Ancient civilizations of the Incas. Who are the Incas and where did they live? Inca Empire: capital, culture, history

The peoples conquered by the Incas, for the most part, belong to the same civilization, the geographical contours of which can be defined quite clearly. The area that archaeologists call the "central Andes" includes the coast, mountains and Amazonian foothills of modern Peru, the highlands of Bolivia and the far north of Chile. From the west it is limited Pacific Ocean, from the east - the Amazonian forest. Its northern limit coincides with the Tumbes River (near the modern border between Peru and Ecuador), the line of change in the rain regime (equatorial in the north, tropical in the south) and lowering of the mountain range. This ecological border is duplicated by a geographical barrier: 400 kilometers of forested tropical mountains and rugged terrain separate Cajamarca, in northern Peru, from the Ecuadorian Loja. On the coast, 200 kilometers of desert separate the Lambayeque valley from the Piura valley (northern Peru). At the southern borders of the central Andes, the upper plateaus, which continue the basin of Lake Titicaca to the south, smoothly turn into huge saline expanses, almost uninhabited, which, on the Pacific coast, run into the vast Atacama Desert. The Bolivian valley of Cochabamba, already separated from the upper plateau by three hundred kilometers of mountains, is also isolated from the regions located just to the east by the extremely inhospitable Bolivian mountain range.

These borders did not become an obstacle to cultural, economic and even political relations. Trade between the Andes and, for example, the Amazon has always been intense, and in some places the Incas extended their dominance to the upper Amazon. These frontiers rather define territories with rather different geographical conditions, where it is possible to develop various ways organization of life. The Spaniards very quickly caught these geographical and cultural coincidences. They gave the space we identified just above the name "Peru" - after the name of the southern Colombian or Ecuadorian stretch of coast, which one of the expeditions first became acquainted with in the 1520s - clearly contrasting it with the "provinces of Quito", corresponding to modern Ecuador ( which is part of the northern Andes), and "Chile", the territory of the Mapuche Indians (which is part of the southern Andes). It is in this sense that the word “Peru” will be used here, only two Amazonian thirds of the modern Republic of Peru are excluded from it and, on the contrary, the highlands of the modern Republic of Bolivia and northern Chile join it. With the exception of the upper southern plateaus, the central Andes are a fragmented, heterogeneous territory. coastal valleys interspersed with deserts several tens of kilometers long. The Andean valleys are often very narrow, even tiny, and, again, isolated from each other by steep slopes or almost impassable mountain ranges.

Production regions

In the central Andes, a traveler, moving from the ocean to the Amazonian forest, can find a huge variety of ecosystems in a space of 200 km. Such a variety and proximity of various dwellings and settlements is not found anywhere else in the world and is determined by extremely distinctive forms of economic and social organization. Peruvians distinguished (and continue to distinguish) three main types of spheres and regions of production, which are distributed along the vertical axis. In Quechua, the term yunkan refers to the hot, humid lands that stretch from one part of the Andes to the other between 1500 and 2800 m (depending on the location) above sea level. The temperate mountain valleys, which in some regions rise to 3500 m - the upper limit of maize cultivation - received the name Quechua. Alpine treeless savannahs, located at an altitude of 3000 or 3500 m to 4800 or 5200 m, are called navels. Frosts here make all irrigation useless. At an altitude of about 5000 m, the puna is replaced by rocky formations, above which snow-capped peaks and glaciers rise, and all the vegetation of which is limited to lichens and moss. The height of several dozen mountain peaks exceeds 6000 m.

Between the sands of Atacama and Piura, the coast of South America is a desert strip, where, with the exception of a light winter drizzle, it never rains. The rivers descending from the Andes form valleys-oases there, separated by distances of 20-60 km. Very narrow in the south, broader but short in the center, these valleys are wide and deep in the north, where they gave shelter to some of the most complex and brilliant societies of ancient Peru. Over long millennia, the inhabitants of the coast developed a gigantic network of irrigation canals, which allowed them to grow maize, cotton, gourd and bottle gourd. Above 300 m, where it is hottest, coca (which is an aphrodisiac and blunts the feeling of hunger), capsicum and fruit trees: annona, avocado, guava and paca were bred. Extremely rich in plankton, the cold waters washing the coast amaze with the diversity of marine fauna, due to which huge flocks of fishing birds live in those places, whose manure (guano) has been used as fertilizer since ancient times. The eastern foothills of the Andes were not as densely populated as the coast and highlands, but were of great economic interest to the highlanders, who set up settlements there, breeding coca, cotton, pumpkin, pepper, peanuts and avocados. From these plants, they extracted resin and incense, and also used them as medicines.

The highest concentration of the mountain population was observed in the temperate zone, Quechua, between 2500 and 3500 m, where the natives cultivated maize, beans, quinoa, as well as root crops and tarui (legume family). Thanks to irrigation, these farmers have long since learned to lengthen the growing season and alleviate the inconvenience caused by changing weather. Under the Incas, thousands of kilometers of canals were built, which were added to those that were built by previous states. They increased the number of irrigated terraces everywhere, since the temperate zone is located mainly on the slopes and cannot be properly exploited without significant land improvement.

Navels are steppes covered with all kinds of cereals and cacti, which occupy most of the territory of the central Andes. There are representatives of the deer family (luichu and taruka), rodents, chinchilla families (viscacha), wild camels (vicunas) and predators (for example, foxes or cougars). On numerous lakes you can meet a wide variety of birds. For people, the navel is a priority area for extensive breeding of llamas and alpacas. In the lower part of the puna, in depressions protected from night frosts, between 3500 and 4000 m, root crops are grown: potatoes (470 varieties of it are known), oka, olyuko, mashua, anyu, maca, as well as cereals - caniva and quinoa. From Cajamarca to Cusco, the puna is one large undulating steppe. In the south, it forms wide plateaus around the lake basins, which extend as far as the Bolivian province of Lipes. These upper plateaus define a specific space in the bowels of the central Andes, the center of which they are - the Spaniards called it "Charcas", then "Upper Peru". At the heart of this space is Lake Titicaca (the highest navigable body of water in the world), along the shores of which are the most fertile lands of the upper plateau - the temperate climate of these places favors agriculture. The "pre-Hispanic" inhabitants of the upper plateau expanded agricultural areas thanks to the technology of "flooded fields", which creates furrows around thermal protection. This technology, which contributed to the development of Tiahuanaco, fell into oblivion shortly after the Spanish conquest. In the part of Peru that lies northwest of the watershed between the Titicaca basin and the Cusco region, the puna is more of a peripheral space, much less significant in terms of demographics and politics. But the relatively weak population of this undulating pool does not in the least diminish its economic importance for the population living in its lower regions: these steppes are home to many animals that are one of the main sources of wealth in the Andes.

The weather in the central Andes hardly changes, and the seasons are determined not by "warm" and "cold" months, but by precipitation. It has a rainy season from October to April and a dry season from May to September. On the eastern slope, rain is not uncommon, while on the western slope it is infrequent.

The northern Andes (“provinces of Quito”) in geographical terms differ quite strongly from the central Andes. The coast there is covered with mangrove and tropical forests, which the Incas found inhospitable and, in fact, did not even try to integrate into their empire. The wet prairies, which extend above 3500 m, although favorable for the breeding of llamas and alpacas, were exploited only when the Incas brought their herds there. The mountain valleys (the landscape of which is in many ways similar to the landscape of the Peruvian Quechua) have been densely populated by farmers since ancient times, which, apparently, explains the great interest that the Incas showed in them. No other region, however, offered such fierce resistance to them, probably because the northern Andean communities, which developed in a slightly different environment than their Peruvian neighbors, were very different from the latter from a socio-economic and cultural point of view, to easily agree to join those political and ideological structures that the Incas wanted to impose on them.

Empire of the "Four Directions of the World"

At the time of the Spanish conquest, the Inca Empire consisted of 10 to 12 million inhabitants and represented the most densely populated mountain range in the world. The Incas called their state Tauapshipsuyu, which in Quechua literally means "four united lanes" and which is sometimes translated as "four cardinal points". Tauantpinsuyu was indeed divided into four parts, each of which extended from one to the other of the four main roads that branched off from the capital. Due to the lack of two-dimensional maps, the Incas imagined the territories they controlled as the space between the roads, along which there were administrative centers and inns built by them. Each of the quarters of the empire thus seemed to the Incas to be a "band" defined by one of these roads. There were textile "maps" in the form of a quipu, where each road was marked with a rope, on which provinces, cities or inns were marked with knots. The name Tauantpinsuyu also indicates that, through their dominance, the Incas intended to ensure the commonality of the territory, which they saw as an ethnic and linguistic mosaic placed in a kind of geographically fragmented space. The rites and legends of the Incas indicate that that in Cuzco they saw just the same sacred center of this reunited world.

Each of the four parts that made up the Empire was known by the name of one of the ethnic groups that lived in it and which metonymically denoted other groups. To the northwest of Cusco stretched Chinchasuyu, or "chincha strip", after the name of the rich coastal state, with which the Incas had centuries-old ties. To the southwest stretched the Kuntisuyu, or "stripe of kopti", important group who settled in this part of the seaside slope of the mountains. To the south went the Kolyasuyu, or “strip of stakes”, the people who occupied the northern part of the basin, on Lake Titicaca and long time was the main rival of the Incas. To the east, Aptisuyu unfolded, where, among others, lived the antis, whom the Spaniards also called "Andes." They occupied a mountain range covered with tropical vegetation, located to the northeast of Cuzco and called by the Spaniards the “Mountain system of the Andes”. The term "Andes" itself began to be used in relation to this mountain system much later.

Cusco

Located at an altitude of 3450 meters, in the valley of the Huatanay River, Cusco did not look like a clearly structured city. The capital was a relatively small center, located at the foot of the hill, a settlement in which elite buildings were concentrated and the surroundings of which spread along the spurs of the valley.

Indeed, in order to maximize the area suitable for cultivation, the Incas erected only terraces, roads and canals in the depths of the valley. The buildings of Cusco were "sandwiched" between two canal rivers, Huatanayi Tullumayu.

