Who are the Incas? Who were the Incas and where did they live? The Inca Empire: capital, culture, history. Social structure of civilization

At the turn of the XIV-XV centuries. The first empires arose on the Pacific coast and in the northern regions of the South American continent. The most significant of them was the Inca state. During its heyday, between 8 million and 15 million people lived here.

The term "Inca" denoted the title of the ruler of several tribes in the foothills of the Andes; this name was also borne by the Aymara, Huallacán, Quehuar and other tribes who lived in the Cuzco valley and spoke the Quechua language.

The Inca Empire occupied an area of ​​1 million square meters. km, its length from north to south exceeded 5 thousand km. The Inca state, divided into four provinces around the city of Cusco and located in the vicinity of Lake Titicaca, included the territory of modern Bolivia, northern Chile, part of present-day Argentina, northern part modern Republic Peru and present-day Ecuador.

The supreme power in the state belonged entirely to Sapa Inca, as the emperor was officially called. Each Sapa Inca built his own palace, richly decorated to his taste. The best artisan jewelers made for him a new golden throne, richly decorated with precious stones, most often emeralds. Gold in the Inca Empire was widely used in jewelry, but was not a means of payment. The Incas managed without money, since one of the main principles of their life was the principle of self-sufficiency. The entire empire was a huge subsistence economy.

Inca religion

Religion occupied an important place in the life of the Incas. Each population group, in each region had its own beliefs and cults. The most common form of religious ideas was totemism - the worship of a totem - an animal, plant, stone, water, etc., with which believers considered themselves to be related. The lands of the communities were named after the deified animals. In addition, the cult of ancestors was widespread. The deceased ancestors, according to the Incas, were supposed to contribute to the ripening of crops, the fertility of animals and the well-being of people. Believing that the spirits of ancestors lived in caves, the Incas erected stone mounds near the caves, whose outlines resembled human figures. Associated with the cult of ancestors is the custom of mummifying the corpses of the dead. Mummies in elegant clothes, with jewelry, utensils, and food were buried in tombs carved into rocks. The mummies of rulers and priests were buried especially magnificently.

Own buildings The Incas built from various types of stone - limestone, basalt, diorite and raw brick. At home ordinary people had light roofs made of thatch and bundles of reeds; There were no stoves in the houses, and the smoke from the hearth came out directly through the thatched roof. Temples and palaces were built especially carefully. The stones from which the walls were made fit together so tightly that binders were not required when constructing buildings. In addition, the Incas built fortresses with numerous watchtowers on the mountain slopes. The most famous of them rose above the city of Cusco and consisted of three rows of walls 18 m high.

In their temples, the Incas worshiped a whole pantheon of gods, who had a strict chain of command. The highest of the gods was considered Kon Tiksi Viracocha - the creator of the world and the creator of all other gods. Among those gods whom Viracocha created were: the god Inti (golden Sun) - the legendary ancestor of the ruling dynasty; the god Ilyapa is the god of weather, thunder and lightning, to whom people turned with requests for rain, for Ilyapa could make the waters of the Heavenly River flow to the earth; Inti's wife, the goddess of the Moon, is Mama Kilja. The Morning Star (Venus) and many other stars and constellations were also revered. In the religious ideas of the ancient Aztecs, a special position was occupied by the extremely ancient cults of the earth mother - Mama Pacha and the sea mother - Mama Cochi.

The Incas had many religious and ritual festivals associated with the agricultural calendar and the life of the ruling family. All celebrations were held in the main square of Cusco - Huacapata (Sacred Terrace). Roads diverged from it, connecting the capital with four provinces of the state. By the time the Spaniards arrived, three palaces towered in Huacapata Square. Two of them were turned into sanctuaries. When an Inca ruler died, his body was embalmed and the mummy was left in his palace. From that time on, the palace became a sanctuary, and the new ruler built himself another palace.

