home general information See what "Inca" is in other dictionaries. Incas: The Great Empire of the Four Ends of the World Modern Incas

See what "Inca" is in other dictionaries. Incas: The Great Empire of the Four Ends of the World Modern Incas

Lake Titicaca is located in the Central Andes at an altitude of 3810 meters above sea level. Exactly this large lake South America. Its area is 8,300 square kilometers, and it ranks 18th in size among the largest lakes in the world. The depth of the waters is more than a hundred meters, and in some places reaches 300 meters.

It was here, on the shores of a huge and deep reservoir, that during fabulous antiquity there was one of the centers of highly developed civilizations of mankind.

Around it, habitable lands were limited to the east by the impenetrable jungle of the Amazon River basin, and to the west by the boundless waters of the Pacific Ocean. Ancient people densely populated the narrow western strip of the continent, which began at the borders of modern Ecuador and ended in the central regions of Chile.

In the first millennium BC, civilizations such as Chavin, San Augustin and Paracas existed here. The latter chose the coastal region of the Andes (the southern coast of modern Peru) and the Paracas Peninsula (sand rain).

The main attraction of this people, which has survived to our times, are the necropolises. They consist of spacious burial chambers; they contain many mummies. The dead, wrapped in several layers of fabric decorated with rich ornaments, are in a sitting position. Knees rest on chins, arms crossed over chest.

What is of particular interest is that some mummies have skulls that are deformed, ovoid in shape, and show signs of trepanation. It’s hard to believe, but the facts are stubborn: once upon a time, more than two thousand years ago, the ancient Aesculapians successfully performed brain surgery. This is confirmed by the partial replacement of the bones of the skulls with gold plates.

Paracas Civilization disappeared into the darkness of centuries in the second century BC. Her traces were lost in the endless stream of time, but there is a number of evidence that casts a faint light on the fate of this mysterious people. This evidence indicates that the descendants of those ancient Aesculapians did not disappear from the earth, but continue to live, skillfully applying invaluable medical knowledge in practice.

But before considering this interesting question, you need to get acquainted with the historical events that took place during the period from the 13th to the 16th centuries in the western lands of South America.

History of the Inca Empire

Nine hundred years ago, the Sun God Inti, who oversaw the above-mentioned territory, became concerned about the poor living conditions of people. To cheer up mere mortals, instill confidence in them and make them feel the joy of life, he sent to them his son Manco Capac and his beloved daughter Mama Oaklew.

The ruler's instructions were brief and clear. He gave the children a staff made of pure gold and ordered them to settle in those lands where this expensive product would enter the soil.

The divine offspring carried out their father's will exactly. They wandered for a long time through the mountainous terrain, testing its strength. The rocky ground did not want to accept the precious metal, and the children already began to despair. But then they found themselves in the Cusco valley, near the village of Pacara Tambo, at the foot of the Huanakauri hill. And here a miracle happened: the staff easily entered the soil, as hard as granite. The son and daughter looked at each other joyfully and founded a settlement on this site, which they named Cusco.

The Inca people who lived in the nearby territory praised Manco Capac and Mama Oklew, recognized them as their rulers and began to call their country Tawantinsuyu (land of four parts).

Years passed. Cusco gradually turned into a large and beautiful city. It was located at an altitude of 3416 meters above sea level and was surrounded by two mountain ranges.

Inca Wars

In parallel with the construction of their capital, the people, who received the support of the gods, waged wars of conquest. At first, he fought for a long time with the Sora and Rucana tribes, who lived in the western lands adjacent to the Cuzco Valley. Having conquered these tribes, the conquerors significantly expanded their borders and began to prepare for further military expansions.

The very strong and brave Chanka people turned out to be a serious opponent. The war with him was long, difficult and cruel. Only by the middle of the 15th century did the Incas manage to defeat their main enemy. At this time, their ruler was Pachacutec, the son of the legendary Manco Capac.

At the beginning of the second half of the 15th century, the descendants of the divine offspring subjugated all the tribes living in the Lake Titicaca basin. The conquests are not limited to this. Military expansion continues, and by the end of the 15th century the conquered territory expands to enormous proportions. This is already an empire, whose possessions extend from the southern border of modern Colombia to central regions Chile and Argentina.

Government of the Inca Empire

A large state needs competent administrative management. The conquerors divided all the conquered lands into four provinces: Kuntisuyu, Kolyasuyu, Antisuyu and Chinchasuyu. In the center of Cusco was Huacapata Square. From it, in different directions, four roads diverged, leading to these administrative formations of the empire.

THE INCAS
an Indian tribe that lived in Peru and created a vast empire centered in Cuzco, in the Peruvian Andes, shortly before the Spanish conquest. The Inca Empire, one of two empires existing in the New World at the time of Columbus (the other being the Aztec), stretched north to south from Colombia to central Chile and included what is now Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, northern Chile and northwestern Argentina . The Indians called only the emperor Inca, and the conquistadors used this word to designate the entire tribe, which in the pre-Columbian era, apparently, used the self-name “capac-kuna” (“great”, “famous”). Landscapes and natural conditions the former Incan Empire were very diverse. In the mountains between 2150 and 3000 m above sea level. There are temperate climatic zones favorable for intensive agriculture. Huge in the southeast Mountain chain is divided into two ridges, 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 northwestern Argentina, are called altiplano. These treeless grassy plains are located in a continental climate zone with hot on sunny days and cool nights. Many Andean tribes lived on the altiplano. To the southeast of Bolivia, the mountains end and are replaced by the vast expanse of the Argentine pampa. Pacific coastline of Peru, starting at 3° S. and up to the Maule River in Chile, it is a continuous zone of deserts and semi-deserts. The reason for this is the cold Antarctic Humboldt Current, which cools 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), covering the deserted coastal islands, are an extremely valuable fertilizer. The 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 that developed based on irrigated agriculture flourished in the river valleys. The Incas managed to connect two different zones of Peru, the so-called. Sierra (mountain) and Costa (coastal), into a single social, economic and cultural space. The eastern spurs of the Andes are dotted with deep forested valleys and wild rivers. Further to the east stretches the jungle - the Amazonian jungle. The Incas called the hot, humid foothills and their inhabitants "yungas". The local Indians put up fierce resistance to the Incas, who were never able to subjugate them.
STORY
Pre-Inca period. The Inca culture developed 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 made cotton fabrics and grew maize, pumpkins and beans. The oldest of the great Andean cultures is considered to be the Chavin culture (12-8 centuries BC - 4 centuries AD). Its center, the city of Chavín 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 (c. 1st century BC - 8th century AD), which created magnificent works of architecture, ceramics and weaving, stands out. On south coast the mysterious Paracas culture flourished (c. 4th century BC - 4th century AD), famous for its textiles, undoubtedly the most skillful in all of pre-Columbian America. Paracas influenced the early Nazca culture, which developed further south in the five oasis valleys. In the Lake Titicaca basin, approx. 8th century The great culture of Tiahuanaco was formed. The capital and ceremonial center of Tiahuanaco, located at the southeastern tip of the lake, is built of hewn stone slabs held together with bronze spikes. The famous Gate of the Sun is carved from a huge stone monolith. At the top there is a wide bas-relief belt with images of the Sun God, who is bleeding tears 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 present-day Ayacucho. Apparently, it was from Huari that religious and military expansion came 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 Costa. After the collapse of the empire, local tribal associations, freed from external oppression, created their own state entities. 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 current port of Trujillo). This city with huge step pyramids, irrigated gardens and stone-lined pools occupied an area of 20.7 square meters. km. One of the centers of ceramic production and weaving developed here. The Chimu state, which extended its power along a 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 heirs rather than ancestors of Peruvian culture.

