The Rise and Fall of the Inca Empire

Overview

• The Inca Empire was the largest empire in the Western Hemisphere.
• Population: Nearly 10 million.
• Area: Over 900,000 square kilometers.
• Infrastructure: Administrative centers, temples, road, and canal systems.
• Terrain: Built in extreme, inhospitable environments without use of modern tools (no wheels, horses, iron, or written language).
• Decline: Within a century of its rise in the 15th century, the empire fell.

Mythical Origins

• Legend: Inca rulers' ancestors created by the sun god Inti.
• Emerged from the cave called Tombotoco.
• Led by Aya Manko with a golden staff to find fertile land.
• Settled in Kuzco Valley after the staff pierced the ground.
• Aya Manko became Manco Capac, the first Sapa Inca (King).
• Archaeological settlement evidence: ~1200 CE.

Expansion and Reforms

• Small kingdom until 1438.
• Threatened by the neighboring Changka tribe.
• Pachacuti became the ninth Inca ruler after defending the city.
• Reign of reforms and expansion:
  • Reorganized the empire into "tawantinsuyu" or "four quarters".
  • Implemented a decimal-based bureaucracy.
  • Constructed infrastructure: terraces, irrigation, and Machu Picchu.

Inca Society and Administration

• No written language but used khipu (knotted strings) for record-keeping.
• Systematic taxation in exchange for security, infrastructure, and sustenance.

Further Expansion

• Pachacuti's son, Topa Inca (ruler in 1471 CE), continued expansion.
• Empire covered much of western South America.

Decline and Fall

• Topa Inca's son, Wainakaapak, ruled from 1493.
• Strain from distant military campaigns.
• 1524: Outbreak of European diseases, millions died including Wainakaapak and heir.
• Civil war: Brothers Atahualpa and Huascar.

Spanish Conquest

• 1532: Atahualpa won civil war but encountered Spanish invaders led by Francisco Pizarro.
• Spanish used guns and horses to defeat larger Inca forces.
• Atahualpa captured and killed.
• Conquistadors impressed by Cuzco’s beauty.
• Resistance fell back to Vilcabamba but eventually conquered by 1572.

Legacy

• The empire's cultural and physical heritage largely destroyed by Spanish conquest.
• Rapid decline despite fast rise.

Additional Information

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