Incan Empire

Social Structure

• Four layers of social structure: Sapa (Incan royalty, nobility) - most powerful person in the whole empire, served as the king and believed to be the "son of the sun"
• Below the Sapa class are the royals/ the descendants of the leader (the relatives of the Sapa)
• The wife of the Sapa Inca was called "coya" and served as the queen of the society
• Under the royals were the nobility class( members of the royal family, served as a way to be in the nobility class )
• The large majority of the Incas were called ayllu, they were the basis of economic activity, they were lead by the Curaca
• The allyu were expected to work the land, take care of the livestock, and pay taxes, in exchange for their work, the Sapa provided the people with previsions form around the world

Political:

• Pachacuti ruled in 1438, and led the Incas to conquer all of Peru and into other neighboring lands
• The Incas had a powerful military to be used in only times when fore in needed
• Their land was divided into several units all governed by a central bureaucracy
• Their capital was Cuzco
• Their government had almost gained total control over economic and social life
• Local administration left to local rulers
• If the area didn't obey Incan control the government would relocate a whole group to a new area and appoint rulers
• The aged and the disabled were supported by the state
• The state made sure that people didn't go hungry during times of bad harvest, they had freeze dried potatoes stored in the government warehouses for food shortages
• It was a bureaucracy but was made up mostly of aristocrats

Interactions:

• Took advantage of the soil and created unique ways to farm, since their land was on a mountain side
• They created steps to create a flat surface for farming
• They understood that different plants liked to grow in different altitudes
• They used llamas and alpacas to assist their farming in their rough terrain

Culture:

• They were in many arts such as weaving, metal work and tunic making, and were skillful craftsmen
• They worshiped many god for things such as nature, the sun, Earth or thunder
• They wore only one thing all day which was either a tunic or a gown
• The official language of the Incas was Quechua, however there were other languages being spoken
• Priest conducted many religious rituals, they were polytheistic people
• They practiced the ritual of human sacrifice
• They had no written language
• Their religion was central to their society

Economy:

• Their production and distribution of goods were controlled by the government
• Allowed little private commerce and trade
• Long distance trade became less important as they increased importance on self sufficiency
• They based their economy on agriculture, and built elaborate terraces for their crops and a extensive road system to transport them