First Inca. The legendary first Inca, Manco Capac, founded Cusco around the beginning of the 12th century. The city lies at an altitude of 3416 m above sea level. in a deep valley running north to south between two steep Andean ridges. As legend tells, 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 archaeological 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 includes 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. They soon moved north and further east and subjugated territories in the upper reaches of the Urubamba River, after which they directed their expansion to the west. Here they encountered fierce resistance from the Sora and Rukana tribes, but emerged victorious from the confrontation. Around 1350 the Incas built a suspension bridge across deep canyon Apurimac River. Previously, it was crossed by three bridges in the southwest, but now the Incas paved a direct route from Cusco to Andahuaylas. This bridge, the longest in the empire (45 m), was called "huacachaca" by the Incas, a sacred bridge. A conflict with the powerful warlike Chanca tribe, which controlled the Apurimac Pass, became inevitable. At the end of the reign of Viracocha (d. 1437), the Chancas launched a surprise raid into Inca lands and besieged 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 completely defeated his 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 Lake Titicaca basin. Pachacutec's son Tupac Inca Yupanqui (1471-1493) extended Incan power to what is now Chile, Bolivia, Argentina and Ecuador. In 1463, the troops of Tupac Inca Yupanqui conquered the state of Chima, and its rulers were taken to Cuzco 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 the Chachapoyas in Northern Peru, on the right bank of the Marañon River in its upper reaches, to the empire, subjugated the warlike tribes of Puna Island near Ecuador and the adjacent coast in the area of present-day Guayaquil, and in 1525 the northern border of the empire reached the Ancasmayo River, where the border between Ecuador now lies. and Colombia.
INCAS EMPIRE AND CULTURE
Language. Quechua, the language of the Incas, is very distantly related to the Aymara language spoken by the Indians who lived near Lake Titicaca. It is not known what language the Incas spoke before Pachacutec elevated Quechua to rank in 1438 state language. Thanks to a policy of conquest and resettlement, Quechua spread throughout the empire, and is still spoken by the majority of Peruvian Indians to this day.
Agriculture. Initially, the population of the Inca state consisted mostly of farmers who, if necessary, took up arms. Their daily life was governed by the agricultural cycle, and under the guidance of experts, they turned the empire into an important center for plant cultivation. More than half of all foods currently consumed in the world come from the Andes. Among them are over 20 varieties of corn and 240 varieties of potatoes, camote (sweet potatoes), zucchini and pumpkin, various varieties of beans, cassava (from which flour was made), peppers, ground nuts and quinoa (wild buckwheat). The most important agricultural crop of the Incas was the potato, which could withstand extreme cold and grow at altitudes of up to 4600 m above sea level. By alternately freezing and thawing potatoes, the Incas dehydrated them to the point that they turned them into a dry powder called chuño. Corn (sara) was grown at altitudes up to 4100 m above sea level. and consumed in various types: cheese on the cob (choklo), dried and lightly fried (kolo), in the form of hominy (mote) and made into an alcoholic drink (saraiyaka, or chicha). To make the latter, women chewed corn kernels and spat the pulp into a vat, where the resulting mass, under the influence of salivary enzymes, fermented and released alcohol. At that time, all Peruvian tribes were at approximately the same technological level. The work was carried out jointly. The main tool of labor for the farmer was the taklya, a primitive digging stick - a wooden stake with a burnt tip for strength. There was arable land, but not in abundance. Rain in the Andes usually falls from December to May, but dry years are not uncommon. Therefore, the Incas irrigated the land using canals, many of which indicate a high level of engineering. To protect soils from erosion, terrace farming was used by pre-Incan tribes, and the Incas improved this technology. The Andean peoples practiced predominantly sedentary agriculture and extremely rarely resorted to slash-and-burn agriculture, which was common among the Indians of Mexico and Central America, in which areas cleared of forest were sown for 1-2 years and abandoned 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, coastal farmers had huge reserves of guano, and in the mountains llama (taki) dung was used for fertilizer.
Llamas. These camelids are descended from wild guanacos, which were domesticated thousands of years before the Incas. Llamas tolerate high mountain cold and desert heat; they serve as pack animals, capable of carrying up to 40 kg of cargo; they provide wool for making clothes and meat - it is sometimes dried in the sun, called “charki”. Llamas, like camels, tend to defecate in one place, so their manure can be easily collected to fertilize fields. Llamas played an important role in the formation of settled agricultural cultures in Peru.
Social organization. Ilyu. At the base of the social pyramid of the Inca empire was a type of community - the aylew. It was formed from family clans that lived together on the territory allocated to them, owned land and livestock together, and divided the harvests among themselves. Almost everyone belonged to one community or another, was born and died in it. Communities were small and large - up to an entire city. The Incas did not know individual land ownership: land could only belong to the aile or, later, to the emperor and, as it were, was leased 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 aylyu was carried out jointly. At the age of 20, men were supposed to get married. If the young man himself could not find a mate, a wife was selected for him. The lower social strata maintained strict monogamy, while representatives of the ruling class practiced polygamy. Some women had the opportunity to leave the ailya and improve their situation. We are talking about “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 concubines of the Inca himself.
State of Tawantinsuyu. The name of the Inca Empire - Tawantinsuyu - literally means "four connected directions of the world." Four roads left Cuzco in different directions, and each, regardless of its length, bore the name of the part of the empire to which it led. Antisuya included all the lands east of Cuzco - the Eastern Cordillera and the Amazonian jungle. From here the Incas were threatened by raids from tribes they had not pacified. Kontinsuya united western lands, including the conquered cities of Costa - from Chan Chan in the north to Rimac in Central Peru (the location of present-day Lima) and Arequipa in the south. Collasuyu, the largest part of the empire, extended south from Cuzco, covering Bolivia with Lake Titicaca and parts of modern Chile and Argentina. Chinchasuyu ran north to Rumichaka. 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, economic organization of Inca society was based, with certain 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 a pacha-kamayok), a hundred households were headed by a pacha-kuraka, a thousand were headed by a fry (usually a manager big village), ten thousand - the governor of the province (omo-kuraka), and ten provinces constituted a "quarter" of the empire and were ruled by the above-mentioned apo. Thus, for every 10,000 households there were 1,331 officials of various ranks.
Inka. The new emperor was usually elected by a council of members of the royal family. Direct succession to the throne was not always observed. As a rule, the emperor was chosen from the sons of the legal wife (koya) of the deceased ruler. The Inca had one official wife with countless concubines. Thus, according to some estimates, Huayna Capac had about five hundred sons alone, who happened to live under Spanish rule. The Inca appointed his offspring, who made up a special royal ailya, 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 custom and fear of rebellion.
Taxes. Each purik was obliged to work partly for the state. This compulsory labor service was called "mita". Only state dignitaries and priests were exempt from it. Each aylyu, in addition to their own land allotment, jointly cultivated the field of the Sun and the field of the Inca, giving the harvests 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 this work was carried out under the supervision of expert professionals. With the help of the knotted quipu script, accurate records were kept of the fulfillment of duties by each ayl. In addition to labor duties, each purik was a member of the detachments of rural law enforcement officers and could be called up for war at any time. If he went to war, the community members worked his plot of land.
Colonization. To subjugate and assimilate the conquered peoples, the Incas involved them in a system of labor duties. As soon as the Incas conquered new territory, they expelled all unreliable people from there and installed Quechua-speakers. The latter were called "mita-kona" (in Spanish vowel "mitamaes"). Remaining local residents It was not forbidden to observe their customs, wear traditional clothes and speak their native language, but all officials were required to know Quechua. Mita-kon was entrusted with military (protection of border fortresses), managerial and economic tasks, 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, mita-kona moved into these areas, obliged to supervise the road and bridges and thereby spread the power of the emperor everywhere. Colonists received significant social and economic privileges, much like Roman legionaries serving in distant provinces. The integration of the conquered peoples into a single cultural and economic space was so deep that 7 million people still speak Quechua, the Aylew tradition is preserved among the Indians, and the influence of the Inca culture in folklore, agricultural practice, and psychology is still noticeable on a vast territory.
Roads, bridges and couriers. Excellent roads with a well-functioning courier service made it possible to keep a huge territory under unified management. The Incas used the roads laid by their predecessors and built them themselves ca. 16,000 km of new roads designed for any weather. Since pre-Columbian civilizations did not know the wheel, Inca roads were intended for pedestrians and llama caravans. The road along the ocean coast, stretching 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 rope; four bridges crossed the gorges of the Apurimac River. Every 7.2 km there were distance indicators, and after 19-29 km there were rest stations for travelers. In addition, courier stations were located every 2.5 km. Couriers (chaskis) transmitted news and orders by relay, and thus information was transmitted over 2000 km in 5 days.

