2.	Inca - a member of the Quechuan people living in the Cuzco valley in PeruIncan, InkaKechua, Quechua - a member of a South American Indian people in Peru who were formerly the ruling class of the Inca empire
	3.	Inca - the small group of Quechua living in the Cuzco Valley in Peru who established hegemony over their neighbors in order to create an empire that lasted from about 1100 until the Spanish conquest in the early 1530sInkaPeru, Republic of Peru - a republic in western South America; achieved independence from Spain in 1821; was the heart of the Inca empire from the 12th to 16th centuries

Translations

InkaΊνκαςinca

Inca

(ĭng`kə), pre-Columbian empire, W South America. The name Inca may specifically refer to the emperor, but is generally used to mean the empire or the people.

Extent and Organization of the Empire

Centered at CuzcoCuzco
or Cusco
, city (1993 pop. 97,466), alt. 11,207 ft (3,416 m), capital of Cuzco dept., S Peru, at the confluence of the Huatanay and Tullamayo rivers. Its population is predominantly of indigenous descent.
..... Click the link for more information. , Peru, the empire at the time of the Spanish conquest (1532) dominated the entire Andean area from Quito, Ecuador, S to the Río Maule, Chile, extending some 2,000 mi (3,200 km). Although the Inca showed a genius for organization, their conquests were facilitated by the highly developed social systems of some of the kingdoms that they absorbed, such as the ChimuChimu
, ancient civilization on the desert coast of N Peru. It is believed to have begun c.1200. The Moche, an earlier civilization, was previously known as early Chimu or proto-Chimu. After the decline of the Moche (c.
..... Click the link for more information. , and the established agrarian communities that covered the area of their conquest. The Inca empire was a closely knit state. At the top was the emperor, an absolute monarch ruling by divine right. Merciless toward its enemies and requiring an obedience close to slavery, the imperial government was responsible for the welfare of its subjects. Everything was owned by the state except houses, movable household goods, and some individually held lands. In addition to cultivating the land, the common people were drafted to work on state projects such as mining, public works, and army service. This obligation was known as mita. From well-stocked storehouses were drawn goods to support priests, government servants, special artisans, the aged and the sick, and widows.

The royal family formed an educated, governing upper nobility, which at the time of the Spanish conquest numbered around 500. To further increase government control over an empire grown unwieldy, all who spoke Quechua became an "Inca class" by privilege and became colonists. Lesser administrative officials, formerly independent rulers, and their descendants were the minor nobility, or curaca class, also supported by the government.

For purposes of administration the empire was divided into four parts, the lines of which met at Cuzco; the quarters were divided into provinces, usually on the basis of former independent divisions. These in turn were customarily split into an upper and a lower moiety; the moieties were subdivided into ayllus, or local communities. Much as it exists today as the basic unit of communal indigenous society, so the ancient ayllu was the political and social foundation of Inca government. When a territory was conquered, surveys, consisting of relief models of topographical and population features, and a census of the population were made. With these reports, recorded on quipusquipus
or khipus
, groups of strings, knotted for tally, which were used by the Inca for keeping records and sending messages. The quipu, which is believed to have predated the rise of the Inca, was based on the decimal system.
..... Click the link for more information. , of the material and human resources in each province, populations were reshuffled as needed. Thus transplanted, and dominated by Quechua colonists, the subject peoples had less chance to revolt, and the separate languages and cultures were molded to the Inca pattern.

Religion, controlled by a hierarchy similar to the government hierarchy, emphasized ritual and organization. Heading the Inca gods was Viracocha. His servants were the sun, the god of the weather or thunder, the moon, the stars, the earth, and the sea. The sun god was foremost among these. Divination, sacrifices (human only at times of crisis), celebrations and ceremonies, ritual, feasts, and fasts were all part of Inca religion.