The ensemble of temples of Qoricancha (Golden Court) is considered the highest achievement of Inca architecture. The main building of the ensemble was the temple of the Sun God - Inti, where there was a golden image of the god, decorated with large emeralds. This image was located in the western part, and it was illuminated by the first rays rising sun. The walls of the temple were entirely covered with gold sheets. The ceiling was covered with wood carvings, the floor was covered with carpets stitched with gold threads. The windows and doors were studded with precious stones. Several chapels adjoined the Temple of the Sun - in honor of thunder and lightning, the rainbow, the planet Venus, and the main one - in honor of the Moon (Mama Quilla). The image of the Moon in the Inca Empire is associated with the idea of ​​a woman, a goddess. Therefore, the chapel of Mama Killa was intended for the koima, the wife of the Inca ruler, only she had access to this chapel. The mummies of the rulers' dead wives were also located here. In the Chapel of the Moon all the decorations were made of silver.

Various crafts The Incas reached their highest peak. The Incas mastered mining quite early and mined copper and tin ore in mines to make bronze, from which axes, sickles, knives and other household utensils were cast. The Incas could smelt metal, knew the techniques of casting, forging, chasing, soldering and riveting, and also made products using the cloisonné enamel technique. Chroniclers reported that the Inca craftsmen made a golden ear of corn, in which the grains were golden, and the fibers surrounding the ear were made of the finest silver threads. The pinnacle of Inca jewelry was the image of the Sun God in the Temple of the Sun in Cusco in the form of a huge golden solar disk with a skillfully minted human face.

The gold wealth of the Incas reached its apogee during the reign of Huayna Capac. He's giving orders! cover the walls and roofs of their palaces and temples with sheet gold; There were many golden animal sculptures in the royal palace. During the ceremonies, 50 thousand. warriors were armed with golden weapons. A huge portable golden throne with a cape of precious feathers was placed in front of the residence palace.

All this was plundered by conquistadors from the expedition of Francisco Pissaro. The works of jewelry were melted down into ingots and sent to Spain. But much remains in hiding and has not yet been discovered.

According to researchers of Inca culture, their empire died largely because of religion. Firstly, the religion approved the ritual in which the ruler chose a successor from among his sons. This led to an internecine war between the brothers Huascar and Atahualpa, which significantly weakened the country before the invasion of the Spanish conquistadors led by Pizarro. Secondly, there was a legend among the Incas that in the future the country would be ruled by new, unfamiliar people who would conquer the empire and become its only rulers. This explains the fear and hesitation of the Incas before the Spanish conquistadors.

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 you look at the geographical map of the South American continent, you will notice its vertical division by the Andes mountains. To the east of the mountains lies the 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. No wonder 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 death of the Mayans: 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 by other tribes to a deserted island. And from here came the power of the Aztecs 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.

The fall of the Inca Empire - a civilization that inherited the achievements of more ancient peoples South America.
The fall of the Inca Empire, a civilization that inherited the achievements of the more ancient peoples of South America.

National motto: Ama llulla, ama suwa, ama qilla (Don't lie, don't steal, don't be lazy) Inca Empire, Tawantinsuyu (Tawantin Suyu, Tawantinsuyu)

Chronology

Even before the Incas achieved their power, several other cultures flourished in the vast Andean region. The first hunters and fishermen appeared here at least 12,000 years ago, and by 3000 BC. e. fishing villages dotted this waterless coastline. Small rural communities arose in the fertile valleys at the foot of the Andes and green oases in the desert.

Millennia later, larger social groups of people penetrated into the interior of the territory. After overcoming the high mountain peaks, they began to settle on the eastern slopes of the range, using the same irrigation techniques they had developed on the coast to irrigate their fields and harvest their crops. Around the temple complexes arose settlements, and artisans produced increasingly complex pottery and textiles.

Archaeologists classify the products of Andean artisans according to the time and geographical period of their distribution. For this purpose, the term “horizons” is used to identify the main stages of stylistic uniformity, broken by certain features, from the point of view of aesthetics and technology.

Early colonial period: 1532 - 1572 AD

Early horizon: 1400 - 400 BC.

Named after the temple center at Chavin de Huantar, located in a small northern valley on the eastern slopes of the Andes, the Chavin style, strongly associated with a powerful emerging new religion, arose around 1400 BC. e. and reached its peak of development and influence by 400 BC. e.