Saving information. Historical events and legends were preserved in memory by specially trained storytellers. The Incas invented a mnemonic device for storing information called a quipu (lit. "knot"). It was a rope or stick from which colored laces with knots hung. The information contained in the kipu was orally explained by a specialist in knotted writing, kipu-kamayok, otherwise it would have remained incomprehensible. Each provincial ruler kept with him many kipu-kamayok, which kept meticulous records of the population, soldiers, and taxes. The Incas used the decimal system; they even had a symbol for zero (skipping a knot). The Spanish conquistadors left rave reviews about the quipu system. The courtiers of the quipu-kamayok served as historiographers, compiling lists of the acts of the Inca. Their efforts created official version history of the state, which excluded mention of the achievements of the conquered peoples and asserted the absolute priority of the Incas in the formation of the Andean civilization.
Religion. The Inca religion was closely connected with government. The demiurge god Viracocha was considered the ruler of all things; he was assisted by lower-ranking deities, among whom the sun god Inti was most revered. The veneration of the Sun God, who became a symbol of the 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 (huaca) was practiced, which could be a river, lake, mountain, temple, or stones collected from the fields. Religion was practical in nature and permeated the entire life of the Incas. Agriculture was considered a sacred activity, and everything associated with it became huaka. The Incas believed in the immortality of the soul. It was believed that an aristocrat, regardless of his behavior in earthly life, after death goes to the abode of the Sun, where it is always warm and abundance reigns; As for the common people, only virtuous people went 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 people's behavior. The ethics and morality of the Incas boiled down to one principle: “Ama sua, ama lulya, ama chella” - “Don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t be lazy.”
Art. Incan art gravitated towards severity and beauty. Weaving from llama wool was distinguished by a high artistic level, although it was inferior in the richness of decoration to the fabrics of the peoples of Costa. Carving from semi-precious stones and shells, which the Incas received from coastal peoples, was widely practiced. However, the main art of the Incas was casting of precious metals. Almost all of the currently known Peruvian gold deposits were mined by the Incas. Gold and silversmiths lived in separate city blocks and were exempt from taxes. The best works of Inca jewelers were lost during the conquest. According to the testimony of the Spaniards who first saw Cusco, the city was blinding with golden glitter. Some buildings were covered with gold plates that imitated stonework. The thatched roofs of the temples were flecked with gold, simulating straws, so that the rays of the setting sun lit them up with a brilliance, giving the impression that the entire roof was made of gold. In the legendary Coricancha, the Temple of the Sun in Cuzco, there was a garden with a golden fountain, around which life-size stalks of maize with leaves and cobs, made of gold, “grew” from the golden “ground” and twenty llamas made of gold “grazed” on the golden grass - again - life-size.

