- What was the Inca culture?
- Origin of the Inca culture
- Inca culture location
- Characteristics of the Inca culture
- Social organization of the Inca culture
- Political organization of the Inca culture
- Economy of Inca culture
- Inca culture religion
We explain what the Inca culture was, its social and political organization, its religion, economy, location and other characteristics.
What was the Inca culture?
It became known as the Inca civilization, Quechua civilization or the Inca culture (sometimes also written inka), to one of the most important pre-Columbian cultures. This civilization ruled a mighty Empire in South America when the Spanish conquerors arrived in 1532.
This Inca Empire was the largest pre-Columbian political organization in America, and flourished between the 15th and 16th centuries. It extended from the South American Pacific coast to the Andean peaks, and from the current territories of Ecuador, Colombia and Peru, to those of Bolivia and part of Chile and Argentina.
Its capital was the sacred city of Cusco, in present-day Peruvian territory. From there, they dominated the region until its fall to the Spanish in 1540, who, led by Francisco Pizarro, put an end to the Quechua way of life and began the Viceroyalty of Peru. There were pockets of Inca resistance (the so-called Villacabamba Incas) until 1572.
The Incas were the later descendants of one of the cradles of the humanity, located in Norte Chico, between Chile and Peru. Next to the mesoamerican, this was the most important human original expression in America.
Much of his culture it still survives, in South American regions with an important indigenous presence. It is also preserved in stories and treasures recovered during the colonial era that followed the conquest.
Origin of the Inca culture
The Inca civilization formally emerged around the 12th century AD. C., with the settlement of the families founders in the valley of Cusco, coming from the Tiahuanaco or Tiwanaku culture under siege by their Aymara enemies. After two stops in Huanacancha and Pallata, these groups found refuge in Cuzco.
The first settlements forcibly assimilated the pre-Inca tribes of the region, incorporating them into what the Incas called the Tawantinsuyu (in Quechua "the four parts"), which is how they called the nascent empire in their language. Thus they developed a powerful pre-Hispanic city that came to house several thousand inhabitants.
According to tradition Inca, the warrior Manco Cápac was the organizer and first regent of the Incas in Cuzco, protagonist of one of the main myths Inca foundations, in which he and his wife Mama Ocllo are described as the fruit of the union in Lake Titicaca of the goddess Quilla, the Moon, and the god Inti, the Sun.
Inca culture location
The Inca civilization flourished in west-central South America. In its moments of greatest power, it came to control the territories of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, part of Colombia, northern Argentina and Chile, especially in the coastal region and in the Andean foothills.
There they enjoyed the enormous ecological variety of the Andes. In addition, they knew how to master the sometimes arid living conditions to build a series of flourishing civilizations, of which the Inca Empire was its last and maximum expression.
Characteristics of the Inca culture
The Incas were the last great pre-Columbian civilization in America, largely because they knew how to collect and integrate the scientific knowledge, artistic and technological of its predecessors, and enhance them.
His language, Quechua (kechwa or kichwa) still persists among the old populations of their Empire, and was part of the official or vehicular languages of the same, along with Aymara, Mochica and Poquina, which suggests that their culture had important dealings with its neighboring peoples.
In their heyday they built a work architectural of importance, of which there are still ruins such as the famous Machu Picchu, among other vestiges in its main cities like Písac, Ollantaytambo, or the ceremonial fortress of Sacsayhuamán, two kilometers from Cuzco.
The sculpture, the music, the literature and the painting They were Arts widely cultivated by the Incas, along with textiles, goldsmiths and ceramics, for practical as well as ceremonial purposes. Its mummification ritual stands out, especially to preserve bodies of deceased kings and nobles, which were exhibited during ritual ceremonies to receive the veneration of its people.
Social organization of the Inca culture
Inca society was structured based on the Ayllu, a concept that could be translated as lineage, community, genealogy, kinship or caste. That is, the possession of a common, royal or mythological ancestor united citizens and organized them to undertake work, such as communal agriculture, military service, etc.
Each Ayllu had a curaca or chief, who led the rest by being a wise old man, and a sinchi, warrior and commander chosen from among the strongest settlers.
This does not mean that there was no social classes. In fact, the nobility and the people were well differentiated in Inca society, each having different hierarchical levels, as follows:
- Nobility. Made up of military heroes, priests or illustrious citizens, as well as curacas of defeated nationalities, who obeyed the Empire and represented the local aristocracy, subdued by the Incas. The nobility distinguished between:
- Royalty or imperial court. Among them the monarch (inca) and his wife (coya), and legitimate princes (auquis).
- The nobles of blood. Descendants of the Inca kings and high-ranking officials of the Empire, such as governors, priests, etc.