This religion, which is believed to be based on the leading role of an oracle, supposedly able to foresee the future, overcome diseases and make requests to the gods, gradually spread to the south. By 1000 B.C. it reached the area of ​​modern Lima, and by 500 BC. - Ayacucho, located two hundred miles inland. From Chavín de Huantar, priests apparently went to other communities to achieve there the worship of such deities as this god with a rod, so named because he holds a scepter (a symbol of power) in his hands.

The Chavin people achieved significant technological progress and even made several discoveries that were cutting-edge for those times. The Chavins invented the loom and experimented with various metallurgical techniques, such as welding, soldering, and making gold-silver alloys. Among the products they produced are large metal sculptures, as well as yarn-dyed fabrics depicting such images of the Chavin cult as a god with a grinning jaguar and other animals living in the Amazon Valley.

Early Intermediate Period: 400 BC - 550 AD

Various indigenous styles began to emerge along the southern coast of Peru. Two of the most characteristic features of the so-called Paracas culture, named after the Paracas Peninsula, were beautiful textiles and bottle-shaped tombs - each room of such a crypt could accommodate up to 40 bodies.

Another people - the Nazca - processed land in the valleys located 200 miles south of the modern capital of Peru, Lima. By 370 B.C. The Nazca style dominated the southwest coast, leaving its most visible mark on pottery. The Nazcas are famous for their mysterious, puzzling Nazca Lines, enormous land patterns. To do this, they removed all the stones and gravel in a certain area, exposing soils that were more faded in color, after which they scattered the collected stones and gravel in heaps along its edges. Such “lines” probably had some meaning for the religion of the Nazca people.

On the northern coast of Peru around 100 BC. A militant Moche culture arose. She extended her control over an area of ​​up to 150 miles along the coast. The Moche Indians developed an entire metallurgical complex, created monumental buildings from sun-dried raw brick (adoba), and they developed their own original style, which was most reflected in vessels with realistic portraits.

Middle horizon: 550 - 900 years AD

Still preserved in in its original form funerary towers "chulpas" rise on one of the mountain slopes near Lake Titicaca. The practice of burials on the territory of the empire varied greatly from one region to another, differing also on social grounds. These tombs, belonging to local nobility, are built on mortarless stone slabs of the highest quality. they were built in the middle of the second millennium AD. and suffered greatly from earthquakes.

The era of big cities has arrived. On the shores of Lake Titicaca at an altitude of 12,500 feet, pyramids and rock mounds appeared, decorated with beautiful stone carvings, as seen in the image of the god (right), believed to be a new interpretation of the old Chavín god with a staff. The people who built all these structures settled in this region around 100 BC. and began to build around 100 AD. city ​​of Tiahuanaco.

By 500 AD e. The Tiahuanacans already dominated the territory of the Southern Andes, and after five hundred years they disappeared completely. During their hegemony, they created distant colonies, claimed the lands adjacent to the shores of Lake Titicaca as their own, and sent trading caravans of llamas along the entire coast.

Meanwhile, the small village of Wari, located 600 miles to the north, was gradually developing into a city. During its heyday, it was home to between 35,000 and 70,000 residents, with water supplied to their homes through an underground plumbing system.

Weaving was one of the most common occupations. The Wari people disappeared around 900 AD, but they left behind an important legacy - the concept of a centralized state and recommendations for its creation.

Late Intermediate (Coastal): 900 - 1476 AD

The collapse of empires one after another marked the onset of a period of internecine wars, during which small nations, spurred on by the examples of the Wari people, tried to create their own metropolises.

Launching an offensive from the center of what had once belonged to the Moche lands on the northern coast of Peru, the Chimu tribe gradually united more than 600 miles of coastline in their new state. From the well-supplied irrigation system of the hot desert capital of Chan Chan, with a population of 36,000, the Chimu lords ruled a strictly classed society in which skilled craftsmen were held in special esteem.

The Chimu Empire grew stronger thanks to the complex irrigation system they created, as well as the conquest of neighboring cultures such as Chancay, Ika-Chinka and Sikan. The Sikan culture can be judged by the knife used for ritual ceremonies. When their culture reached its peak, the Chimu knew how to decorate clothes and household utensils with gold patterns that required complex processing, and created fabrics of amazing beauty.