Inca Agriculture, Engineering, and Manufacturing

Although the Andean area offered a diversity of plant domestication, the handicaps of terrain and climate presented severe obstacles. To overcome them, Inca engineers demonstrated extraordinary skill in terracing, drainage, irrigation, and the use of fertilizers. They lacked draft animals, but domesticated animals (the llama, the alpaca, the dog, the guinea pig, and the duck) were important to daily living; from the wild vicuña, fine wool was sheared.

Without paper or a system of writing, the architects and master masons who designed and supervised the construction of public buildings and engineering works in such cities as Machu PicchuMachu Picchu
, Inca site in Peru, about 50 mi (80 km) NW of Cuzco. It is perched high upon a rock in a narrow saddle between two sharp mountain peaks and overlooks the Urubamba River 2,000 ft (600 m) below.
..... Click the link for more information. and the fortress of SacsahuamánSacsahuamán
, stronghold of the Incas outside Cuzco, Peru. Built in the 15th cent., Sacsahuamán is an imposing terraced fortress more than one third of a mile long; it is a masterpiece of stone construction. Cyclopean blocks (one is 38 ft/11.6 m long; 18 ft/5.
..... Click the link for more information. built clay models and, in actual construction, employed sliding scales, plumb bobs, and bronze and stone tools. Without wheeled vehicles for transport, the huge polygonal stone blocks for fortress, palace, temple, and storehouse were emplaced by ramp and rollers and were fitted with extraordinary precision. Wall corners were always carefully bonded. Adobe bricks and plaster were common, especially along the coastal desert. Buildings were usually of one story.

One of the most remarkable evidences of Inca engineering skill was an elaborate network of roads, which in many places still survives. Streams were crossed by a log or stone bridge, placid rivers by balsa ferry or pontoon bridge, and chasms by a breeches-buoy contrivance or by a suspension bridge that might be as much as 200 ft (60 m) long. Road sections were maintained by the nearest village, as were the shelters and military storehouses that were spaced a day's travel apart; a village also supplied messengers for its sector. These men, serving 15-day shifts, relayed messages about every mile. About 150 mi (240 km) could be covered daily, a distance that later took the Spanish colonial post 12 to 13 days to cover.

In the manufacture of textiles the Inca utilized almost every available kind of fiber and produced elaborate multicolored tapestries. In ceramics they achieved a fine-grained, highly polished, metallic hardness that stressed functional and utilitarian design. Mining was fairly extensive. Of the metals, copper and bronze were for public use; gold, silver, and tin were reserved for the emperor, the temples, and the upper nobility. Metallurgical processes included the techniques of smelting, alloying, casting, hammering, repoussé, incrustation, inlay, soldering, riveting, and cloisonné.

History

The Empire's Growth

Since the Inca combined much AymaraAymara
, Native South Americans inhabiting the Lake Titicaca basin in Peru and Bolivia. The originators of the great culture represented by the ruins of Tiahuanaco were very likely Aymara speakers. Although subjugated by the Inca in the 15th cent.
..... Click the link for more information. mythology with their own, their origin myth is obscure. The most common belief is that the legendary founder, Manco CapacManco Capac
, legendary founder of the Inca dynasty of Peru. According to the most frequently told story, four brothers, Manco Capac, Ayar Anca, Ayar Cachi, and Ayar Uchu, and their four sisters, Mama Ocllo, Mama Huaco, Mama Cura (or Ipacura), and Mama Raua, lived at
..... Click the link for more information. (who seems to have been a historical figure), brought his people from mountain caves to the Cuzco Valley. During the early Inca period (c.1200–c.1440) the tribe gradually established its hegemony over other peoples of the valley and under the emperor named Viracocha (the name also of the supreme creator in Inca cosmology) allied themselves with the QuechuaQuechua,
Kechua
, or Quichua
, linguistic family belonging to the Andean branch of the Andean-Equatorial stock of Native American languages (mainly in South America).
..... Click the link for more information. . However, it was not until the reigns of Pachacuti (c.1440–1471) and his son Topa Inca, or Tupac Yupanqui (1471–93), that the Inca made their great conquests. The present Ecuador (the kingdom of Quito) was subjugated by Huayna CapacHuayna Capac
, d. 1525, Inca of Peru, last of the great emperors. The Inca empire reached its greatest extent and power under his rule, but disruptive forces were already at work.
..... Click the link for more information. , giving the empire its greatest extent and power. At his death it was divided between his sons, HuáscarHuáscar
, d. 1533, Inca of Peru; son of Huayna Capac. At his father's death (1525) he became emperor, but had to share the empire with his younger half-brother, Atahualpa.
..... Click the link for more information. and AtahualpaAtahualpa
, d. 1533, favorite son of Huayna Capac, Inca of Peru. At his father's death (1525) he received the kingdom of Quito while his half-brother, the legitimate heir Huáscar, inherited the rest of the Inca empire.
..... Click the link for more information. , and a long civil war ensued from which Atahualpa emerged triumphant just as Francisco PizarroPizarro, Francisco
, c.1476–1541, Spanish conquistador, conqueror of Peru. Born in Trujillo, he was an illegitimate son of a Spanish gentleman and as a child was an illiterate swineherd.
..... Click the link for more information. landed on the shores of Peru and the Spanish conquest began.