It is generally accepted that between 15,000 and 20,000 people lived in Cuzco, mainly representatives of the elite and their servants. Here were the palaces of the dead Incas. They kept the mummies of the rulers and their descendants, as well as, as in the temples, a lot of gold and silver items in the form of dishes, statues and plates that adorned the walls and roofs. For the Incas, these metals had no monetary value, and their use was the lot of only the nobility. The extreme degree of their accumulation in the capital, probably, should have emphasized the sacred nature of this place. Cusco, thus, was primarily a religious city and a kind of museum in memory of the Inca rulers. The gods and the dead almost constantly and in huge quantities received offerings there, consuming a rather significant part of the rent of the ruling Inca. Juan Polo de Ondegardo, a Spanish official who carefully studied the Incas in the 1550s, described the capital thus: would not say that they have their own secret. As soon as the travelers discovered this city for themselves, having crossed the pass, they no longer spared prayers and offerings for it.

"Kancha" in Olyantaytambo

The basic element of Inca urban planning was a set of rectangular in plan, one-room and one-level buildings located around a courtyard. Such a building was called a kancha (“enclosed place”), since it was usually surrounded by a high wall with one or two entrance doors, which guaranteed the isolation of life passing behind this "fence".

Estimated perspective of the Aucaipata (1) and Cusipata (2) squares in Cusco.

A - The current location of the Church of St. Francis; B - Modern layout of the Garcilaso de la Vega house

Such a structure was typical both for ordinary dwellings and for palaces and temples in which the gods “lived”. The streets of Cuzco were narrow passages between the high walls that contained these residential or religious complexes. On one side of the city there was a huge square, 190x165 m. It was known as Aukaipata (“rest area”), as it served for large ritual feasts. Bounded on one side by the Uatanay River, it stretched along this river, smoothly passing into another, almost as vast area, which was called Kusipasha (“amusement area”) - military parades were held on it.

Cusco looked relatively monotonous: most of the houses, temples and palaces were one-story, and all without exception had thatched roofs; no structure, like the Mexican pyramids, stood out among these homogeneous structures. The urban pattern was largely dictated by topography: the buildings of the center were located on a high spur that separated the Tulumayyu and Huatanay rivers, while other buildings were piled on top of each other on a hillside.

Above all this accumulation of buildings rose the huge fortress and temple of Sacsayhuaman, built on a hill in the northern part of the city. Today, only the largest stones remain, those that the Spaniards failed to move during the construction of the colonial city.

City of Cusco as described by Pedro Sancho (1534)

This city is the greatest and most beautiful that has ever been seen in this country or anywhere in the West Indies. It is so beautiful, and its buildings are so beautiful, that it would be magnificent even in Spain.

It consists entirely of dwellings belonging to seniors, since ordinary people do not live in it. [...] Most of the buildings are built of stone, and the rest of the stone made half of the facade. There are also many houses of adobe brick, very skillfully built. They are located along straight streets according to a cruciform plan. All the streets are paved, and in the middle of each street there is a stone-lined water channel. The only drawback of these streets is that they are narrow: only one person can ride on each side of the canal. [...] The area, square in shape, is located in the most flat part and is completely covered with fine gravel. All around rise four manor houses, made of hewn stone and painted. The most beautiful of the four is the dwelling of Guaynacaba [= Huayna Capac], an old cacique. It has an entrance made of red, white and multi-colored marble, and it is decorated with other dihedral structures, magnificent in view [...] On top of a round and very steep hill hanging over the city, stands an incredibly beautiful fortress made of stone and adobe. Its large windows overlook the city, which makes it even more beautiful. Behind the fortress wall there are numerous buildings, and in the middle of them is the main cylindrical tower, four or five stories high. [...] The stones [towers] are so smooth that they could pass for polished planks. [...] There are so many rooms and towers in the fortress that it is impossible for one person to inspect them in a day. Many Spaniards who have been in Lombardy and other foreign kingdoms claim, having visited it, that they have never seen a similar building, nor such a well-fortified castle. [...] The most beautiful thing you can see in this city is its fortress wall. It is made of stones so huge that you would never believe that ordinary people put them in their places. They are so large that they look like pieces of rocky mountains.

Walls of Sacsayhuaman (according to George Squire, 1877)

The valley of the Uatanay River was distinguished by very dense buildings. Nearby, in the foothills, the Incas erected terraces, irrigation canals, complexes of grain barns and new villages, where they housed the peasants who arrived from various provinces of the empire. There were also country houses of representatives of the local aristocracy, as well as temples. The total number of inhabitants of the capital and its suburbs could reach 100,000 people.

"Cusco" (Kusku) is an Aymara term meaning "owl". According to the Inca myth about the founding of this city, Manco Capac, having arrived in the vicinity of the future Cuzco, ordered one of his brothers, Ayar Aukeu, to fly up a stone pillar located not far from the place where the Golden Temple (Coricancha) would one day arise, and gain a foothold there, in order to designate their possession of this territory. Ayar Auka did just that, turning into stone in the indicated place. This monolith has been known since then under the name Kusku Huanka, "Owl Rock", probably because Ayar Auka turned into this particular bird in order to fly to this boundary stone. He-το gave his name to this settlement, which gradually grew around him and became known simply as Cusco.

metropolitan area

Above the valley of the Huatanay River, within a radius of about 70 km, stretched the actual territory of the Incas, the one on which they founded the protogosate several centuries before the formation of Tauaptipsuyu. Protected by the canyon of the Apurimac River, which could only be crossed by suspension bridges, and bordering the Amazonian forest, this territory was almost impregnable, with the exception of the valley of the Vilcanota River, the possessions of the Capa and Kancha tribes, allies of the Incas.

All the rulers, starting from Viracocha and ending with Huascar, erected country residences for themselves in this region, together with their Court lived during the dry and cold season. The favorite area for the construction of these country palaces was the valley of the Vilcanota River, between Pisac and Machu Picchu, located not far from the capital, but with a much milder climate. All residences were equipped with advanced hydraulic structures: carved fountains poured water in cascades through channels, as well as artificial lakes, in which buildings were reflected to the sound of murmuring water. Forests, parks and hunting reserves stretched all around. There were at least 18 such properties in the Cusco region. One of the most sophisticated was the palace of Quispiguanca, built by Huay-na Capak near the modern town of Urubamba, at an altitude of 2800 meters. From point of view geographical location one of the most impressive is the palace of Kakia-Shakshaguana (modern Uchuy-Kusku) belonging to Inca Viracocha - located on a ledge at an altitude of 3650 meters, it rises 600 meters above the valley of Vilkanota. But the most famous residence of the rulers is, of course, Machu Picchu, located three or four days from Cusco. Built by Pachacuti, Machu Picchu Palace, with its 200 buildings, could serve as a comfortable refuge for 750 people at a time. Food and drinks were delivered to it from the capital, since Machu Picchu has almost no agricultural terraces and there is not a single peasant household in the neighborhood, as well as storage facilities. No agricultural implements were found in it either. Warriors and administrators were probably encamped around the settlement. The residence of the Inca has baths and a garden, as in other places, such as Cajamarca. But main activity The courtyard unfolds inside, on an area that occupies about a third of the entire area of ​​​​the settlement (except for the terrace). Machu Picchu was probably mainly intended to strengthen social bonds between the Incas through feasts and religious ceremonies during the dry season. Pachakushi knew that rivalries and conflicts were by no means uncommon in the depths of the elite, and, apparently, he wanted to create a pleasant and harmonious environment in which one could worship the gods and enjoy life in the company of representatives of the most powerful families of Cuzco.

Provincial centers

The Incas created about 80 administrative and ceremonial centers in new places, designed to serve as the centers of the provinces. Most are located four or five days' journey from each other.

In these centers there is always a very large area, rectangular or trapezoidal, where the population of the province periodically feasted at the expense of the Inca, in gratitude for the work for the benefit of the ruler. In such cases, religious ceremonies made it possible to renew the agreement concluded between the Inca and his subjects. Rites of offerings to the gods were held on an elevated platform (usnu), so that all the people gathered on the square could participate in them.

Thus, the Inca settlements were not just real cities, or even administrative centers, but "welfare centers." There was no market in them, and for most of the year only a few of their buildings were inhabited. In addition, after the Spanish conquest, these "artificial" cities were hastily abandoned. Thus, the permanent population of Atun-Shaushi, one of the largest centers, was only about 7,000 people.

But when the city filled with people for the performance of rites that extolled imperial unanimity, its numbers increased many times over. The conquistador Miguel de Estete, who in 1532 saw this settlement in similar circumstances, even decided that he was in one of largest cities throughout the continent. Hernando Pizarro, who visited there in 1533, claims, probably exaggerating a little, that he saw 100,000 "serving Indians" there, feasting and dancing. In these cities, as a rule, there was also the residence of the ruler, where the Inca stopped in transit, as well as the temple of the Sun and the "house of the chosen women" (akljauasi), in which women constantly lived and worked, who devoted themselves to the cult of the Sun and the preparation of maize beer and ceremonial clothes.

Of all these provincial centers, the city of Huanuco is probably the best preserved. In the center of this settlement, located at an altitude of 3700 m, on the road that connects Cusco and Quito, there was a huge area (520 x 360 m), capable of accommodating a very large number of people. In the middle of it rose a platform, which served as a stage for the rites of offering, so grandiose that everyone could see it. In case of rain, the revelers took refuge in the large oblong buildings surrounding the square and continued to feast there.

Several streets radiated from the square, dividing the city into segments that stretched for 2 square kilometers and included approximately 4,000 buildings in a typical Inca architectural style.

On the nearest hill there were about 700 grain barns, which served to supply the armies and temporary residents.