And so they had to enter into a power struggle with their rivals, the Incas.

Late Intermediate Period (mountainous regions): 900 - 1476 AD

'Huaca' - sacred places Incas.
"Quenco" is one of the largest "huaca" in the Cusco area. A semicircular wall of smooth large stones laid in a row only emphasizes the natural monolithic limestone rock, this is the main center for religious worship in “Kenko”. In the cave adjacent to the wall there is an altar carved into the rock.

Descendants of a people who settled in the Cusco Valley, located at an altitude of over 11,000 feet above sea level, the Incas did not begin to develop their culture until after 1200 AD, as evidenced by the jar (right). Although the capital city of Cusco grew steadily, their power remained fairly limited. Then in 1438 Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui seized the throne. Calling himself the “Earth Shaker,” he and his troops made a campaign throughout the Andes, conquering some states, negotiating with others, trying to unite several neighboring countries into a single powerful empire. Pachacuti rebuilt Cusco, turning the capital into a city with beautiful stone palaces and temples. Its provinces were governed by a large, disciplined, well-functioning bureaucracy that defended the interests of the state. His successor, the son of Topa Inca, who came to power in 1471, dealt such a crushing blow to the Chima that he secured complete control over the entire vast region, stretching from Ecuador to the heart of Chile.

Late Horizon: 1476 - 1532 AD

Having strengthened their power, the Incas achieved an unprecedented rise in culture. Along a branched road network Armies marched and trade took place. The art of gold forging, ceramics and weaving has reached incredible beauty and perfection. Stone processors created massive buildings from huge stone blocks precisely and tightly fitted to each other. The Incan nobility, depicted in the figurine on the right, ruled the Andes until the death of Emperor Huayn Capac, who died of smallpox between 1525 and 1527. His successor soon died, leaving the question of succession to the throne open, which led to the outbreak of a civil war. It ended in 1532, when one of Huayna Capac's two rival sons, Atahualpa, emerged victorious and Huascar imprisoned.

By this time, a Spaniard named Francisco Pizarro had made his exploratory tour along the coast of the Inca Empire. Having only two hundred fighters at his disposal, he took advantage of civil strife, a smallpox epidemic and attacked the Inca troops, captured Atahualpa himself and executed him.

Early colonial period: 1532 - 1572 AD

Pizarro and his band of adventurers approached Cuzco in 1533 and were simply amazed by the unprecedented beauty of this city. The Spaniards placed Atahualpa's half-brother Manco Inca on the throne to rule the Incan Empire through him.

However, Manco Inca did not become a puppet in the hands of the conquerors and soon led a popular revolt. He was eventually forced to flee Cuzco, where Pizarro himself now ruled until he was assassinated in 1541 by supporters of his main rival. A year later, the viceroy arrived in Lima to govern the Andean territories as Spanish provinces.

In 1545, the Spaniards captured Manco Inca, who was still emperor for several thousand Incas, who took refuge with him in the dense jungle, where they built the city of Vilcabamba. Manco Inca was killed. His son Tupac Amaru, the last Inca emperor, tried to resist the Spanish, but it was broken when the Spanish captured his main base at Vilcabamba in 1572.

Fall of the Inca Empire.

Conquistadors were always attracted by the sound of gold. William H. Powell, photograph by the Architect of the Capitol.

Francisco Pissarro arrived in America in 1502 in search of fortune. He served in the district for seven years Caribbean Sea, participating in military campaigns against the Indians.

In 1524, Pissaro, together with Diego de Almagro and the priest Hernando de Luque, organized an expedition through the undiscovered territories of South America. But its participants fail to find anything interesting.

In 1526, a second expedition took place, during which Pissaro exchanged gold from local residents. During this expedition, three Incas were captured by the Spaniards in order to make them translators. This expedition turned out to be very difficult; they suffered from illness and hunger.

In 1527, Pissaro arrived in the Inca city of Tumbes. From the locals he learns about the large amounts of gold and silver decorating the gardens and temples in the depths of their lands. Realizing that military forces are needed to obtain these riches, Pissarro travels to Spain and turns to Charles V for help. He talks about the countless treasures of the Incas, which can be quite easily obtained. Charles V gives Pissaro the title of governor and captain of governor in all the lands that he can conquer and control.

