Inca

—Incaic /ing kay"ik, in-/, adj. —Incan, n., adj.

/ing"keuh/, 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]

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Group of South American Indians who ruled an empire that extended along the Pacific coast and Andes Mountains from what is now northern Ecuador to central Chile.

According to tradition (the Inca left no written records), the founder of the Incan dynasty led the tribe to Cuzco, which became their capital. Under the fourth emperor, they began to expand, and under the eighth they began a program of permanent conquest by establishing garrisons among the conquered peoples. Under Topa Inca Yupanqui and his successor, the empire reached its southernmost and northernmost extent. By the early 16th century the Inca controlled an empire of some 12 million subjects. They constructed a vast network of roads, their architecture was highly developed, and the remains of their irrigation systems, palaces, temples, and fortifications are still in evidence throughout the Andes. Incan society was highly stratified and featured an aristocratic bureaucracy. Their pantheon, worshiped in a highly organized state religion, included a sun god, a creator god, and a rain god. The Incan empire was overthrown in 1532 by the Spanish conquistadores, who made great use of the Incan road system during their conquests. The Inca's descendants are the Quechua-speaking peasants of the Andes (see Quechua). In Peru nearly half the population is of Incan descent. They are primarily farmers and herders living in close-knit communities. Their Roman Catholicism is infused with belief in pagan spirits and divinities. See also Andean civilization; Atahuallpa; Aymara; Chimú; Francisco Pizarro.

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▪ people

also spelled  Inka 

 South American Indians who, at the time of the Spanish conquest in 1532, ruled an empire that extended along the Pacific coast and Andean highlands from the northern border of modern Ecuador to the Maule River in central Chile. The Inca established their capital at Cuzco (Peru) in the 12th century. They began their conquests in the early 15th century and within 100 years had gained control of an Andean population of about 12,000,000 people. See also pre-Columbian civilizations: The Inca (pre-Columbian civilizations).

 In common with other Andean cultures, the Inca left no written records. Their history is known chiefly from the oral tradition that has been preserved through the generations by official “memorizers” and from the written records composed from them after the Spanish conquest. According to their tradition, the Inca originated in the village of Paqari-tampu, about 15 miles (24 km) south of Cuzco. The founder of the Inca dynasty, Manco Capac, led the tribe to settle in Cuzco, which remained thereafter their capital. Until the reign of the fourth emperor, Mayta Capac, in the 14th century, there was little to distinguish the Inca from the many other tribes inhabiting small domains throughout the Andes. Under Mayta Capac the Inca began to expand, attacking and looting the villages of neighbouring peoples and probably assessing some sort of tribute. Under Capac Yupanqui, the next emperor, the Inca first extended their influence beyond the Cuzco valley, and under Viracocha Inca, the eighth, they began a program of permanent conquest by establishing garrisons among the settlements of the peoples whom they had conquered.

      The earliest date that can be confidently assigned to Inca dynastic history is 1438, when Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, a son of Viracocha Inca, usurped the throne from his brother Inca Urcon. Under Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (1438–71) the Inca conquered territory south to the Titicaca Basin and north to present-day Quito, making subject peoples of the powerful Chancas, the Quechua, and the kingdom of Chimú. A policy of forced resettlement of large contingents from each conquered people helped ensure political stability by distributing ethnic groups throughout the empire and thus making the organization of revolt very difficult. Local governors were responsible for exacting the labour tax on which the empire was based; the tax could be paid by service in the army, on public works, or in agricultural work.

      Under Topa Inca Yupanqui (1471–93) the empire reached its southernmost extent in central Chile, and the last vestiges of resistance on the southern Peruvian coast were eliminated. His death was followed by a struggle for the succession, from which Huayna Capac (1493–1525) emerged successful. Huayna Capac pushed the northern boundary of the empire to the Ancasmayo River before dying in an epidemic that may have been brought by a tribe from the east that had picked it up from the Spanish at La Plata. His death set off another struggle for succession, which was still unresolved in 1532, when the Spanish arrived in Peru; by 1535 the empire was lost.

 Inca society was highly stratified. The emperor ruled with the aid of an aristocratic bureaucracy, exercising authority with harsh and often repressive controls. Inca technology and architecture were highly developed, although not strikingly original. Their irrigation systems, palaces, temples, and fortifications can still be seen throughout the Andes. The economy was based on agriculture, its staples being corn (maize), white and sweet potatoes, squash, tomatoes, peanuts (groundnuts), chili peppers, coca, cassava, and cotton. They raised guinea pigs, ducks, llamas, alpacas, and dogs. Clothing was made of llama wool and cotton. Houses were of stone or adobe mud. Practically every man was a farmer, producing his own food and clothing.

      The Inca built a vast network of roads (roads and highways) throughout this empire. It comprised two north–south roads, one running along the coast for about 2,250 miles (3,600 km), the other inland along the Andes for a comparable distance, with many interconnecting links. Many short rock tunnels and vine-supported suspension bridges were constructed. Use of the system was strictly limited to government and military business; a well-organized relay service carried messages in the form of knotted cords (see quipu) at a rate of 150 miles (240 km) a day. The network greatly facilitated the Spanish conquest of the Inca empire.

      The Inca religion combined features of animism, fetishism, and the worship of nature gods. The pantheon was headed by Inti, the sun god, and included also Viracocha, a creator god and culture hero, and Apu Illapu, the rain god. Under the empire the Inca religion was a highly organized state religion, but, while worship of the sun god and the rendering of service were required of subject peoples, their native religions were tolerated. Inca rituals included elaborate forms of divination and the sacrifice of humans and animals. These religious institutions were destroyed by the Spanish conquerors' campaign against idolatry.

      The descendants of the Inca are the present-day Quechua-speaking (Quechua) peasants of the Andes, who constitute perhaps 45 percent of the population of Peru. They combine farming and herding with simple traditional technology. Rural settlements are of three kinds: families living in the midst of their fields, true village communities with fields outside of the inhabited centres, and a combination of these two patterns. Towns are centres of mestizo (mixed-blood) population. An Indian community is close-knit, its families usually intermarrying. Much of the agricultural work is done cooperatively. Religion is a kind of Roman Catholicism infused with the pagan hierarchy of spirits and deities.

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