Such centers are most often found in the highlands and in the middle part of Tahuantinsuyu. On the coast, the Incas built only two settlements: Incahuasi, in the Cañete Valley, and Tambo Colorado, in the Pisco Valley. Not a single Inca city existed on the territory of the ancient Chimu Empire, with the possible exception of Tumbes, from which nothing remains. In Colyasuyu, the Incas built far fewer administrative centers than in the highlands of Chinchasuyu, preferring to occupy ancient settlements like Atun Kolya or Chucuito. In the extreme south of the Empire, in regions that belong today to Argentina and Chile, where the population density was somewhat less, and the only minerals were minerals - in particular, Chilean obsidian - the Incas ordered the construction of only inns.

Roads, inns, postal service

The most impressive material achievement of the Incas is probably their road network. In 1532, Miguel de Estete, who participated in the expedition of Pizarro, remarked about its main section, that which connected Cuzco with Tomebamba: "This is one of the greatest structures that the world has seen." In less than a hundred years, the Incas built 40,000 km of roads, mostly paved with rubble. This is the most significant road network that existed before the industrial era. Due to the absence of draft animals, and therefore carts, only pedestrians and caravans of llamas moved along these paths, and only paved with gravel roads equipped with a drainage system could ensure smooth and constant movement along steep mountain slopes, annually destroyed by heavy rains. In addition, in the Central Andes, the populated areas are separated from each other by practically uninhabited zones, which present significant obstacles to movement: deserts, mountain ranges, steep slopes, wooded areas.

Squire was one of the last to see this Inca bridge (45 m long), maintained until that time in order by the surrounding communities.

In general, the state could not function without an infrastructure that would make possible the relatively easy and rapid movement of armies, authorities, labor and goods. In this regard, the Inca roads not only serve public purposes, but also help the state keep its territories under control, freely transferring troops and their representatives to any place. This road network, called capac pyan, the "Great Road", was the most tangible and ubiquitous expression of Inca power. Its main section was the main artery of the empire and in some places reached more than sixteen meters in width. Basically, the width of the Inca roadways varied from one to four meters, moreover, depending on the terrain, they could be transformed into a string of steps. Two other sections were of particular importance: the one that connected Cuzco with the southern provinces, and the one that ran along the coast. Transverse roads connected these longitudinal axes or already went to the eastern foothills. In the coastal wilderness, where every possible path was covered in sand, the roads were marked with sticks driven into the ground at regular intervals.

Crossing rivers and canyons was carried out on bridges of various types. The empire consisted of more than a hundred bridges made of interlaced fibers, the production technology of which was very complex. Made of vines and boards, fixed on stone ledges, they provided a relatively easy passage for livestock and armies.

Where the traffic was less intense, they crossed the river in a lift suspended from a rope. In the gorges, crossings were carried out on stone or wooden bridges.

Along the Inca roads, every 15-25 km (which was equal to a day's journey for a caravan of lamas), there were tampus, a kind of inns. Travelers found shelter and food there, as well as pens and fodder for livestock. According to various estimates, there were from 1000 to 2000 such tampus throughout the empire. Their size, plan and architecture varied greatly depending on their significance and additional functions that they could perform. Some served as administrative centers in those regions where there were no provincial centers, as often happened near the southern borders of the empire, for example, in Catarpe, in the oasis of San Pedro de Atacama (in the north of modern Chile).

Near most of the roads, every 1-8 km, depending on the relief, a special messenger, a chaski, lived with his family, "passing from hand to hand." His task was to deliver to the destination (usually by running) messages or small items that were brought to him by a cha-ski, located at the previous postal station. Thus, this or that message reached Cuzco from Lima in just three days, although these cities are separated by 750 km. The addressee and place of destination were indicated verbally, but the message itself was contained in a pile.

It is believed that The Incas came to the Cusco Valley, where they founded the capital of the empire, around 1200. The American archaeologist J. X. Rowe, who excavated in the Cusco region, suggested that before the first half of the 15th century. the Inca state owned only a few mountain valleys, and the imperial period began in 1438, the date when the ruler of the Inca state, Pachacuti Yupanqui, defeated the warlike Chunk Indians and annexed the “western part of the world” to his state. However, the Inca civilization certainly carried out expansion before the defeat of the Chunk, but it was directed mainly to the south of Cuzco.

In 1470, the Inca armies approached the capital. After a long siege, the Chimu empire fell. Many skilled artisans were resettled by the winners in their capital, Cuzco. Soon the Incas conquered other states, including them in their new empire: Chincha in the south of Peru, Cuismanca, which united the coastal valleys of the central part of the country, including the temple city of Pachacamac, the small states of Cajamarca and Sican in the north.

But the legacy of the Chimu Empire was not lost. The Inca Empire did not destroy the capital of Chan Chan and kept roads, canals, terraced fields intact, making these lands one of the most prosperous provinces. The centuries-old culture of the Indians of Peru became the basis of an ancient civilization.

From amazing wonders and treasures Inca empire Almost nothing has survived to this day. Having captured the ruler of the Incas, Ataualitu, the Spaniards demanded - and received - as a ransom for his life 7 tons of gold and about 14 tons of silver items, which were immediately melted down into ingots. After the conquistadors executed Ataualita, the Incas collected and hid the gold that remained in the temples and palaces.

The search for the missing gold continues to this day. If someday archaeologists are lucky enough to find this legendary treasury, we will undoubtedly learn about the civilization " children of the sun" a lot of new. Now the number of products of the Inca masters can be counted on the fingers - these are gold and silver figurines of people and lamas, magnificent gold vessels and breast discs, as well as traditional crescent-shaped tumi knives. Combining their own technology with the traditions of the Chimu jewelers, the Inca metallurgists achieved perfection in the processing of precious metals. Spanish chroniclers recorded the story of the golden gardens that adorned the temples dedicated to the Sun. Two of them are authentically known - in the coastal city of Tumbes in the north of the empire and in the main sanctuary of Cuzco, the Koricancha temple. The trees, shrubs and herbs in the gardens were made of pure gold. Golden shepherds grazed golden llamas on golden lawns, and golden corn ripened in the fields.

Architecture

Second highest achievement The Incas can rightfully be considered architecture. The level of stone processing under the Incas exceeds the best samples the skills of the masons Chavin and Tiahuanaco. Simple, "typical" buildings were built from small stones, fastened with a clay-lime mortar - pirka. For palaces and temples, giant monoliths were used, not fastened together by any solution. The stones in such structures are held by numerous protrusions clinging to each other. An example is the famous dodecagonal stone in the wall in Cuzco, so tightly fitted to neighboring blocks that even a razor blade cannot be inserted between them.

Inca architectural style severe and ascetic; buildings overwhelm with their power. However, once many buildings were decorated with gold and silver plates, giving them a completely different look.

In the cities, the Incas used planned development. The main element of the city was the kancha - a quarter consisting of residential buildings and warehouses located around the courtyard. In every major center there was a palace, barracks for soldiers, a temple of the Sun and a "monastery" for the Aklya virgins dedicated to the Sun.

Great Inca Roads

All the cities of the empire were interconnected by a network excellent roads. Two main highways, to which smaller roads adjoined, connected the extreme points in the north and south of the country. One of the roads ran along the coast from Guayaquil Bay in Ecuador to the Maule River, south of modern Santiago. The mountain road, called Capac-can (Royal Way), began in the gorges north of Quito, passing through Cuzco, turned to Lake Titicaca and ended in the territory of modern Argentina. Both of these arteries, together with the secondary roads adjoining them, stretched for more than 20 thousand km. In wet places, roads were paved or filled with a waterproof mixture of maize leaves, pebbles and clay. On the arid coast, they tried to lay roads along the outcrops of hard rocks. Stone dams were erected in the swamps, equipped with drainage pipes. Poles were erected along the roads, indicating the distance to settlements. At regular intervals there were inns - tambo. The width of the canvas on the plains reached 7 m, and in the mountain gorges it was reduced to 1 m. The roads were laid in a straight line, even if this meant chiselling a tunnel or cutting down part of the mountain. The Incas built wonderful bridges, the most famous of which are suspension bridges, designed to cross mountain streams. Stone pylons were erected on each side of the gorge, thick ropes were attached to them - two served as a railing, and three supported a canvas of branches. The bridges were so strong that they withstood the Spanish conquistadors in full armor and on horseback. Local residents were charged with the duty to change the ropes once a year, as well as to repair the bridge if necessary. The largest bridge of this design across the Apurimac River was 75 m long and hung 40 m above the water.

Roads became the basis of the empire, stretching over a vast area from Ecuador in the north to Chile in the south and from the Pacific coast in the west to the eastern slopes of the Andes. The very name of the state claims to world domination. This word in the Quechua language means "four interconnected parts of the world." According to the cardinal points, there was also an administrative division: in the north was the province of Chinchasuyu, in the south - Kolyasuyu, in the west - Kontisuyu and in the east - Antisuyu.

During the reign of the most famous emperors - Tupac Yupanqui, who took the throne in 1463, and Vaino Capac (1493-1525), the state finally acquired the features of a centralized empire.

Society

At the head of the state was the emperor - Sapa-Inca, the only Inca. A census of the population of the empire was carried out and a decimal administrative system, with the help of which taxes were collected and an accurate count of subjects was kept. In the course of the reform, all hereditary leaders were replaced by appointed governors - kuraks.

The entire population of the country carried labor duties: processing state fields of maize and sweet potatoes (potatoes), maintaining state herds of llamas, military service and work in the construction of cities, roads and mines. In addition, subjects were required to pay tax in kind - in textiles and livestock.

The practice of mass migrations in the conquered territories spread widely. The Quechua language spoken by the Incas was declared official language empire. The inhabitants of the provinces were not forbidden to use their native language. Compulsory knowledge of Quechua was required only from officials.

Writing

It is believed that the Incas did not create their own script. To transmit information, they had a knot letter "kipu", perfectly adapted to the needs of management and the economy. According to one of the legends, the Incas once had writing, even books, but all of them were destroyed by the reformer ruler Pachacuti, who “rewrote history”. An exception was made for only one, kept in the main sanctuary of the Koricancha empire. Robbers of the capital ancient civilization of the Incas the Spaniards discovered in Coricancha canvases covered with incomprehensible signs, inserted into golden frames. The frames, of course, were melted down and the canvases burned. Thus perished the only written history of the Inca empire.