Even before the Spanish conquest began, the Incas suffered from the arrival of Europeans on their continent. Black smallpox wiped out entire families of natives who had no immunity to it.

Around this time, Huayna Capaca (Sapa Inca) dies. The highest government position should go to one of the sons from the main wife. The son who, in the opinion of the monarch, could cope better with his responsibilities was chosen. In Cusco, the capital of the Incas, the nobility proclaims the new Sapa Inca - Huascara, which means "sweet hummingbird."

The problem was that last years The previous Sapa Inca spent his life in Quito. As a result most of Dvora lived in Quito. The city became a second capital, dividing the tribal leaders into two rival factions. The army stationed in Quito gave preference to Huayna Capac's other son, Atahualpa, which means "wild turkey." He spent most of his life next to his father on the battlefields. He was a man of keen intelligence. Later, the Spaniards were surprised at the speed with which he mastered the game of chess. At the same time, he was merciless, evidence of which could be the fear of the courtiers to incur his wrath.

Atahualpa showed loyalty to the new Sapa Inca. But he refused to come to his brother’s court, perhaps fearing that Huascar saw him as a dangerous rival. Eventually, Sapa Inca demanded his brother's presence at his side at court. Refusing the invitation, Atahualpa sent ambassadors with expensive gifts in his place. Huascar, perhaps influenced by courtiers hostile to his brother, tortured his brother's men. Having killed them, he sent his army to Quito, ordering Atahualpa to be taken by force to Cuzco. Atahualpa called his loyal warriors to arms.

At first, the Cuzco army even managed to capture the rebellious brother. But he managed to escape and join his own. In battle, Atahualpa defeated those who captured him. Huascar urgently gathers a second army and sends it to his brother. The poorly trained recruits were no match for Atahualpa's veterans, and were defeated in a two-day battle.

As a result, Atahualpa captures Huascar and triumphantly enters Cuzco, after which a brutal massacre was carried out against the wives, friends and advisers of the unlucky brother.

In 1532, Pissaro and Almagro returned to Tumbes along with 160 well-armed adventurers. In place of the once flourishing city, they found only ruins. It suffered greatly from the epidemic, and then from the civil war. For five months, Pissaro moved along the coast, plundering imperial warehouses along the way.

As a result, Pissaro goes to the court of Atahualpa. Nine of his men, frightened by the prospect of being stranded in mountainous Inca territory, turned back.

The Spaniards were surprised by the Inca roads, paved with stone slabs, with trees planted along the edges creating shade, as well as canals lined with stone.

Having learned about the movement of white people within his country, Atahualpa invites them to visit him. From the words of the ambassador, he realized that the Spaniards looked and were friendly. During the meeting with the ambassador, Pissarro made gifts to the monarch and spoke a lot about peace.

Pissaro placed his men in an open space in the main square of the city of Cajamarca. He sent Hernando de Soto to pay his respects to Atahualpa, so that he would try to seduce him with his offer to meet in person.

Atahualpa reproached the Spaniards for plundering his warehouses and for neglecting some of the Indians on the coast. To which the Spaniards began to praise their military art and offered to use their services. Atahualpa agrees to pay a visit to Pissaro in Cajamarca.

During this meeting, Hernando de Soto wanted to scare Atahualpa and almost ran over him on his horse, stopping in close proximity to him, so that drops of the horse’s saliva fell on the Inca’s clothes. But Atahualpa did not flinch. He later ordered the execution of those courtiers who showed fear.

Pissaro, following the example of Cortes, who conquered the powerful Aztec empire by kidnapping the emperor, began preparing his ambush.

At night, Atahualpa sent 5,000 warriors to block the road north of Cajamarca. According to the plan he developed, as he later admitted to the Spaniards, he wanted to capture Pissaro and all his warriors alive in order to sacrifice Inti to the Sun God, and leave their horses for breeding.

At dawn, Pissaro placed his men in the buildings around the square. The wait was agonizing for the Spaniards, since the tenfold numerical superiority of the Incas was frightening and overwhelming. Later, as one of the eyewitnesses admitted, “many Spaniards unconsciously urinated in their pants because of the horror that shackled them.”