Spanish Conquest

When Francisco Pizarro landed in South America in 1532, he was welcomed by Atahualpa. By strategem the conquistador lured the emperor into his camp, captured, and then executed him. Shortly thereafter (1533) Pizarro entered Cuzco. Although the Spaniards did not immediately subdue the Inca, the highly personal and centralized political structure of the Inca facilitated the Spanish conquest. Despite the heroic resistance carried on in many sections and the rebellion (1536–37) of Manco Capac, the conquest was assured. Under Spanish rule Inca culture was greatly modified and eventually Hispanicized. The natives were reduced to a subordinate status, and only in recent years have efforts been made to make the indigenous Peruvian population (about 50% of the total) an integral part of the national life.

Bibliography

See chapters on the Inca in the Handbook of South American Indians, Vol. II (1963). For accounts by early historians, see P. de Cieza de Léon, The Incas (tr. 1959) and G. de la Vega, The Royal Commentaries of Peru (tr. 1966).

See also W. H. Prescott, The History of the Conquest of Peru (1855, repr. 1963); C. R. Markham, The Incas of Peru (1910, repr. 1969); P. A. Means, Ancient Civilizations of the Andes (1931, repr. 1964) and The Fall of the Inca Empire (1932, repr. 1964); H. Bingham, Machu Picchu: Lost City of the Incas (1948, repr. 1969); V. W. von Hagen, Highway of the Sun (1956); L. Baudin, A Socialist Empire: The Incas of Peru (tr. 1961) and Daily Life in Peru under the Last Incas (tr. 1962); J. A. Mason, The Ancient Civilizations of Peru (rev. ed. 1968) and A. Métraux, The History of the Incas (tr. 1970); G. W. Conrad and A. A. Demarest, Religion and Empire; The Dynamics of Aztec and Inca Expansionism (1984).

Inca

1. a member of a South American Indian people whose great empire centred on Peru lasted from about 1100 ad to the Spanish conquest in the early 1530s and is famed for its complex culture 2. the ruler or king of this empire or any member of his family 3. the language of the Incas
www.wsu.edu/~dee/CIVAMRCA/INCAS.HTM
www.incaconquest.com

Inca

In·ca

Inca

In•ca

Inca

Inca

Inca

Inca

Extent and Organization of the Empire

Inca Agriculture, Engineering, and Manufacturing

History

The Empire's Growth

Spanish Conquest

Bibliography

Inca

INCA

Inca

Synonyms for Inca

noun a ruler of the Incas (or a member of his family)

Related Words

noun a member of the Quechuan people living in the Cuzco valley in Peru

Synonyms

Related Words

noun the small group of Quechua living in the Cuzco Valley in Peru who established hegemony over their neighbors in order to create an empire that lasted from about 1100 until the Spanish conquest in the early 1530s

Synonyms

Related Words