Architecture. In the field of material culture, the Incas achieved the most impressive achievements in architecture. Although Incan architecture is inferior to Mayan in the richness of its decor and Aztec in its emotional impact, it has no equal in that era either in the New or Old World in terms of the boldness of engineering solutions, the grandiose scale of urban planning, and the skillful arrangement of volumes. Inca monuments, even those 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 the saddle between two peaks of the Andes. Inca architecture is distinguished by its extraordinary plasticity. The Incas built buildings on processed rock surfaces, fitting stone blocks together without mortar, so that the structure was perceived as a natural element of the natural environment. In the absence of rocks, sun-baked bricks were used. Inca craftsmen knew how to cut stones according to given patterns and work with huge stone blocks. The fortress (pucara) of Saskahuaman, which defended Cuzco, is undoubtedly one of the greatest creations of fortification art. 460 m long, the fortress consists of three tiers of stone walls total height 18 m. The walls have 46 projections, corners and buttresses. In the cyclopean masonry of the foundation there are stones weighing more than 30 tons with beveled edges. The construction of the fortress took at least 300,000 stone blocks. All the stones are irregular in shape, but they are fitted together so firmly that the walls have withstood countless earthquakes and deliberate attempts at destruction. The fortress has towers, underground passages, living quarters and an internal water supply system. 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 INCAN EMPIRE
It is still difficult to understand how a meager handful of Spaniards could conquer a powerful empire, although many considerations have been put forward in this regard. By that time, the Aztec empire had already been conquered by Hernán Cortés (1519-1521), but the Incas did not know about this, since they did not have any direct contacts with the Aztecs and Mayans. The Incas first heard of white men in 1523 or 1525, when a certain Alejo Garcia, at the head of the Chiriguano Indians, attacked the empire's outpost in the Gran Chaco, an arid lowland on the southeastern border of the empire. In 1527 Francisco Pizarro landed briefly at Tumbes on the northwestern Peruvian coast and soon sailed away, leaving behind two of his men. After this, Ecuador was devastated by a smallpox epidemic brought by one of these Spaniards. Emperor Huayna Capac died in 1527. According to legend, he realized that the empire was too large to rule from one center in Cuzco. Immediately after his death, a dispute for the throne broke out between two of his five hundred sons - Huascar of Cuzco, the son of his legitimate wife, and Atahualpa of Ecuador. The feud between the blood brothers resulted in a devastating five-year civil war, in which Atahualpa won a decisive victory just two weeks before Pizarro's second appearance in Peru. The winner and his 40,000-strong army rested in the provincial center of Cajamarca in the north-west of the country, from where Atahualpa was going to go to Cuzco, where the official ceremony of his elevation to the imperial rank was to take place. Pizarro arrived in Tumbes on May 13, 1532 and marched to Cajamarca with 110 foot and 67 horse soldiers. Atahualpa was aware of this from intelligence reports, which, on the one hand, were accurate, and on the other, tendentious in their interpretation of the facts. Thus, the scouts assured that horses do not see in the dark, that a man and a horse are a single creature, which, when falling, is no longer capable of fighting, that arquebuses only emit thunder, and then only twice, that Spanish long steel swords are completely unsuitable for battle. A detachment of conquistadors on their way could be destroyed in any of the gorges of the Andes. Having occupied Cajamarca, protected by walls on three sides, the Spaniards conveyed an invitation to the emperor to come to the city to meet with them. To this day, no one can explain why Atahualpa allowed himself to be lured into a trap. He was well aware of the strength of the strangers, and the favorite tactical method of the Incas themselves was the ambush. Perhaps the emperor was driven by some special motives that were beyond the understanding of the Spaniards. In the evening of November 16, 1532, Atahualpa appeared in Cajamarca Square in all the splendor of imperial regalia and accompanied by a large retinue - albeit unarmed, as Pizarro demanded. After a short, inarticulate conversation between the Inca demigod and the Christian priest, the Spaniards attacked the Indians and killed almost everyone in half an hour. During the massacre, only Pizarro suffered among the Spaniards, accidentally wounded in the arm by his own soldier when he was shielding Atahualpa, whom he wanted to capture alive and unharmed. After this, apart from several violent skirmishes in different places, the Incas actually did not put up 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 they strangled him with a garrote. All these events plunged the Incas into a state of strange apathy. The Spaniards, encountering almost no resistance, reached Cuzco along the great road and took the city on November 15, 1533.
Novoinkskoe state. Manco the Second. Having made the former Inca capital of Cuzco the center of Spanish rule, Pizarro decided to give the new government an appearance of legitimacy and for this purpose 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, hatching plans for an uprising, he showed patience. In 1536, when part of the conquistadors under the leadership of Diego Almagro set off on an expedition of conquest to Chile, Manco, under the pretext of searching for imperial treasures, slipped out from under the supervision of the Spaniards and rebelled. 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 grew into 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 the experienced soldier Hernando Pizarro, brother of Francisco Pizarro. He had only 130 Spanish soldiers and 2,000 Indian allies at his disposal, but he showed outstanding military skill and withstood the siege. At the same time, 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 were never able to get through to the besieged Cusco. The three-month siege of Cuzco was lifted due to the fact that many soldiers left the Inca army due to the start of agricultural work; In addition, Almagro’s army, which had returned from Chile, was approaching the city. Manco II and thousands of his loyal men 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. Novoinkskoe state. For the purpose of protection southern road From the military attacks of the Indians, Pizarro set up the military camp of Ayacucho. Meanwhile continued Civil War between Pizarro's warriors and Almagro's "Chileans". In 1538 Almagro was captured and executed, and three years later his supporters killed Pizarro. New leaders stood at the head of the warring parties of conquistadors. At 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 horse riding, firearms and blacksmithing. By setting up 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 fell into the hands of the Indians, with the help of which the king of Spain tried to limit the abuses of the conquistadors. After reviewing this document, Manco II sent one of his Spaniards, Gomez Perez, to negotiate with Viceroy Blasco Nunez Vela. As the infighting between the conquistadors continued, the viceroy was interested in a compromise. Soon after this, 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 Novoinksky 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 large numbers 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 Ukai 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 of the conquistadors to conquer the independent Indians were in vain. In 1565, Fray Diego Rodriguez visited the Inca citadel in Vilcabamba in order to lure the ruler out of hiding, but his mission was unsuccessful. His reports about the morals of the royal court, the number and combat readiness of soldiers give an idea of the strength of the Novoinksky state. The next year, another missionary repeated a similar attempt, but during the negotiations, Titu Kusi 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 Inca Supreme. 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 Cuzco. Here in 1572 on the main city square at the confluence of large quantity people they were beheaded.
Spanish domination. The colonial authorities of Peru retained some administrative forms of the Incan Empire, adapting them for their own needs. The colonial administration and the latifundists governed the Indians through intermediaries - community elders "kuraka" - and did not interfere in the daily life of householders. The Spanish authorities, like the Incas, practiced mass relocations of communities and a system of labor obligations, and also formed a special class of servants and artisans from the Indians. Corrupt colonial authorities and greedy latifundists created unbearable conditions for the Indians and provoked numerous uprisings that occurred throughout the colonial period.
LITERATURE
Bashilov V. Ancient civilizations of Peru and Bolivia. M., 1972 Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. History of the Inca State. L., 1974 Zubritsky Y. Inki-Quechua. M., 1975 Culture of Peru. M., 1975 Berezkin Yu. Mochika. L., 1983 Berezkin Y. Inki. Historical experience of the empire. L., 1991

Collier's Encyclopedia. - Open Society. 2000 .

