Learn about The Inca Empire

The Inca (also often spelt Inka) forged the largest empire in pre-Columbian America, with their capital in the Andean city of Cusco (also spelt Cuzco).

Their defeat by a small group of determined Spanish Conquistadors in the 16th Century is a tale of devastation on a Continental scale. But this direct contact with Europeans - with a written tradition - means we have many chronicled descriptions of Inca life and society.

Moreover, the Inca legacy continues to exist in Peru and beyond:

• Archaeology: there are thousands of Inca ruins stretching from the Pacific coast (eg Puerto Inca) to the Amazon rainforest (eg. Paititi).

• Architecture: many buildings in Andean cities still use Inca-built foundations. The best example is probably the Convent of Santo Domingo in Cusco, which sits atop the remains of Koricancha, the Inca Sun Temple.

• Language: there are still an estimated 10 million people that speak a Quechuan language, which can be traced directly back to the time of the Inca Empire.

• Artistry: examples of Inca ceramics, textiles and metalwork (especially with gold and silver) can be found in museums throughout Peru. To this day, Andean ladies create fabrics and clothing using methods that would be recognisable to the Inca.

Origins of the Inca Empire:

The Inca trace their origins to about A.D. 1200, when Manco Capac (in power from 1200 to 1230), founded Cusco (Qosq’o in the Quechua tongue, meaning ‘navel’) and became first Inca (Quechua for ‘king’ … and also used to name the people as a whole).

For over two centuries, the Incas had been nothing more than a small group holding sway over only the Cusco area and expanding only slowly.

Their main enemy was the Chanka, against whom sporadic campaigns were fought.

The balance of power changed dramatically in 1438 when great numbers of Chanka attacked Cusco and the eighth Inca, Viracocha (in power from 1410 to 1438) retreated against superior odds.

His third son, Yupanqui, remained to fight what is chronicled as a desperate battle against the Chanka, one in which the very stones are said to have risen up to battle alongside him.

After an unexpected victory, Yupanqui changed his name to Pachacutec (Quechua for ‘Changer of the World’), assumed the Inca throne (in power from 1438–1471) and set out to conquer other Andean tribes and build some of Cusco’s major Inca sites.

By his death in 1471, Pachacutec had conquered most of the Peruvian Andes.

He was joined in battle by his warrior son, Túpac Yupanqui, who later became the tenth Inca, from 1471 - 1493, and continued his father’s expansionist traditions.

During his tenure, the Inca Empire grew to cover the territory from northern Ecuador to northern Chile and Bolivia, and from the Pacific coast into the Amazon lowlands.

The Inca had taken barely half a century to grow into the greatest empire of the New World.

Inca Society:

They were as benevolent as they were fierce. Tribes that acquiesced quietly were treated well and brought into the sophisticated Inca social system.

The Inca sun-worshipping religion and Quechua language were spread to the far corners of the empire, but the less troublesome groups were allowed a certain degree of autonomy in language and clothing.

Those peoples that resisted conquest were banished to distant parts of the realm to break their spirit.

A decimal-based administration system helped the Inca maintain social and economic control over their vast territory. Ten workers would have one leader; ten leaders would have their own head, and so on.

The Qhapaq Ñan, a network of about 40,000 km (20,000 miles) of roads, was built throughout the empire, and a system of chasquis (runners) was used for communication.

Resources such as food and clothing were strictly managed, and knotted strings called quipus were used for accounting purposes.

Citizens were expected to work hard but, in return, were provided with adequate food and clothing.

They were also obliged to attend elaborate fiestas at regular intervals, during which plentiful amounts of food and chicha (maize beer) were ritually consumed.

Good citizenship was also encouraged through sayings like Ama quilla, Ama ll’ulla, Ama shua (‘Don’t be lazy, don’t lie, don’t steal’).

Inca Civil War:

Huayna Capac (in power from 1493 – 1525) solidified the empire’s hold of Ecuador and added parts of Chile and Argentina.

But upon his death from smallpox, the Inca empire was divided between his two sons – Atahualpa (1502 - 1533) in the north and Huáscar (1503 - 1532) in the south.