In the 11th century, on the territory where the modern Republic of Peru is now located, a people appeared who founded a civilization that later became one of the most powerful in South America. It was called the Inca (or, to be more precise, the Inca). Initially, the Incas were just a tribe of Indians of the Quechua language family, but they were able to reach the highest level in their development by founding the state of Tahuantinsuyu. Having become the dominant layer and supreme ruler within their empire, the Incas sought to improve the social system and reached decent heights in this. The Tahuantinsuyu road system had a high level of development, which is important for maintaining the geographical integrity of the state. In the construction of stone buildings, they also had no equal: the structures withstood the strongest earthquakes, despite the fact that they were built without cement. It should be noted that from such natural disasters in later times the buildings erected by the Spaniards were severely destroyed. The Incas gained experience in the field of surgery, carried out complex operations, and successfully engaged in mummification. Nevertheless, despite all its achievements, this civilization was broken by a few Spaniards who conquered their ancient people earth.

Long before the arrival of the Incas, there were other cultures in the Andean region. By 3000 BC, many fishing villages appeared on the coast, and the first hunters and fishermen settled here for another 12,000 years. It is known that at the foot of the mountains there were small communal settlements.

Much later, artisans came to the Andes, the styles of work, the aesthetic component of products and the technology of which are distinguished by archaeologists according to periods called "horizons". Craftsmen belonged to social groups that erected settlements in the east of the slopes centuries after the appearance of fishermen in this area. People invented effective methods that allowed them to irrigate fields, harvest crops, and now they successfully applied them in a new place.

In a small valley to the north, there was a settlement called Chavin de Huantar. Its inhabitants made discoveries that were considered advanced at that time, an example is the invention of a loom. Their experiments with the production of noble metal alloys were crowned with success. And the proof of the achievements in welding and soldering were metal sculptures of a sufficiently large size.

Settlements formed, as a rule, around the temple centers. It was the complex, located in Chavin de Huantar, that gave the name to the style associated with the emerging religion in that territory - Chavin, which reached its heights by 400 BC. e. Chavinians depicted various gods with animals living in the Amazon regions on dyed fabrics. Priests traveled from Chavin de Huantar to other human settlements, spreading the religion. It was based on the worship of the oracle, which, as the inhabitants of these places believed, could communicate with the gods, ask them for anything, predict the future and get rid of diseases.

Early Intermediate Period: 400 BC e. - 550 AD e.

During this period, on the coast of Peru, or rather, on its southern part, various local styles are born. An example is the Paracas (by the name of the Paracas Peninsula) culture, famous for its wonderful fabrics. Crypts were created in this style, simultaneously accommodating 40 people and shaped like a bottle.

In the manufacture of ceramics, another people, the Nazca, achieved success. The Nasca lived two hundred miles from where Lima is now located, the city that is the current capital of Peru. They are also known for their terrestrial drawings, most likely having something to do with the religion of the people. The Nazca laid out huge lines, getting rid of stones and gravel in the desired area. Thus, more faded layers of soil were opened, along the edges of which everything that had been removed earlier was then poured.

About 150 miles of the north coast was controlled by another culture. They were a warlike Moche people, whose emergence in Peru is attributed to about 100 BC. e. The Indians created a whole branch of metallurgy in those parts. They built various buildings using raw bricks, which were dried under the sun. Moche also had its own style, reproduced mainly in various dishes with realistic images.

Middle horizon: 550 - 900 AD n. e.

On the shores of Lake Titicaca in about 100 BC. e. settled people who began 200 years later the construction of the city of Tiahuanaco. Various structures were built there, such as stone hills. They were decorated with carvings depicting deities, the prototypes of which were the Chavin gods. With the advent of the Tiaunacans, the era of big cities began. Their trade caravans went everywhere (goods were transported on llamas), and in addition to owning lands around Lake Titicaca, they created distant colonies. But before their complete disappearance, the people ruled in the territory of the southern Andes for a relatively short time: for five hundred years, starting from 500 AD. e.

Meanwhile, at a distance of about 600 miles to the north, the city of Huari was actively developing. Once a small village, now it had underground plumbing system supplies. Perhaps the most common activity of the population, which amounted to 35 - 70 thousand people, was weaving. This people developed the concept of a centralized state and a number of recommendations, following which you can create it. The disappearance of the Huari occurred in 900 AD. e.

Late Intermediate Period (coastal): 900 - 1476 n. e.

So, the destruction of empires has borne fruit: the time has come for internecine wars. Following the example of the Huari, small peoples attempted to create their own metropolises. The Chimu tribe succeeded in this, consistently uniting more than 600 miles of coast in the new state. They began to advance from the lands that once belonged to the Moche culture. Chimu society was strictly stratified, with special reverence for good artisans. The capital of the empire, called Chan Chan, despite its location in the desert, was well supplied with water. The good organization of the irrigation system contributed to the strengthening of the state. In addition, under the leadership of the Chimu lords, Chankei, Ika-Chinka and Sikan, neighboring cultures, were conquered, the latter of which was distinguished by its ability to decorate fabrics, clothes and utensils with the most beautiful patterns. They had to fight for power later, already with other enemies. As you might guess, they were the Incas.

Late Intermediate Period (highlands): 900 - 1476 n. e.

The settlements of the descendants of the Incas were quite high: almost 11 thousand meters above sea level - in the Cusco Valley. Despite the constant growth of the capital of the state, the people began to engage in active development, only starting from 1200 AD. e. They also did not have full power in the Andes. This idea in 1438 was set by the “Earthshaker” Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui. He seized the throne, gathered allies and went on a military campaign, pursuing the goal of creating one large and powerful empire. Some states were ready for negotiations, others were conquered by Pachacuti. The ruler rebuilt the capital, under him it turned into a beautiful city with stone palaces and temples. He organized an effective system of provincial government, competently choosing officials, based on an unspoken rule - so that their interests coincide with the state. Pacachuti failed to capture only Chima, but later Topa Inca, his son, who ruled from 1471, corrected this. Then the Inca Empire expanded into vast territories, occupying lands from Ecuador to Chile.

Old Gods

Mexican Indians consider it a truly sacred place for themselves. According to the beliefs of people who lived in that city in ancient times, human existence was limited to five eras. At the end of the penultimate of them, when the Fourth Sun ceased to shine in heaven, the gods gathered in this city to decide who would take on the role of the Fifth Sun. One of them, an arrogant god named Tecuxistecatl, jumped into ashes out of fear and turned into the moon. Then there was the self-immolation of another, Nanahuatzin, who became the Sun.

Then, in the guise of a white man with a beard, the son of Omeotl (the supreme deity) named Quetzalcoatl appeared. He was called the "Feathered Serpent". There are suggestions that he really existed and was familiar to both, and, and the peoples of South America. But back to the legends. People believed that Quetzalcoatl went to the Mount of Supply and brought medicine from there to their world, and also got corn, taught how to make fire and cook food on it. He was the creator of a truly just world and all its laws. They did not know about the war and did not bring human casualties. In addition, he indicated the exact date when the end of the Fifth Sun will come - December 23, 2012, and created a calendar.

(Supposedly) Quetzalcoatl

Quetzalcoatl ruled until the high priest (and according to another version of the legend, also a god) Tezcatlipoca ordered his henchmen to show the “Feathered Serpent” in the mirror his aging body. The world ruler was seized by a spleen, which the sorcerers wanted to help him cope with. They took advantage of this chance and instead of the promised anti-aging remedy slipped Quetzalcoatl pulque. After that, he violated the principles he himself instilled in the people by entering into a love affair with his own sister.

Tezcatlipoca ruled quite differently. He required human sacrifice on the divine altar to delay the end of the fifth age. It must be said that the militant people of the Aztecs were only glad of the bloodshed. Allegedly, by the will of the gods and to feed their energy, they beheaded people every month, burned, strangled, thrown off cliffs, and killed with arrows. The victims were slaves and prisoners. The Aztecs worshiped gods of rain and war. They did this in their capital, or rather, in its very center - on Mount Serpent.

Meanwhile, Quetzalcoatl was in Cholula. According to legend, around the year 999, he left for the Yucatan, and then disappeared in the sea waters, moving on a raft of snakes. He prophesied his return in the year of the cane. "Se acatl" fell on the year 1519, which coincided with the arrival of the Spaniards in the country.

By the way, the Mexicans mistook Cortes, the red-bearded and fair-faced Spanish conqueror, for Quetzalcoatl. This made it much easier for him to achieve his goal. The Spaniards destroyed the temple in Cholula, building a Christian church in its place, without even meeting resistance. Thus, Cortes and his supporters defeated the people of Mexico, thus putting an end to the sacrifices and worship of idols.

I strongly recommend to watch the documentary film by A. Sklyarov " Peru and Bolivia Long before the Incas" , which significantly reveals the inconsistency of archaeological finds on the territory of the ancient Incas with the version of official history.