Karanke. The capital of the province with the inns of the local governor, as well as the courts of the Inca, where permanent military garrisons with military leaders were located.

Otavalo. Of secondary importance.

Koceski. Of secondary importance.

Muliambato. Of secondary importance are courtyards and warehouses. They obeyed the steward in Latacunga.
Ambato.

Urine. Large and numerous buildings.

Riobamba, in the province of Puruaes.

Kayambi.
Teocahas. Small inns.

Tikisambi. Main inns.

Chan-Chan, in the Chimu Valley.

Chumbo, province. Main inns. They served the Incas and their rulers.

Tumbes, inns and large warehouses, with a steward, a military leader, soldiers and mitimayas.

Guayaquil had a warehouse for the caciques and villages.

Tambo Blanco. Inns.

Solana, valley. Warehouses.

Poechos, or Maykavilka, a valley with royal palaces, large and numerous inns and warehouses.

Chimu, a valley with large inns and pleasure houses of the Incas.

Motupe, a valley with inns and numerous warehouses.

Hayanka, a valley with large inns and warehouses of the Incas, in which their rulers stayed.

Guanyape Valley. Warehouses and inns.

Santa Valley. Large inns and many warehouses.

Guambacho Valley. Inns.

Chilka, valley. There were Incan inns and warehouses in it to support inspection visits to the provinces of the kingdom.

Chincha, province. The Inca ruler was installed in the valley and there were luxurious inns for kings, many warehouses where food and military equipment were stored.

Ica, a valley with palaces and warehouses.

Nazca, a valley with large buildings and many warehouses.

Chachapoyas, province. Large inns and warehouses of the Incas.

Guancabamba, capital of the province.

Bombon (Pumpu), capital of the province.

Conchucos province. To obtain enough provisions for the Inca's soldiers and servants, every 4 leagues there were inns and warehouses filled with everything necessary from what was available in these parts.

Guaras, a province with inns, a large fortress or remains ancient building, similar to a city block.

Tarama. Large inns and warehouses of the Incas.

Akos, a village in the province of Guamanga. Inns and warehouses.

Pike, inn.
Parks, inns.

Pucara, a settlement with Incan palaces and the Temple of the Sun; and many provinces came here with the usual tribute to hand it over to the steward authorized to monitor the warehouses and collect this tribute.

Asangaro, inn.

Guamanga city. Large inns.

Wilkas. Geographical center of the Empire. The capital of the province with the main inns and warehouses. Inca Yupanqui ordered the construction of these inns, and his successors improved the buildings: Inca Tupac Yupanqui built for himself palaces and many warehouses, of which there were more than 700 for storing weapons, elegant clothes and maize. These inns served more than 40 thousand Indians.

Soras and Lucanas, provinces. Inca residences, inns and ordinary warehouses.

Uramarca. Inns with mitimayas.

Andavailas, province. There were inns here before the arrival of the Incas.

Apurimac, suspension bridge across the river. There were inns nearby.

Curaguasi, inn.

Limatambo, inn.

Jaquihaguana, the valley had luxurious and magnificent bedchambers for the entertainment of the Inca rulers.

Cusco. Capital of the empire. In many places in this city and around it there were the main inns with warehouses of the Inca kings, in which the one who inherited the property celebrated his holidays.

Pucamarca, an inn where mamakons and royal concubines lived, spinning and weaving exquisite clothes.
Atun Kancha, similar to the previous one.
Kasana, similar to the previous one.

Yukai, a valley with a royal residence and inns.

Quispicanche, inns on the Collasuyu road.

Urcos, inns.

Kanches, inns.

Chaca, or Atuncana, provincial capital with large inns in the province of Canas, built by order of Tupac Inca Yupanqui.

Ayyavire, the capital of the province with palaces and many warehouses where taxes were collected. Built and inhabited by the Mitimayas on the orders of Inca Yupanqui.

Khatunkolya. The capital of the province of Collao with the main inns and warehouses. Before the Incas, it was the capital of the ruler of Sapana.

Chucuito, provincial capital with large pre-Inca inns. Came under the rule of the latter, presumably under Viracocha Inca.

Guacs, inns.

Tiahuanaco, a small settlement with main inns. Manco Capac II, son of Vain Capac, was born here.

Chuquiapo Valley. The provincial capital of the same name with the main inns.

Pariah. The capital of the province with the main inns and warehouses.

Chile, province. There were also many large settlements with inns and warehouses.

When we hear the concepts “Inca”, “Maya” or “Aztec”, we are mentally transported overseas, to the mountains and jungles of the American continent. It was there that these Indian tribes, little known to mankind, lived - the creators of the civilization of the Incas, Aztecs and Mayans, about whom we will briefly talk further. From history we only know about them that they were skilled craftsmen. The Incas built big cities, connected by roads that looked as if cars were racing along them. The pyramids were built like the Egyptian ones, but according to local religious views. Irrigation canals made it possible to feed the people with their own agricultural products.

The Incas created calendars, chronology and writing, had an observatory and were well oriented by the stars. And suddenly, overnight, all civilizations disappeared. Many scientists are working to unravel the causes of a rather strange, even from the standpoint of modern science, socio-demographic phenomenon. First, let's introduce the Inca civilization in a brief description.

Ancient Incas

If we consider geographical map South American continent, its vertical division by the Andes mountains will be striking. To the east of the mountains extends Pacific Ocean. This area, closer to the north, was chosen by the ancient Indian tribe of the Incas, pronounced “Quechua” in their language, in the 11th – 15th centuries. In such a short period, on a certain scale, it is difficult to create a unique and one of the early class civilizations of Mesoamerica. The Incas succeeded at this, perhaps with some outside help.

It stretched for five thousand kilometers from north to south - this is exactly half the length of the Russian Federation. It included the territories, in whole or in part, of eight modern Latin American countries. These regions were inhabited by about twenty million people.

Archaeologists say: Quechua culture did not begin out of nowhere. It has been proven that a significant part either came to the Quechua from outside, or they settled on foreign territory and appropriated the achievements of previous civilizations.

The Incas were good warriors and did not hesitate to conquer new territories. From the Mochica culture and the Kari state they could adopt the technology of making colored ceramics, laying canals in the fields, and from Nazca - the construction of underground water pipelines. The list goes on.