The bloody civil war that followed severely weakened the empire and made it vulnerable to foreign invaders … who were about to appear from the coast.

Conquest of the Inca Empire:

It is difficult to imagine what the Inca must have thought about the sudden arrival of the Spanish in 1532, an alien invasion force that not only looked and acted like nothing they had ever seen before, but also fought with weapons and tactics of unprecedented fury.

Venturing down the west coast of South America on his third journey to the New World, Francisco Pizarro (c. 1471-1541) marched his small, but eager band of Conquistadors into what is now northern Peru.

Turning inland, Pizarro and his troops made their way to Cajamarca, where they arranged an audience with Atahualpa, who had recently become the supreme leader of the Inca realm, after winning the civil war against his brother, Huascar.

Atahualpa had no reason to fear the Spanish: they had shown no previous hostility and, after all, he was the leader of the greatest empire and army that South America had ever seen.

But this overconfidence played right into Pizarro’s hands. The Spaniards ambushed the Inca party and took Atahualpa hostage, insisting they would release the emperor only after a huge ransom had been paid.

According to legend, the amount of gold and silver that eventually arrived in Cajamarca was enough to fill the room in which the Emperor was held captive.

But fearing a vicious Inca counter-attack if Atahaulpa were released, Pizarro ordered the Emperor’s execution.

With Atahualpa out of the picture, the Spaniards had little trouble vanquishing the rest of Peru, marching south to Cusco and installing a puppet emperor.

The Spanish Consolidate Power:

After the conquest of Cusco, the Spanish’s biggest enemy was their own greed. A feud amongst the various conquistador factions resulted in Pizarro’s murder at the hands of Spanish assassins in 1541.

By then the Spaniards had already established their own capital at Lima (1535), a coastal location which offered a much milder climate than the high Andes, a constant source of fresh water and a fine natural harbour that allowed for easy communication with the Spanish bases in Panama … and onward to Spain.

Within a few decades of its founding, Lima had become the seat of the Spanish viceroy and the most important European settlement in all of South America, a city of imposing palaces and churches, a thriving seaport and cobblestone streets flanked by Colonial mansions.

Final Collapse of the Inca Empire:

However, turmoil continued inland for another century, with an ongoing struggle between the European invaders and indigenous groups.

What remained of the Inca elite fled into the jungle on the eastern side of the Andes, establishing a new military and religious centre at Vilcabamba.

The rebel state endured until the 1570s, when the ruthless viceroy, Francisco Toledo, sent an army to capture the mountain-top retreat.

Dynamic rebel leader Túpac Amaru (died 1572) and his generals fled into the Amazon, but they were eventually captured and executed, an event which modern historians use to mark the end of the Inca Empire.

How to visit the vestiges of the Inca Empire with PeruNorth:

Best known of the thousands of Inca ruins is the iconic site of Machu Picchu, suspended on a mountainous, cloud-forested ridge, built in the 15th century, and then forgotten until its ‘re-discovery’ in 1911.

There are two ways to reach it:

• By train, such as in our Low-Altitude Machu Picchu itinerary.

• By foot, along the Classic Inca Trail or Salkantay Trail.

To get to Machu Picchu necessitates passing through Cusco, which is famed for superb Colonial architecture built on top of ancient Inca foundations.

Cusco mirrors the Peruvian people, most of whom can claim at least some indigenous heritage, mixed with the blood of the Spanish Conquistadors. Here Quechua, the language of the Incas, is regularly spoken.

In fact, Quechua is the first language of many Andean communities, as far north as Ancash Department, and so you will hear it during any trip to Huaraz, especially if you get out into the countryside on a trek:

• Olleros

• Santa Cruz

• Qhapaq Ñan

• Huayhuash

Cajamarca was another important Inca city, but the Spanish were more rigorous in dismantling their legacy here, so that there are now only a few remnants.

With such an extensive empire, though, Inca architectural influence can be seen far beyond their main cities - often building on the sacred sites of conquered peoples, such as at Tucume and Kuelap.

In fact, you would have to tread very carefully around the mountains and coast of Peru to avoid contact with an Inca site of some sort!