THE INCAS
an Indian tribe that lived in Peru and created, shortly before the Spanish conquest, a vast empire centered in Cuzco, in the Peruvian Andes. The Inca Empire, one of two empires that existed in the New World at the time of Columbus (the other being the Aztec), stretched from north to south from Colombia to Central Chile and included the territories of present-day Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, northern Chile and northwestern Argentina . The Indians called the Inca only the emperor, and the conquistadors used this word to refer to the entire tribe, which in the pre-Columbian era, apparently, used the self-name "capac-kuna" ("great", "illustrious"). The landscapes and natural conditions of the former Inca Empire were very diverse. In the mountains between 2150 and 3000 m a.s.l. temperate climatic zones are located, favorable for intensive agriculture. In the southeast, a huge mountain range is divided into two ranges, between which, at an altitude of 3840 m, there is a vast plateau with Lake Titicaca. This and other high plateaus extending south and east from Bolivia all the way to the northwestern regions of Argentina are called altiplanos. These treeless grassy plains are in the continental climate zone with hot sunny days and cool nights. Many Andean tribes lived on the altiplano. To the southeast of Bolivia, the mountains break off and give way to the boundless expanse of the Argentine pampa. Pacific coastline of Peru, starting from 3°S. and up to the Maule River in Chile, is a continuous zone of deserts and semi-deserts. The reason for this is the cold Antarctic Humboldt Current, which cools the air currents coming from the sea to the mainland and prevents them from condensing. However, coastal waters are very rich in plankton and, accordingly, fish, and fish attract seabirds, whose droppings (guano) that cover the deserted coastal islands are extremely valuable fertilizer. Coastal plains, stretching from north to south for 3200 km, do not exceed 80 km in width. Approximately every 50 km they are crossed by rivers flowing into the ocean. Ancient cultures flourished in the river valleys, based on irrigated agriculture. The Incas managed to connect two different zones of Peru, the so-called. Sierra (mountainous) and Costa (coastal), into a single social, economic and cultural space. The eastern spurs of the Andes are dotted with deep wooded valleys and stormy rivers. Further to the east stretch the jungle - the Amazonian selva. The Incas called "Yungas" the hot, humid foothills and their inhabitants. The local Indians put up fierce resistance to the Incas, who were never able to subdue them.
HISTORY
pre-Inca period. The culture of the Incas was formed relatively late. Long before the appearance of the Incas on the historical scene, back in the 3rd millennium BC, settled tribes lived on the coast, who were engaged in the manufacture of cotton fabrics and grew maize, pumpkins and beans. The oldest of the great Andean cultures is the Chavin culture (12th-8th centuries BC - 4th century AD). Its center, the city of Chavin de Huantar, located in the Central Andes, retained its importance even in the Inca era. Later, other cultures developed on the northern coast, among which the early class state of Mochica (ca. 1st century BC - 8th century AD) stands out, creating magnificent works of architecture, ceramics and weaving. On the south coast flourished the enigmatic Paracas culture (c. 4th century BC - 4th century AD), famous for its fabrics, undeniably the most skillful in all of pre-Columbian America. Paracas influenced the early Nazca culture, which developed further south in five oasis valleys. In the basin of Lake Titicaca, approx. 8th c. the great Tiahuanaco culture was formed. The capital and ceremonial center of Tiahuanaco, located on the southeastern tip of the lake, are built from hewn stone slabs fastened with bronze spikes. The famous Gate of the Sun is carved from a huge stone monolith. In the upper part there is a wide bas-relief belt with images of the Sun God, who weeps in the form of condors and mythological creatures. The motif of the weeping deity can be traced in many Andean and coastal cultures, in particular in the Huari culture, which developed near the present Ayacucho. Apparently, it was from Huari that religious and military expansion took place down the Pisco valley towards the coast. Judging by the spread of the weeping god motif, from the 10th to the 13th centuries. the state of Tiahuanaco subjugated most of the peoples of the Costa. After the collapse of the empire, local tribal associations, freed from external oppression, created their own state formations. The most significant of them was the state of Chimu-Chimor (14th century - 1463), which fought with the Incas, with its capital Chan Chan (near the present port of Trujillo). This city with huge stepped pyramids, irrigated gardens and stone-lined pools covered an area of ​​​​20.7 square meters. km. One of the centers of ceramic production and weaving has developed here. The state of Chimu, which extended its power along the 900-kilometer line of the Peruvian coast, had an extensive network of roads. Thus, having an ancient and high cultural tradition in the past, the Incas were rather heirs than founders of Peruvian culture.

First Inca. The legendary first Inca Manco Capac founded Cuzco around the beginning of the 12th century. The city lies at an altitude of 3416 m above sea level. in a deep valley running from north to south between two steep ridges of the Andes. According to legend, Manco Capac, at the head of his tribe, came to this valley from the south. At the direction of the sun god, his father, he threw a golden rod at his feet and, when it was swallowed up by the earth (a good sign of its fertility), he founded a city in this place. Historical sources, partially confirmed by archeological data, indicate that the history of the rise of the Incas, one of the countless Andean tribes, begins in the 12th century, and their ruling dynasty has 13 names - from Manco Capac to Atahualpa, who was killed by the Spaniards in 1533.
Conquests. The Incas began to expand their possessions from the territories immediately adjacent to the Cusco Valley. By 1350, during the reign of Inca Rocky, they conquered all the lands near Lake Titicaca in the south, and the nearby valleys in the east. Soon they moved north and further east and subjugated the territories in the upper reaches of the Urubamba River, after which they directed their expansion to the west. Here they faced fierce resistance from the Sora and Rukan tribes, but emerged victorious from the confrontation. Around 1350, the Incas built a suspension bridge across the deep canyon of the Apurimac River. Previously, it was crossed by three bridges in the southwest, but now the Incas made a direct route from Cusco to Andahuaylas. This bridge, the longest in the empire (45 m), was called by the Incas "huacachaca", the sacred bridge. A conflict with the powerful militant tribe of the Chanca, who controlled the Apurimac Pass, became inevitable. At the end of the reign of Viracocha (d. 1437), the Chanca carried out a surprise raid on the lands of the Incas and laid siege to Cuzco. Viracocha fled to the Urubamba valley, leaving his son Pachacutec (lit. "earth shaker") to defend the capital. The heir brilliantly coped with the task assigned to him and utterly defeated the enemies. During the reign of Pachacutec (1438-1463), the Incas expanded their possessions to the north to Lake Junin, and in the south they conquered the entire basin of Lake Titicaca. Pachacutec's son Tupac Inca Yupanqui (1471-1493) extended the power of the Incas to the territory of present-day Chile, Bolivia, Argentina and Ecuador. In 1463 the troops of Tupac Inca Yupanqui conquered the state of Chima, and its rulers were taken to Cusco as hostages. The last conquests were made by Emperor Huayna Capac, who came to power in 1493, a year after Columbus reached the New World. He annexed to the Chachapoyas empire in Northern Peru, on the right bank of the Marañon River in its upper reaches, subjugated warlike tribes Puna Island near Ecuador and the adjacent coast in the region of present-day Guayaquil, and in 1525 the northern border of the empire reached the Ancasmayo River, where the border between Ecuador and Colombia now lies.
INCA EMPIRE AND CULTURE
Language. Quechua, the language of the Incas, has a very distant relationship with the Aymara language, which was spoken by the Indians who lived near Lake Titicaca. It is not known what language the Incas spoke before Pachacutec raised Quechua to the rank in 1438. state language. Through a policy of conquest and migration, Quechua spread throughout the empire and is still spoken by most Peruvian Indians to this day.
Agriculture. Initially, the population of the Inca state consisted for the most part of farmers who, if necessary, took up arms. Their daily life was subject to the agricultural cycle, and under the guidance of connoisseurs, they turned the empire into an important center for the cultivation of plants. More than half of all food consumed in the world today comes from the Andes. Among them are over 20 varieties of corn and 240 varieties of potatoes, "camote" (sweet potatoes), squash and pumpkin, various varieties of beans, cassava (from which flour was made), peppers, peanuts and quinoa (wild buckwheat). The most important agricultural crop of the Incas was the potato, which can withstand severe cold and grow at altitudes up to 4600 m above sea level. Alternately freezing and thawing potatoes, the Incas dehydrated them to the point that they turned them into a dry powder called chuno. Corn (sara) was grown at altitudes up to 4100 m above sea level. and was consumed in various forms: cheese on the cob (choklo), dried and lightly fried (kolyo), in the form of hominy (mote) and turned into alcoholic drink(saraiyaka, or chicha). For the manufacture of last woman they chewed corn kernels and spat the pulp into a vat, where the resulting mass, under the influence of saliva enzymes, fermented and released alcohol. In that era, all Peruvian tribes were at approximately the same technological level. The work was carried out jointly. The main tool of the farmer's labor was the taklya, a primitive digging stick - a wooden stake with a point fired for strength. Arable land was available, but by no means in abundance. Rains in the Andes usually fall from December to May, but dry years are not uncommon. Therefore, the Incas irrigated the land with canals, many of which testify to high level engineering thought. To protect soils from erosion, terraced agriculture was used by pre-Inca tribes, and the Incas improved this technology. The Andean peoples practiced predominantly sedentary agriculture and rarely resorted to slash-and-burn agriculture, adopted by the Indians of Mexico and Central America, in which areas cleared of forests were sown for 1-2 years and left as soon as the soil was depleted. This is explained by the fact that the Central American Indians did not have natural fertilizers, with the exception of rotten fish and human excrement, while in Peru the farmers of the coast had huge reserves of guano, and in the mountains llama (taki) manure was used for fertilizer.
Lamas. These camelids are descended from wild guanacos that were domesticated thousands of years before the arrival of the Incas. Lamas endure alpine cold and desert heat; they serve as pack animals capable of carrying up to 40 kg of cargo; they give wool for making clothes and meat - it is sometimes dried in the sun, calling it "charki". Llamas, like camels, tend to defecate in one place, so that their dung is easy to collect to fertilize the fields. Lamas played an important role in the formation of the settled agricultural cultures of Peru.
social organization. Islew. At the base of the social pyramid of the Inca empire was a kind of community - Ailyu. It was formed from family clans who lived together in the territory allotted to them, jointly owned land and livestock, and shared crops among themselves. Almost everyone belonged to one or another community, was born and died in it. Communities were small and large - up to the whole city. The Incas did not know individual landownership: the land could only belong to the ailyu or, later, the emperor and, as it were, was rented out to a member of the community. Every autumn there was a redistribution of land - plots increased or decreased depending on the size of the family. All agricultural work in the Islew was done jointly. At the age of 20, men were supposed to marry. If the young man himself could not find a mate, a wife was chosen for him. In the lower social strata, the strictest monogamy was maintained, while the representatives of the ruling class practiced polygamy. Some women had the opportunity to leave the ailya and improve their situation. We are talking about the "chosen ones" who, for their beauty or special talents, could be taken to Cuzco or to the provincial center, where they were taught the art of cooking, weaving or religious rituals. Dignitaries often married the "chosen ones" they liked, and some became the concubines of the Inca himself.
State of Tahuantinsuyu. The name of the Inca empire - Tahuantinsuyu - literally means "four connected cardinal points". Four roads ran out of Cuzco in different directions, and each, regardless of its length, bore the name of the part of the empire where it led. Antisuyu included all the lands east of Cuzco - the Eastern Cordillera and the Amazonian selva. From here, the Incas were threatened with raids by tribes that they had not pacified. Continsuyu united the western lands, including the conquered cities of the Costa - from Chan Chan in the north to Rimak in Central Peru (the location of present-day Lima) and Arequipa in the south. Collasuyu, the most extensive part of the empire, extended south from Cuzco, covering Bolivia with Lake Titicaca and parts of modern Chile and Argentina. Chinchasuyu ran north to Rumichaki. Each of these parts of the empire was ruled by an apo, related by blood to the Inca and answerable only to him.
Decimal administrative system. The social and, accordingly, the economic organization of Inca society was based, with some regional differences, on a decimal administrative-hierarchical system. The accounting unit was purik - an adult capable man who has a household and is able to pay taxes. Ten households had their own, so to speak, "foreman" (the Incas called him pacha-kamayok), a hundred households were headed by a pacha-kuraka, a thousand - by a fry (usually managing a large village), ten thousand - by the provincial governor (omo-kuraka), and ten The provinces made up a "quarter" of the empire and were ruled by the apo mentioned above. Thus, for every 10,000 households, there were 1,331 officials of various ranks.
Inca. The new emperor was usually elected by a council of members of the royal family. Direct succession to the throne was not always respected. As a rule, the emperor was chosen from the sons of the lawful wife (koya) of the deceased ruler. The Inca had one official wife with countless concubines. So, according to some estimates, Huayna Capac had about five hundred sons alone, who happened to live already under Spanish rule. His offspring, who constituted a special royal ailya, the Inca appointed to the most honorable positions. The Inca Empire was a true theocracy, since the emperor was not only the supreme ruler and priest, but also, in the eyes of the common people, a demigod. In this totalitarian state, the emperor had absolute power, limited only by customs and fear of rebellion.
Taxes. Each purik was obliged to partially work for the state. This compulsory labor service was called "mita". Only state dignitaries and priests were exempted from it. Each aylyu, in addition to its own land allotment, jointly cultivated the field of the Sun and the field of the Inca, giving the crops from these fields to the priesthood and the state, respectively. Another type of labor service extended to public works - mining and construction of roads, bridges, temples, fortresses, royal residences. All these works were carried out under the supervision of experts-professionals. With the help of the kipu knot letter, an accurate record was kept of the fulfillment of duties by each aylyu. In addition to labor duties, each purik was a member of the detachments of rural law enforcement officers and could be called to war at any moment. If he went to war, the community members cultivated his plot of land.
Colonization. In order to subjugate and assimilate the conquered peoples, the Incas involved them in a system of labor duties. As soon as the Incas conquered a new territory, they expelled all unreliable people from there and installed Quechua speakers. The latter were called "mita-kona" (in the Spanish vowel "mitamaes"). The remaining local residents were not forbidden to observe their customs, wear traditional clothes and speak their native language, but all officials were required to know Quechua. The mita-kona was entrusted with military tasks (protection of border fortresses), managerial and economic ones, and in addition, the colonists had to introduce the conquered peoples to the Inca culture. If the road under construction ran through a completely deserted area, these areas were settled by mita-kona, who were obliged to oversee the road and bridges and thereby spread the power of the emperor everywhere. The colonists received significant social and economic privileges, similar to the Roman legionaries who served in outlying provinces. The integration of the conquered peoples into a single cultural and economic space was so deep that until now 7 million people speak Quechua, the Ailyu tradition is preserved among the Indians, and the influence of the Inca culture in folklore, agricultural practice, and psychology is still noticeable over a vast territory.
Roads, bridges and couriers. Excellent roads with well-established courier service. The Incas used the roads laid by their predecessors and built ca. 16,000 km of new roads designed for all weather conditions. Since the pre-Columbian civilizations did not know the wheel, the Inca roads were intended for pedestrians and caravans of llamas. The road along the ocean coast, stretching for 4055 km from Tumbes in the north to the Maule River in Chile, had a standard width of 7.3 m. The Andean mountain road was somewhat narrower (from 4.6 to 7.3 m), but longer (5230 km). At least a hundred bridges were built on it - wooden, stone or cable; four bridges crossed the gorges of the Apurimac River. Every 7.2 km there were distance signs, and every 19-29 km there were stations for travelers to rest. In addition, courier stations were located every 2.5 km. Couriers (chasks) transmitted news and orders by relay, and in this way information was transmitted over 2000 km in 5 days.