What the Quechuas themselves excelled at was stone-cutting. The blocks for the buildings were cut so beautifully that no binding material was required when laying them. The pinnacle of architecture is a group of temples under the general name of the Golden Court with the temple of the Sun God. The supreme rulers of the Quechuas simply adored gold; the emperor’s palaces were covered with it from floor to ceiling. The Spanish conquistadors melted down all this luxury and transported it home in ingots. Only the majestic pyramids on the lifeless land remind of past greatness.

Ancient Mayans

The Mayans had everything that characterized ancient civilizations, except the wheel and metal tools. Tools were made of high quality from strong stone, even for cutting wood.

The Mayans skillfully erected buildings using arched ceilings, rare for those times, and knowledge of geometry helped to correctly lay irrigation canals. They were the first to know how to get cement. Their surgeons performed operations with scalpels made of frozen glass.

Like the Incas (Quechua), the Mayans had great knowledge about space and the stars. But hardly any of them could own spacecraft. But then why did they need a domed observatory tower that has survived to this day? The building is positioned so that it is better to navigate the orbit of the brightest planet. Just to create a calendar aimed at this planet? Obviously there were other plans. It’s not for nothing that there are mysterious images of flying people on the rocks.

There is also this version of the origin of the Mayans: perhaps they sailed to America on ships from another continent. Like the Incas, the Mayans used the experience of a more developed civilization - the Olmecs, who appeared from nowhere on the American continent. For example, their experience of making drinks from a substance similar to chocolate, and in religion they adopted deities in the form of animals.

The Mayans disappeared in the 10th century AD. The Incas, Mayans, and Olmecs suffered the same fate - their civilizations ceased to exist in their prime. There are two popular versions of the Mayan demise: ecology and conquest. The second is supported by artifacts from the presence of other tribes in the territory where the Mayans lived.

Ancient Aztecs

Up to a dozen tribes lived on the fertile lands of the Valley of Mexico for centuries. At the beginning of the 14th century, the Tepanec tribe appeared there. Warlike, incredibly cruel, it conquered all other tribes. Their allies in the seizure of territories were a small tribe of tenochki.

These were the Aztecs. Neighboring tribes called them by this name. The Aztecs are driven out by other tribes to a deserted island. And from here the power of the Aztecs spread over the entire valley of Mexico, where up to ten million people already lived. They traded with everyone who accepted them. Thousands of people lived in cities. The state has grown to unprecedented proportions.

"Inca State"

1. Formation of the Inca state

The Incas dominated the territory now called Peru for a long time. During the period when the territory of the empire reached largest sizes, it included part of South America and extended over almost a million square kilometers. In addition to present-day Peru, the empire included most of present-day Colombia and Ecuador, almost all of Bolivia, the northern regions of the Republic of Chile and the northwestern part of Argentina.

Term the Incas, or rather Inca, has a variety of meanings. Firstly, this is the name of the entire ruling class in the state of Peru. Secondly, this is the title of a ruler. Thirdly, the name of the people as a whole. Original name Inca worn by one of the tribes that lived in the Cuzco Valley before the formation of the state. Many facts indicate that this tribe belonged to the Quechua language group, since the Incas during the heyday of the state spoke this language. The close relationship of the Incas with the Quechua tribes is evidenced by the fact that representatives of these tribes received a privileged position compared to other tribes and were called “Incas by privilege.” “Inca by privilege” did not pay tribute, and they were not enslaved.

There are 12 known rulers who headed the state. The first royal couple, who were at the same time brother and sister, were the first Inca, Mango Capac and his wife Mama Oklo. Historical legends tell of wars between the Inca and neighboring tribes. The first decade of the 13th century was the beginning of the strengthening of the Inca tribe and, possibly, the time of the formation of a union of tribes led by the Inca. The reliable history of the Incas begins with the activities of the ninth ruler, Pachacuti (1438–1463). From this time on, the rise of the Incas began. The state is rapidly growing stronger. In subsequent years, the Incas conquered and subjugated the tribes of the entire Andean region from Southern Colombia to Central Chile. The population of the state is 6 million people.

2. Inca economy

The Incas achieved great success in many economic sectors, and above all in metallurgy. The mining of copper and tin was of greatest practical importance. Silver deposits were developed. The Quechua language has a word for iron, but most likely it was not an alloy, and the meaning of the word was given by meteoric iron, or hematite. There is no evidence of iron mining or iron ore smelting.

Tools and jewelry were created from the mined metals. Axes, sickles, knives, crowbars, tips for military clubs and many other items needed in the household were cast from bronze. Jewelry and religious objects were made of gold and silver.

Weaving was highly developed. The Indians of Peru already knew looms, and there were three types of looms. The Indians sometimes dyed the fabrics woven on them, using for this purpose the seeds of the avocado tree (blue color) or various metals, in particular copper and tin. Fabrics made in the distant centuries of the Inca civilization have survived to this day and are distinguished by their richness and fineness of finish. The raw materials were cotton and wool. Fleecy fabrics for clothing and carpets were also produced. For the Inca, as well as members of the royal clan, special fabrics were made - from colored bird feathers.

Agriculture received significant development in the Inca state, although the area where the Inca tribes were located was not particularly conducive to development Agriculture. This is due to the fact that streams of water flow down the steep slopes of the Andes during the rainy season, washing away the soil layer, and in dry times there is no moisture left on them. Under such conditions, the Incas had to irrigate the land to retain moisture in the fields. For this purpose, special structures were created and regularly updated. The fields were located in stepped terraces, the lower edge of which was reinforced with stonework that retained the soil. A dam was built at the edge of the terrace to divert water from mountain rivers to the fields. The channels were lined with stone slabs. The state appointed special officials whose duties included monitoring the serviceability of structures.

On the fertile, or rather, became fertile, land in all regions of the empire, a wide variety of plants were grown, the queen among which was corn, in the Quechua language - sara. The Indians knew up to 20 different varieties of corn. Apparently, corn in ancient Peru was introduced from the Mesoamerican region. The most valuable gift of Peruvian agriculture is the potato, native to the Andes. The Incas knew up to 250 varieties of it. They grew it in a variety of colors: almost white, yellow, pink, brown and even black. Peasants also grew sweet potatoes. The legumes grown primarily were beans. The pre-Columbian Indians also knew pineapples, cocoa trees, various varieties of pumpkins, nuts, cucumbers, and peanuts. They used four types of spices, including red pepper. A special place was occupied by the cultivation of the coca bush.