- The nobility by privilege. Where were the citizens whose outstanding performance in the war, the priesthood or other arts had earned them the title of noble citizen.
- Town. The common of the inhabitants of the Inca empire, dedicated to pedestrian tasks such as planting, fishing, crafts or Commerce. Depending on their trade or condition, they could be called:
- Huatunrunas. Peasants and ranchers.
- Mitmaqkunas. Colonizers and conquerors of new lands.
- Yanas. Servants and prisoners of war.
- Mamaconas. Women textile workers and cooks who could be secondary wives of the Inca or other authorities.
- Pampayrunas. Prisoners forced to practice prostitution.
- Pineapples.Slaves and prisoners of war subjected to Condition for work agricultural.
Political organization of the Inca culture
The Incas had one of the most advanced political organizations in all of pre-Columbian America. It was a monarchy, but with a very high level of commitment to the welfare of its subjects, guaranteeing in one way or another the satisfaction of all basic needs: food, dwelling, dress, Health and sex.
Far from being a European absolutist monarchy, the Inca Empire was ruled by a diarchy, that is, two monarchs, one in Cuzco alto (Hanan cuzco) and another in Cuzco under (Harin cuzco).
The first controlled especially the civic, political, economic and military aspects (the Sapa Inca), and the other concentrated can priestly (the Willaq umu), and while his hierarchy was slightly lower, he was also influential in imperial decisions.
The other political positions, held by the nobility, were organized as follows:
- The Auqui. It is about the crown prince, who exercised the co-government with his father as a form of preparation for the position. He was chosen from among all the male children of the Inca and the Coya, so that he was appointed by merit and not by mayorazgo.
- The Tahuantinsuyo Camachic. The Imperial Council, was composed of four apus, who ruled each of the four his or regions of the Empire: Chinchansuyu, Cuntinsuyu, Antisuyu and Collasuyyu. These were endorsed by 12 secondary counselors.
- The Apunchic. That is, the governors, with political-military powers, who responded directly to the council or the Inca, and who were guarantors of stability in their regions.
- The Tucuirícuc. His name meant "He who sees everything", and he was a sort of imperial overseer and supervisor, who controlled the officials of each province and was empowered to assume, if necessary, local authority.
- The curaca. The head of each ayllu or community, was more or less equivalent to a cacique. Generally, he was the oldest and wisest of his people, although he could be expressly designated by the authorities. He was the one who took care of the Justice, collecting tribute and maintaining order.
Economy of Inca culture
Its productive apparatus was fundamentally agricultural. It was assigned by community or ayllu, taking turns in the solidarity cultivation of the plots (in a very particular terrace system), the cultivation of the King's lands and the care of his flocks, and the work for the Condition which consisted of working on public works: roads, bridges, temples, palaces, etc.
The economy of the Quechuas was strictly and diligently controlled by the state. The work was compulsory and proportional to age. In addition to agriculture, there was military service, compulsory for all men, and the work of courier or chasquis, that could communicate different regions of the empire quickly by means of a system of relays.
It is estimated that they cultivated more than eighty species vegetables, such as potatoes (almost 200 varieties), corn (domesticated independently from Mesoamerican), sweet potatoes, quinoa, ruba, tomatoes, peanuts, cassava, avocados and beans.
They also cultivated textile plants such as cotton and magüey, or recreational plants such as tobacco and coca. Livestock work consisted of raising Andean camelids such as alpaca, llama or vicuña, and fishing was carried out in lakes and especially on the Pacific coasts.
On the other hand, barter was a fundamental activity, both within the Empire and with neighboring communities, and its routes of exchange extended beyond the imperial borders. It is thought that Inca commercial navigation would have reached as far away lands as present-day Panama and Costa Rica.
Inca culture religion
Like other pre-Columbian peoples, Quechua was deeply religious and its mystical rites were an important part of daily life and its festivities. Unlike the European religions, they did not have a central father god, although a prominent place of their worship was dedicated to Wiracocha.
They were polytheists and pantheists. They had a pantheon of local, regional and imperial divinities, to which they corresponded natural phenomena As the Sun (Inti), the Moon (Mama Quilla), the Lightning (Chuqui illa).
Other deities represented much more complex ideas such as the Pachamama (goddess mother of the earth and fertility), Pachacámac (fertilizing god of the earth and cause of earthquakes and of the crop).
His understanding of the divine revolved around the concept of camaquen, a kind of vital force that animated everything that exists, even present in the dead, the moutains and in sacred beings.
Also, they had places of worship known as huacasIn charge of the priests who also performed oracular functions, they organized offerings, celebrations and sacrifices.The latter generally involved animals, coca leaves, and rarely humans.