Saving information. Historical events and legends were kept in memory by specially trained storytellers. The Incas invented a mnemonic for storing information called "kipu" (lit. "knot"). It was a rope or stick, from which colored cords with knots hung. The information contained in the kipu was orally explained by a specialist in knot writing, kipu-kamayok, otherwise it would have remained incomprehensible. Each ruler of the province kept a lot of kipu-kamayok with him, which kept meticulous records of the population, warriors, and taxes. The Incas used the decimal system, they even had a zero symbol (skipping the knot). The Spanish conquistadors left rave reviews for the quipu system. The courtiers of the quipu-kamayok performed the duties of historiographers, compiling lists of the deeds of the Inca. Through their efforts, an official version of the history of the state was created, excluding mention of the achievements of the conquered peoples and asserting the absolute priority of the Incas in the formation of the Andean civilization.
Religion. The religion of the Incas was closely connected with state administration. The demiurge god Viracocha was considered the ruler of all things, he was assisted by deities of a lower rank, among which the sun god Inti was most revered. The veneration of the sun god, who became a symbol of Inca culture, was of an official nature. The Inca religion included numerous decentralized cults of gods who personified natural realities. In addition, the veneration of magical and sacred objects (waka) was practiced, which could be a river, lake, mountain, temple, stones collected from the fields. Religion was practical and permeated the life of the Incas. Agriculture was revered as a sacred occupation, and everything connected with it became huaca. The Incas believed in the immortality of the soul. It was believed that an aristocrat, regardless of his behavior in earthly life, after death enters the abode of the Sun, where it is always warm and abundance reigns; as for the common people, only virtuous people got there after death, and sinners went to a kind of hell (oko-paka), where they suffered from cold and hunger. Thus, religion and customs influenced the behavior of people. The ethics and morality of the Incas boiled down to one principle: "Ama sua, ama lyulya, ama chela" - "Do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy."
Art. Inca art gravitated towards rigor and beauty. Weaving from llama wool was distinguished by a high artistic level, although it was inferior in richness of decor to the fabrics of the peoples of the Costa. Carving of semi-precious stones and shells, which the Incas received from the coastal peoples, was widely practiced. However, the main art of the Incas was casting from precious metals. Almost all now known Peruvian gold deposits were developed by the Incas. Goldsmiths and silversmiths lived in separate city blocks and were exempt from taxes. The best works of Inca jewelers perished during the conquest. According to the testimony of the Spaniards, who first saw Cusco, the city blinded with a golden sheen. Some buildings were covered with gold plates imitating masonry. The thatched roofs of the temples had golden inclusions imitating straws, so that the rays of the setting sun lit them with brilliance, giving the impression that the entire roof was made of gold. In the legendary Coricancha, the Temple of the Sun in Cusco, there was a garden with a golden fountain, around which life-sized stalks of maize made of gold, with leaves and cobs, "grew" from golden "earth" and "grazed" on golden grass twenty llamas of gold - again - life-size.

Architecture. In the field of material culture, the Incas achieved the most impressive accomplishments in architecture. Although Inca architecture is inferior to Mayan in richness of decor and Aztec in emotional impact, it has no equal in that era either in the New or Old World in terms of boldness of engineering solutions, grandiose scales of urban planning, and skillful arrangement of volumes. Inca monuments, even in ruins, are amazing in their number and size. An idea of ​​the high level of Inca urban planning is given by the Machu Picchu fortress, built at an altitude of 3000 m in a saddle between two peaks of the Andes. Inca architecture is characterized by extraordinary plasticity. The Incas erected buildings on the processed surfaces of rocks, fitting stone blocks together without lime mortar, so that the structure was perceived as a natural element of the natural environment. In the absence of rocks, bricks baked in the sun were used. Inca craftsmen were able to cut stones according to given patterns and work with huge stone blocks. The fortress (pukara) of Sascahuaman, which protected Cusco, is undoubtedly one of the greatest creations of fortification art. 460 m long, the fortress consists of three tiers of stone walls with a total height of 18 m. The walls have 46 ledges, corners and buttresses. In the cyclopean masonry of the foundation, there are stones weighing more than 30 tons with beveled edges. It took at least 300,000 stone blocks to build the fortress. All the stones are irregularly shaped, but fitted together so tightly that the walls have withstood countless earthquakes and deliberate attempts at destruction. The fortress has towers, underground passages, living quarters and internal system water supply. The Incas began building in 1438 and finished 70 years later, in 1508. According to some estimates, 30 thousand people were involved in the construction.