The main tools of labor in agriculture were the spade and hoe. The lands were cultivated by hand; the Incas did not use draft animals.

The Inca Empire was a country that created many wonders. One of the most remarkable are the ancient Peruvian “highways of the Sun” - a whole village of highways. The longest of the roads exceeded 5 thousand kilometers. There were two main roads across the country. Canals were built along the roads, on the banks of which fruit trees grew. Where the road went along sandy desert, it was paved. Where the road intersected with rivers and gorges, bridges were built. The bridges were constructed as follows: they were supported by stone pillars, around which five thick ropes woven from flexible branches or vines were fastened; the three lower ropes, which formed the bridge itself, were intertwined with branches and lined with wooden crossbars. Those ropes that served as railings intertwined with the lower ones and protected the bridge from the sides. These suspension bridges represent one of the greatest achievements of Inca technology.

As is known, peoples ancient America Wheels weren't invented. Cargo was transported in packs on llamas, and ferries were also used for transportation. The ferries were improved rafts made of beams or beams of very light wood. The rafts were rowed and could lift up to 50 people and a large load.

Most of the production tools, textiles, and pottery were made in the community, but there was also a separation of crafts from agriculture and cattle breeding. The Incas selected the best craftsmen and moved them to Cuzco, where they lived in a special quarter and worked for the Supreme Inca, receiving food from the court. These masters, cut off from the community, actually found themselves enslaved. In a similar way, girls were selected who had to study spinning, weaving and other handicrafts for 4 years. The work of craftsmen and spinners was an embryonic form of craft.

Gold was not a means of payment. The Incas had no money. The Peruvian Indians simply exchanged their goods. There was no system of measures, except for the most primitive - a handful. There were scales with a yoke, from the ends of which bags with the load to be weighed were suspended. Exchange and trade were little developed. There were no bazaars inside the villages. The exchange was accidental. After the harvest, the inhabitants of the highlands and coastal areas met in certain places. Wool, meat, furs, leather, silver, and gold were brought from the highlands. Grain, vegetables and fruits, and cotton were brought from the coast. The role of universal equivalent was played by salt, pepper, furs, wool, ore and metal products.

3. Social order Incas

The Inca tribe consisted of 10 divisions - khatun-aylyu, which in turn were divided each into 10 aylya. Initially, the ailyu was a patriarchal clan, a tribal community: it had its own village and owned the adjacent fields. Names in the clan community were passed down through the paternal line. The Aylews were exogamous. It was forbidden to marry within the clan. Its members believed that they were under the protection of ancestral shrines - Huaca. Aylyu were also designated as pachaka, i.e. a hundred. Khatun-aylyu (large clan) represented a phratry and was identified with a thousand. Illu becomes a rural community in the Inca state. This is reflected in the consideration of land use regulations.

All the land in the state belonged to the Supreme Inca, but in fact it was at the disposal of the Aylew. The territory belonging to the community was called brand; the land owned by the community was called pacha brand, those. community land.

Cultivable land ( chakra) was divided into three parts: the “land of the Sun” - the priests, the fields of the Incas and the fields of the community. Each family had its share of the land, although all of it was cultivated jointly by the entire village, and community members worked together under the direction of elders. Having cultivated one section of the field, they moved on to the fields of the Incas, then to the fields of the villagers, and then to the fields from which the harvest went to general village fund.

Each village had fallow lands as well as “wild lands” - pastures. Field plots were periodically distributed among fellow villagers. The field plot, which bore the name stupid, given to a man. For each male child, the father received another tupa, and for each daughter, half. It was a temporary possession and was subject to redistribution.

In addition to the tupu, on the territory of each community there were lands that were called “gardens, their own land” (muya). This plot consisted of a yard, a house, a barn, a barn, and a vegetable garden. This plot was inherited from father to son. From these plots, community members could receive surplus vegetables or fruits. They could dry meat, spin and weave, make pottery vessels - everything that they had as private property.

In the communities that developed among the tribes conquered by the Incas, the clan nobility also stood out - kuraka. Representatives of the kurak were obliged to monitor the work of the community members and control the payment of taxes. Community members of the conquered tribes cultivated the lands of the Incas. In addition, they processed areas of kurak. In the kurak household, concubines spun and wove wool or cotton. In the community herd, the Kuraka had up to several hundred heads of cattle. But still the Kuraka were in a subordinate position, and the Incas stood above them as the highest caste.

The Incas themselves did not work. They constituted the military service nobility, were endowed land plots and workers from conquered tribes. The lands received from the supreme Inca were considered the private property of the serving nobility. The noble Incas were called orejons (from the Spanish word "oreh" - ear) for their huge gold earrings that stretched their earlobes.

Priests occupied a privileged position in society. A portion of the harvest was collected for the benefit of the priests. They were not subordinate to local rulers, but formed a separate corporation. These corporations were controlled by the high priesthood located in Cuzco.

The Incas had a number of workers - yanakuns - whom the Spanish chroniclers called slaves. This category was completely owned by the Incas and performed all the menial work. The position of these Yanakuns was hereditary.

The community members carried out most productive labor. But the appearance of a large group of hereditary enslaved workers indicates that the society in Peru was an early slave society with significant remnants of the tribal system retained.

The Inca state had a unique structure. It was called Tawantinsuyu - “four regions connected together.” Each region was ruled by a governor, who was usually a direct relative of the ruling Inca. They were called "apo". Together with several other dignitaries, they formed the state council of the country, which could express their proposals and ideas to the Inca. In the regions, power was in the hands of local officials.

At the head of the state was the ruler - “Sapa Inca” - the sole ruling Inca. Sapa Inca commanded the army and headed the civil administration. He and the senior officials watched over the governors. To control regions and districts, there was a constant postal service. Messages were transmitted by relay race by messengers-runners. On the roads, not far from each other, there were postal stations where messengers were always on duty.

The Incas introduced a language compulsory for all - Quechua. They split up the tribes and settled them piecemeal in different regions. This policy was carried out in order to consolidate the subordination of the conquered tribes and prevent discontent and uprisings. Laws were created to protect the dominance of the Incas.

4. Religion and culture of the Incas

In accordance with the religious views of the Incas, the Sun occupied a dominant position among the gods and ruled the entire unearthly world.

The official religious system of the Incas was the “heliocentric” system. It is based on subordination to the Sun – Inti. Inti was usually depicted as a golden disk from which rays emanated in all directions. The disk itself depicts the face of a man. The disk was made of pure gold, that is, a metal that belonged to the Sun.

The wife of Inti and at the same time the mother of the Incas - in accordance with the beliefs of the Indians - was the moon goddess Quilla.

