| |
The Inca empire (1500 AD) was possibly the most organized civilization
in South America. Their economic system, distribution of wealth,
artistic manifestations and architecture impressed the first
of the Spanish chroniclers.
The Incas worshipped the earth goddess Pachamama and the sun
god, the Inti. The Inca sovereign, lord of the Tahuantinsuyo,
the Inca empire, was held to be sacred and to be the descendant
of the sun god. Thus, the legend of the origin of the Incas
tells how the sun god sent his children Manco Capac and Mama
Ocllo (and in another version the four Ayar brothers and their
wives) to found Cuzco, the sacred city and capital of the
Inca empire.
The rapid expansion of the Inca empire stemmed from their extraordinary
organizational skills. Communities were grouped, both as families
and territorially, around the ayllu, their corner of the empire,
and even if villagers had to move away for work reasons, they
did not lose their bond to the ayllu. The Inca moved around
large populations, either as a reward or punishment, and thus
consolidated the expansion while drawing heavily from the
knowledge of the cultures that had flourished prior to the
Incas. The Inca's clan was the panaca, made up of relatives
and descendants, except for the one who was the Inca's successor,
who would then form his own panaca. Sixteenth-century Spanish
chroniclers recorded a dynasty of 13 rulers, running from
the legendary Manco Capac down to the controversial Atahualpa,
who was to suffer death at the hands of the Spanish conquerors.
The Tahuantinsuyo expanded to cover part of what is modern-day
Colombia to the north, Chile and Argentina to the south and
all of Ecuador and Bolivia.
The
members of the panaca clans were Inca nobles, headed by the
Inca sovereign. The power of the clans and the Inca was tangible
in every corner of the empire, but the might of the Incas
reached its peak in the architecture of Cuzco: the Koricancha
or Temple of the Sun, the fortresses of Ollantaytambo and
Sacsayhuaman, and above all the citadel of Machu Picchu |
|