THE FALL OF THE INCA EMPIRE
It is still difficult to understand how a pitiful handful of Spaniards could conquer a powerful empire, although many considerations are put forward on this score. By that time, the Aztec empire had already been conquered by Hernan Cortes (1519-1521), but the Incas did not know about this, since they had no direct contact with the Aztecs and the Maya. The Incas first heard of white people in 1523 or 1525, when a certain Alejo Garcia, at the head of the Chiriguano Indians, attacked an empire outpost in the Gran Chaco, an arid lowland on the southeastern frontier of the empire. In 1527, Francisco Pizarro landed briefly at Tumbes on the northwestern Peruvian coast and soon sailed away, leaving two of his men behind. After that, Ecuador was devastated by an epidemic of smallpox, which was introduced by one of these Spaniards. Emperor Huayna Capac died in 1527. According to legend, he was aware that the empire was too big to rule it from one center in Cusco. Immediately after his death, a dispute for the throne broke out between two of his five hundred sons - Huascar from Cuzco, the offspring of his legal wife, and Atahualpa from Ecuador. The feud between the blood brothers erupted into a five-year devastating civil war in which Atahualpa won a decisive victory just two weeks before Pizarro's second appearance in Peru. The winner and his 40,000th army rested in the provincial center of Cajamarca in the north-west of the country, from where Atahualpa was going to go to Cusco, where the official ceremony of his elevation to the imperial rank was to take place. Pizarro arrived in Tumbes on May 13, 1532 and moved to Cajamarca with 110 foot and 67 horse soldiers. Atahualpa was aware of this from intelligence reports, on the one hand, accurate, on the other, biased in the interpretation of facts. So, the scouts assured that horses do not see in the dark, that a man and a horse are a single creature that, when falling, is no longer able to fight, that arquebuses emit only thunders, and even then only twice, that Spanish long steel swords are completely unsuitable for battle. A detachment of conquistadors on its way could be destroyed in any of the gorges of the Andes. Having occupied Cajamarca, protected by walls on three sides, the Spaniards conveyed to the emperor an invitation to come to the city to meet with them. To this day no one can explain why Atahualpa let himself be drawn into a trap. He was well aware of the strength of the foreigners, and the favorite tactic of the Incas themselves was precisely the ambush. Perhaps the emperor was driven by some special motives beyond the understanding of the Spaniards. On the evening of November 16, 1532, Atahualpa appeared on Cajamarca Square in all the splendor of imperial regalia and accompanied by a large retinue - however, unarmed, as Pizarro demanded. After a short slurred conversation between the Inca demigod and the Christian priest, the Spaniards attacked the Indians and killed almost all of them in half an hour. During the massacre of the Spaniards, only Pizarro suffered, accidentally wounded in the arm by his own soldier, when he blocked Atahualpa, whom he wanted to capture alive and unharmed. After that, with the exception of a few fierce skirmishes in different places, the Incas did not actually offer serious resistance to the conquerors until 1536. The captive Atahualpa agreed to buy his freedom by filling the room where he was kept twice with silver and once with gold. However, this did not save the emperor. The Spaniards accused him of conspiracy and "crimes against the Spanish state" and, after a short formal trial on August 29, 1533, strangled him with a garrote. All these events plunged the Incas into a state of strange apathy. The Spaniards, almost without resistance, reached Cuzco along the great road and on November 15, 1533 took the city.
New Ink State. Manco II. Having made the former Inca capital of Cuzco the center of Spanish rule, Pizarro decided to give the new government a semblance of legitimacy and for this he appointed Huayn Capac's grandson Manco II as the emperor's successor. The new Inca had no real power and was subjected to constant humiliation by the Spaniards, but, nurturing plans for an uprising, showed patience. In 1536, when part of the conquistadors, led by Diego Almagro, set off on an aggressive expedition to Chile, Manco, under the pretext of searching for imperial treasures, slipped out of the supervision of the Spaniards and raised an uprising. The moment for this was chosen favorable. Almagro and Pizarro, at the head of their supporters, started a dispute over the division of military spoils, which soon developed into an open war. By that time, the Indians had already felt the yoke of the new power and realized that they could only get rid of it by force. Having destroyed all the Spaniards in the vicinity of Cuzco, four armies attacked the capital on April 18, 1536. The defense of the city was led by an experienced soldier Hernando Pizarro, brother of Francisco Pizarro. He had only 130 Spanish soldiers and 2000 Indian allies at his disposal, but he showed extraordinary military skill and withstood the siege. Simultaneously, the Incas attacked Lima, founded by Pizarro in 1535 and declared the new capital of Peru. Since the city was surrounded by flat terrain, the Spaniards successfully used cavalry and quickly defeated the Indians. Pizarro sent four detachments of conquistadors to help his brother, but they could not break through to the besieged Cusco. The three-month siege of Cusco was lifted due to the fact that many soldiers left the Inca army in connection with the start of agricultural work; besides, the army of Almagro, returning from Chile, was approaching the city. Manco II and thousands of people loyal to him retreated to previously prepared positions in the Vilcabamba mountain range northeast of Cuzco. The Indians took with them the preserved mummies of the former Inca rulers. Here Manco II created the so-called. New Ink State. In order to protect the southern road from the military attacks of the Indians, Pizarro set up a military camp in Ayacucho. Meanwhile, the civil war continued between the soldiers of Pizarro and the "Chileans" of Almagro. In 1538 Almagro was captured and executed, and three years later his supporters killed Pizarro. The warring parties of the conquistadors were led by new leaders. In the Battle of Chupas near Ayacucho (1542), Inca Manco helped the "Chileans", and when they were defeated, he sheltered six Spanish fugitives in his possessions. The Spaniards taught the Indians horseback riding, firearms, and blacksmithing. Arranging ambushes on the imperial road, the Indians obtained weapons, armor, money and were able to equip a small army. During one of these raids, a copy of the "New Laws" adopted in 1544, with the help of which the king of Spain tried to limit the abuses of the conquistadors, fell into the hands of the Indians. After reviewing this document, Manco II sent one of his Spaniards, Gomez Perez, to negotiate with Viceroy Blasco Nunez Vela. Since the strife between the conquistadors continued, the viceroy was interested in a compromise. Soon after, the renegade Spaniards, who settled in the New Inca state, quarreled with Manco II, killed him and were executed.
Sayri Tupac and Titu Cusi Yupanqui. The head of the New Inca state was the son of Manco II - Sayri Tupac. During his reign, the borders of the state expanded to the upper reaches of the Amazon, and the population increased to 80 thousand people. In addition to large herds of llamas and alpacas, the Indians raised a fair number of sheep, pigs, and cattle. In 1555 Sayri Tupac launched military operations against the Spaniards. He moved his residence to the warmer climate of the Yucai Valley. Here he was poisoned by those close to him. Power was succeeded by his brother Titu Cusi Yupanqui, who resumed the war. All attempts by the conquistadors to subdue the independent Indians were in vain. In 1565, Fray Diego Rodriguez visited the Inca stronghold of Vilcabamba in order to lure the ruler out of hiding, but his mission was not successful. His reports on the morals of the royal court, the number and combat readiness of the soldiers give an idea of ​​the strength of the New Inca state. On the next year another missionary repeated a similar attempt, but in the course of the negotiations, Titu Cusi fell ill and died. A monk was blamed for his death and was executed. Subsequently, the Indians killed several more Spanish ambassadors. Tupac Amaru, the last Supreme Inca. After the death of Titu Cusi, another of the sons of Manco II came to power. The Spaniards decided to put an end to the citadel in Vilcabamba, made gaps in the walls and after a fierce battle took the fortress. Tupac Amaru and his commanders, chained with collars, were taken to Cusco. Here, in 1572, on the main city square, with a confluence of a large number of people, they were beheaded.
Spanish dominance. The colonial authorities of Peru retained some of the administrative forms of the Inca empire, adapting them to their own needs. The colonial administration and the latifundists controlled the Indians through intermediaries - the community elders "kuraka" - and did not interfere in everyday life householders. The Spanish authorities, like the Incas, practiced mass migrations of communities and a system of labor duties, and also formed a special class of servants and artisans from the Indians. Corrupt colonial authorities and greedy latifundists created intolerable conditions for the Indians and provoked numerous uprisings that took place throughout the colonial period.
LITERATURE
Bashilov V. Ancient civilizations of Peru and Bolivia. M., 1972 Inka Garcilaso de la Vega. History of the state of the Incas. L., 1974 Zubritsky Yu. Inki Quechua. M., 1975 Culture of Peru. M., 1975 Berezkin Yu. Mochika. L., 1983 Berezkin Yu. Inki. The historical experience of the empire. L., 1991

Collier Encyclopedia. - Open Society. 2000 .

It is known about several civilizations that existed in South America, but the Inca civilization is considered the most significant. In the fifteenth century, its population was at least six million people, who lived on a vast territory. At the head of the Empire was the son of the Sun Inca - the divine ruler. The economy was based on agriculture. All citizens were obliged to work for a month in public works, building state facilities: fortresses, canals, bridges, roads. The state regulated all aspects of the life of citizens, including personal life. The Incas created legends, myths, religious hymns, epic poems and even dramatic works. This civilization did not have a real written language, so little has been preserved of its cultural heritage. The Inca Empire fell with the arrival of conquerors from Europe in the middle of the sixteenth century.

The Inca Empire (Quechua Tawantin Suyu, Tawantinsuyu, Tawantinsuyu, Tawantinsuyu, Tawantinsuyu) is the largest Indian early class state in South America in the 11th-16th centuries in terms of area and population. It occupied the territory from the present Pasto in Colombia to the Maule River in Chile. The empire included the entire territory of present-day Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador (with the exception of part of the flat eastern regions overgrown with impenetrable selva), partly Chile, Argentina and Colombia. The first European to enter the Inca Empire was the Portuguese Alejo Garcia in 1525. In 1533, the Spanish conquistadors established control over most of the empire, and in 1572 the Inca state ceased to exist. There is a hypothesis that the last independent refuge of the Incas is the undiscovered city (country) of Paititi (until the middle or end of the 18th century).

Archaeological studies show that a large number of achievements were inherited by the Incas from previous civilizations, as well as from their subordinate neighboring peoples. By the time the Incas appeared on the historical arena in South America, there were a number of civilizations: Moche (the Moche culture, famous for colored ceramics and irrigation systems), Huari (this state was the prototype of the Inca Empire, although the population apparently spoke a different language - Aymara) , Chimu (the center is the city of Chan Chan, characteristic ceramics and architecture), Nazca (famous for creating the so-called Nazca lines, as well as for their systems of underground water pipes, ceramics), Pukina (the civilization of the city of Tiahuanaco with a population of about 40 thousand people, located east of Lake Titicaca), Chachapoyas ("Warriors of the Clouds", known for their formidable fortress of Kuelap, which is also called "Machu Picchu of the North").