The third “inhabitant of the firmament,” also revered in the Inca Empire, was the god Ilyapa - both thunder and lightning.

The temples owned enormous wealth, a large number of ministers and craftsmen, architects, jewelers and sculptors. The main content of the Inca cult was sacrificial ritual. Sacrifices were carried out mainly by animals and only in extreme cases by people. An emergency could be festivities at the moment of accession to the throne of a new supreme Inca, during an earthquake, drought, or war. Prisoners of war or children who were taken as tribute from conquered tribes were sacrificed.

Along with the official religion of sun worship, there were also more ancient religious views. Their essence was reduced to the deification not of great, powerful gods, but of sacred places and objects, the so-called uak.

In the Inca religion great place occupied totemistic views. The communities were named after animals: Pumamarca (puma community), Condormarca (condor community), Huamanmarca (hawk community), etc. Close to totemism was the worship of plants, primarily potatoes, since this plant had a primary role in the life of the Peruvians. Images of this plant have been preserved in sculpture - vessels in the form of tubers. There was also a cult of the forces of nature. The cult of Mother Earth, called Pacha Mama, was especially developed.

The cult of ancestors was of great importance. Ancestors were revered as patron spirits and guardians of the land of a given community and the area in general. There was a custom of mummifying the dead. Mummies in elegant clothes with jewelry and household utensils were preserved in tombs. The cult of the mummies of rulers reached particular development. They were credited with supernatural power. Mummies of rulers were taken on campaigns and carried to the battlefield.

To measure space, the Incas had measures based on the size of parts human body. The smallest of these measures was considered to be the length of the finger, then the measure equal to the distance from the bent thumb to the index finger. To measure land, a measure of 162 cm was most often used. For counting, a counting board was used, which was divided into strips, compartments in which counting units and round pebbles were moved. Time was measured by the time it took for the potatoes to cook, which meant approximately one hour. The time of day was determined by the sun.

The Incas had an idea of the solar and lunar years. To observe the sun, as well as to accurately determine the time of the equinox and solstice, astronomers of the Inca Empire built special “observatories” in many places in Peru. Most major item solar observation was in Cusco. The position of the sun was observed from specially built four towers in the east and west of Cusco. This was necessary to determine the timing of the agricultural cycle.

Astronomy was one of the two most important scientific concepts in the Inca Empire. Science was supposed to serve the interests of the state. The activities of astronomer scientists, who, thanks to their observations, could establish the most appropriate dates for the start or simply execution of certain agricultural work, brought considerable benefit to both the state and all its citizens.

The Inca calendar was primarily oriented towards the sun. The year was considered to consist of 365 days, divided into twelve 30-day months, after which the calendar still included five (and in a leap year - six) final days, which were called “days without work.”

There were schools for boys. Boys from among the noble Incas, as well as the nobility of conquered tribes, were accepted there. Thus, the task of educational institutions was to prepare the next generation of the empire's elite. They studied at school for four years. Each year provided certain knowledge: in the first year they studied the Quechua language, in the second - the religious complex and the calendar, and the third and fourth years were spent studying the so-called quipus, signs that served as “knot writing”.

The kippah consisted of a rope, to which cords were tied at right angles in rows, hanging down in the form of a fringe. Sometimes there were up to a hundred such cords. Knots were tied on them at different distances from the main rope. The shape of the nodes and their number indicated numbers. This record was based on the Inca decimal system. The position of the knot on the lace corresponded to the value of the digital indicators. It could be one, ten, a hundred, a thousand or even ten thousand. In this case, a simple knot denoted the number “1”, a double knot – “2”, and a triple knot – “3”. The color of the cords designated certain objects, for example, potatoes were symbolized by brown, silver by white, gold by yellow.

This form of writing was used mainly to convey messages about taxes. But sometimes the quipu was used to record calendar and historical dates and facts. Thus, quipus were a conventional system for transmitting information, but still it was not writing.

The question of whether the Incas had writing remains unresolved until recently. The fact is that the Incas did not leave written monuments, but still beans with special signs are depicted on many vessels. Some scientists consider these signs to be ideograms, i.e. the signs on the beans have a symbolic, conditional meaning.

There is also an opinion that the Incas had writing in the form of picture writing and pictography, but due to the fact that the boards on which these signs were written were framed in gold frames, looted and dismantled by Europeans, the written monuments have not survived to this day .

Literary creativity in the Quechua language was very rich. However, since these works were not recorded in writing and were preserved in the memory of reciters, only fragments preserved for posterity by the first Spanish chroniclers have reached us.

From the poetic creativity of the Incas, hymns (the hymn of Viracocha), mythical tales, and poems of historical content have been preserved in fragments. The most famous poem is “Ollantay,” which glorifies the exploits of the leader of one of the tribes who rebelled against the supreme Inca.

One of the most developed areas of science in the Inca Empire was medicine. The state of health of the inhabitants was not a private matter of citizens; on the contrary, the empire was interested in ensuring that the inhabitants of the country served the state as best as possible.

The Incas used some scientific techniques to treat diseases. Many medicinal plants have been used; Surgical interventions, such as craniotomy, were also known. Along with scientific techniques, the practice of magical healing was widespread.

5. The end of the Inca state. Portuguese conquests

Pizarro's troops captured Cuzco in 1532. The Inca chief Atahualpa died. But the Inca state did not immediately cease to exist. The inhabitants of the ancient state continued to fight for their independence. In 1535, an uprising breaks out. It was suppressed in 1537, but its participants continued the struggle for independence for more than 35 years.

The rebellion against the Spaniards was led by the Inca prince Manco, who used cunning methods in the fight against the conquerors. He first went over to the side of the Spaniards and approached Pizarro, but only with the goal of studying the enemy. Having begun to gather forces at the end of 1535, Manco in April 1536 with a large army approached Cuzco and besieged it. He forced captive Spaniards to serve him as gunsmiths, artillerymen and gunpowder makers. Spanish firearms and captured horses were used. Manco himself was dressed and armed in Spanish, rode on horseback and fought with Spanish weapons. The rebels often achieved great success by combining the techniques of original Indian warfare with European ones. But bribery and betrayal forced Manco to leave this city after 10 months of the siege of Cuzco. The rebels continued to fight in the mountainous region of Ville Capampe, where they fortified themselves. After Manco's death, Tupac Amaru becomes the rebel leader.

Resistance to the ever-increasing forces of the conquerors proved futile, and the rebels were eventually defeated. In memory of this last war against the conquerors, the title of Inca and the name Tupac Amaru were subsequently adopted by the Indian leaders as a symbol of the restoration of their independent state.

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