The name of the country in Quechua, Tawantinsuyu, can be translated as four united provinces (Tawantin - "a group of four items" (tawa "four" with the suffix -ntin, meaning "total"); suyu - "country", "region" or "province "). As the Quechuan linguist Demetrio Tupac Yupanqui points out: “-ntin is “the whole integrated”, “everything that makes up one whole”. The previous parts disappear to make room for one great integration - one whole. It creates what, on a whim, we call a "legal entity", the subject and the bearer are distinguished by their constituent parts. As if there were one enterprise in which a legal entity takes responsibility, thereby freeing the constituent parts.

This name is due to the fact that the country was divided into four provinces: Kuntinsuyu (Kunti Suyu Quechua), Kolyasuyu (Quulla Suyu Quechua), Antisuyu (Anti Suyu Quechua) and Chinchasuyu (Chinchay suyu Quechua). In addition, four roads left Cuzco (Quechua Qusqu) in four directions, and each of them was named after the part of the empire to which it led.

In the Andean region and the coast adjacent to it in the 1st millennium BC. e. - 1st mill. e. developed agricultural civilizations Chavin, Paracas, Nazca, Mochica, Tiahuanaco, etc. arose. In the 12th century, a people appeared on the shores of Lake Titicaca, led by the Inca, the supreme ruler. He moved to the new capital - Cusco and spread his influence over a vast territory, covering by the XV-XVI centuries. most of modern Ecuador, Peru, a significant part of Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, as well as a small area of ​​Colombia.

The creation of the state is attributed to the legendary Inca Manco Capac, he also founded the capital - the city of Cusco, at an altitude of 3416 meters above sea level, in a deep valley between two mountain ranges.

After the creation of the country's territory has been constantly expanding. Especially after the Inca Yahuar Huakak created a regular army in the empire. Great conquests were made by Inca Pachacuti. He created a real empire, because before that the Incas were just one of the many Indian tribes, and Cusco was an ordinary town. Most of the Inca-controlled lands were conquered by Pachacuti and his son Tupac Inca Yupanqui. A small part of the territory was annexed by the eleventh Inca - Huayna Capac. The rulers of Huáscar and Atahualpa were the sons of Huayna Capac. After his death, they began a grueling internecine war. By the time the Spaniards arrived, Atahualpa had won the war.

When conquering neighboring tribes, the Incas, on the one hand, used their strong and numerous army, and on the other hand, they attracted the elite of the conquered regions. Before undertaking military action, the Incas three times invited the rulers of the conquered region to voluntarily join the empire. They forced the conquered tribes to learn the Quechua language, imposed their customs and introduced their own laws. The local nobility and the priesthood of the conquered peoples retained their position, and the departure local religions was not forbidden under the condition of obligatory worship of the all-imperial sun god Inti. The Incas paid great attention to the preservation of local folk crafts and costume, so that by the dress of any inhabitant of Tahuantinsuyu it was easy to determine his origin and social status.

The Incas were characterized by the division of power and society into: warriors and non-warriors. The main commanders and commanders were either the rulers of the Empire, or people appointed by them from the ruling ethnic group - the Incas. At the same time, it seems that there was still some kind of dual power - a full-fledged duumvirate: when the ruler (governor) of the city of Cusco was engaged in the economic activities of the Empire, supplying and providing troops, which is repeatedly mentioned by the historian Juan de Betanzos.

At its peak, the Inca Empire was one of the largest states on Earth. The number of subjects of the empire reached, according to various sources, from 5-6 to 12 million people.

In 1521, Hernán Cortes conquered the Aztecs. This conquest inspired Francisco Pizarro. According to the report of Juan de Samano, secretary of Charles V, Peru became known for the first time in 1525 in connection with the completion of the first Southern expedition of Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro. The expedition left Panama on November 14, 1524, but was forced to return in 1525. After that, two more campaigns were carried out. In 1532, Pizarro arrives on the coast of modern Peru with 200 foot soldiers and only 27 horses. However, on the road, his army is replenished by those dissatisfied with the rule of the Incas. The Incas fiercely fight the conquerors, but the empire is weakened by internal turmoil and civil war, in addition, a large number of Inca warriors die from smallpox and measles brought by the Spaniards.

By deceit, Pizarro was able to capture and execute the Great Inca Atahualpa, after which the resistance was led by the commander Rumiñavi for 2 years. The capital of the Incas, the city of Cusco, was conquered by the Spaniards in 1536. Inca Manco Inca Yupanqui, with a small number of adherents, hides in the mountainous region of Vilcabamba, where the rule of the Incas continues for about 30 years. In 1572, the last Inca ruler, Tupac Amaru, was beheaded. This marked the end of the Tahuantinsuyu empire. The state was plundered, the culture of the Incas was destroyed.

In the book Chronicle of Peru, Cieza de Leon was the first European to question the reason for such an easy conquest of the Inca Empire:

Thus, although I have depicted Peru as three deserted and inhabited Cordilleras, from them, as I said, by the will of the Lord, valleys and rivers jut out, beyond which in no way could people survive: this is the reason why the locals were so easily conquered and why they serve without raising rebellions, because if they did, then everyone would die from hunger and cold. Because (as I said), with the exception of the land inhabited by them, most of them are uninhabited, they are solid snow-capped mountains and peaks of amazing height.
- Cieza de Leon, Pedro. Chronicle of Peru. Part one. Chapter XXXVI.

The conquered Incas became part of the Quechua people. The result of the Spanish conquest was clearly noted by the same chronicler Cieza de Leon:

I do not approve of the overthrow of power in any way, but still I lament the extortion and mistreatment perpetrated by the Spaniards on the Indians, enslaved by cruelty, regardless of their nobility and such a high dignity of their people. Because of this, all these valleys are now almost deserted, in the past they were densely populated, as many know.
- Cieza de Leon, Pedro. Chronicle of Peru. Part one. Chapter LXI.

The empire was divided into 4 parts: Chinchaysuyu - it corresponded to red, Kolasuyu - blue, Antisuyu - green, and Kuntisuyu - yellow, in turn, each such part consisted of provinces:

north of Cusco were: Vilcas, Xauxa, Bombon, Caxamalca, Guancabamba, Tomebamba, Latacunga, Quito, Carangue ;

on the other side of Cuzco, to the South: Hatuncana, Hatuncolla, Ayavire, Chuquiabo, Chucuito, Paria and others, stretching to Chile.

Each province had its own capital, where the collection of taxes flocked, where the temple of the Sun, foundries and jewelry workshops, a garrison, large inns, warehouses, as well as a representative of the Court, the governor, were located.

Separately, in the administrative division, as the capital, the city of Cusco stood out. It was designated yellow. Each village, which was the capital of the province, had its own number. For example, to indicate that “Manco Capac, the first ruler of the Inca, conquered the first capital of the province, one large knot was introduced into the thread, the second - two large knots, and so on with all the others. Cuzco, the capital of the Empire, is known to have had three or four nodes, one above the other." It is also known that the remoteness of a province from the capital of the empire, Cusco, was often made dependent on ordinal reckoning: for example, the closer the province, the closer it or its representative, the kuraka, was closer to the Inca ruler in services, campaigns, rituals, and ceremonies.

To define the provinces of the Tawantinsuyu Empire in the Kipu script, each province had its own mixture of colored threads. On the thread, in turn, a red thread could be placed (inserted) to indicate those who died in their army “from / in such and such a province”. Also, the use of the thread color for the provinces of the Empire was found in quipus related to the statistics and taxation of such provinces. The same system applied to reports on geographical and economic description Empire.

Pedro de Ciesa de Leon, in his Chronicle of Peru, reported on the unprecedented accuracy of accounting using the quipu: from silver, gold, clothing, and livestock, down to firewood, and other much more insignificant things; and with the help of these same quipu, after one year, or ten, or twenty, they informed the one who was charged with collecting reports[s]; and it was done so well that even a couple of alpargata could not be hidden.

Cieza de Leon gave information about the number of posts of kipukamayoks in a single territorial unit: “and in every valley this account is still available today, and there are always as many bookkeepers in inns as there are stewards in it [valley], and every four months they provide their reports the aforementioned way." For the provinces, the reporting period was set at 1 year, since “at the end of the year, each province ordered that all people, both those who died there that year, and, accordingly, those who were born, be added to the kip according to the number of its knots. And by the beginning of the year they entered, they came to Cusco with a kipu, from which it became clear how many were born that year and how many died.

In the vicinity of the village of Cotapachi in Cochabamba, there were 2076 kolkas (a round-shaped storage), which is 22.09% of the storage buildings of the 9395 units known today in the Inca Empire, that is, it was one of the strategic regions of the empire, where procurement and storage of provisions took place. The average diameter of the vaults in Cotapachi was 3.5 m, and the approximate height was 2 m, therefore, the volume of rounded vaults in the Cochabamba Valley could be 45,000 m3 (almost the entire volume was filled with provisions), which was a very significant figure even in relation to other provincial centers empire of the Incas. In modern terms, this is comparable to 1360 TEU (20-foot containers), which could fit on a Handymax Class container ship (1000-1700 TEU). In general, the scale of the warehouse economy of the Incas was so great that it is quite comparable with our modern ones.

The absence of a distinguished layer of free artisans and the associated weak development of private exchange, the absence of trade and any sort of intermediaries were a feature of the Inca society, in contrast to the Aztecs. It is explained by the fact that in Peru the early despotic state appropriated the labor of the community members, leaving them little surplus for exchange.

coins
In general, coins were not used in domestic trade, but in foreign trade mulu shells, coca leaves, clothes, and copper hatchets were used. In the XV-XVI centuries, the Indians of the Chonos culture (Ecuador) smelted copper with a content of 99.5% and used it as a coin in the form of hatchets 2 cm on the sides and 0.5 cm thick. This coin circulated all over the western coast of South America, including in the state of the Incas in the province of Chincha, where 6,000 merchants lived.