Capture of Atahualpa
Duflos, Pierre, 1742-1816, engraver.

At sunset, the imperial procession approached the square. Atahualpa was carried by 80 servants on a wooden stretcher inlaid with gold and decorated on all sides with parrot feathers. The monarch, dressed in clothes with gold threads and all decorated, sat holding in his hands a golden shield with a heraldic image of the Sun. There were also dancers and musicians accompanying them. His retinue numbered more than 5,000 warriors (the main forces, about 80,000 warriors, were outside the city). They all came without weapons.

In the square they saw only one Dominican monk in a cassock with a cross in one hand and a Bible in the other hand. The Royal Council in Spain decided that pagans should be given the opportunity to convert to Christianity voluntarily, without bloodshed, and the conquistadors decided not to break the letter of the law. The monk explained the meaning of the Christian faith to the Inca ruler, and the translator explained to him that he was being asked to accept the religion of foreigners. “You say that your God accepted death,” Atahualpa responded to this, “but mine still lives,” he emphasized, pointing to the Sun creeping beyond the horizon.

Atahualpa took the prayer book handed to him. As far as he understood, the Spaniards valued this thing as much as the Huaca Indians, a talisman in which the spirit of the gods was found. But this object seemed like a toy to him compared to their huge stone “huaca”, which the Incas worshiped, so he threw it to the ground. According to eyewitnesses, after this the monk turned to Pissaro and told him and his men: “You can attack them after this. I forgive you all your sins in advance.”

Musician with a flute. This product demonstrates to us the high art of chimu in the field of metal processing using technical techniques. Such figurines were forged in parts, which were then soldered together. The musician holds his flute in his tattooed hands.

Pissaro gave the signal to attack. Two cannons fired into the crowd of Indians. Spanish horsemen rode out of the buildings in full armor and attacked the unarmed Inca warriors. They were followed by infantrymen to the sound of trumpets with a battle cry - “Santiago!” (the name of the saint who, according to the Spaniards, helps to defeat the enemy).

It was a brutal massacre of unarmed Indians. Pissaro had difficulty pulling Atahualpa out of her. Within a few hours, 6,000 Inca warriors died in and around Cajamarca, but not a single Spaniard was killed. Among the few wounded was Pissaro himself, who was wounded by his own soldier when he tried to break through to the royal enemy in order to capture him alive.

Many researchers tried to understand why Atahualpa made such a fatal mistake by approaching the Spaniards with unarmed warriors. Perhaps the leader did not even consider this scenario, when such a small detachment would try to attack his huge army. Or he believed in the Spaniards' speeches about peace.

In captivity, Atahualpa was allowed to retain all royal privileges. All his wives and servants were near him. The nobles came to him and carried out his orders. In less than a month, he learned to speak Spanish and even write a little.

Realizing that white people were attracted to gold, he decided to pay off, offering to fill the rooms he was in with gold for his freedom, and also “stuff the Indian hut with silver twice.” Instead of releasing Atahualpa, he signed his death sentence with such a proposal. By ordering all the gold in Cuzco to be plucked and delivering it to the Spaniards, he only inflamed their passion for the precious metal. At the same time, fearing that his brother might offer even more gold for his freedom, he ordered his execution. The Incas did not perceive gold and silver as something valuable. To them it was just beautiful metal. They called gold “the sweat of the Sun,” and silver “the tears of the Moon.” Fabrics were valuable to them because they took a lot of time to make.

Knife for ritual ceremonies. Ritual Tumi knife with a gold handle and a silver blade and decorated with turquoise. God Naimlap is depicted with a semicircular headdress and a pair of wings.

The Spaniards began to suspect that Atahualpa was plotting against them. This created panicky fear in their ranks. For a long time, Pissarro opposed the attitude of his compatriots. But in the end, panic broke his decisive spirit.

Atahualpa began to realize the inevitability of his death. His religion guaranteed him eternal life if the ritual was performed correctly.

At a meeting of the council, headed by Pissaro himself, it was decided to burn Atahualpa. When the Spaniards informed the leader of their decision, he burst into tears. Destruction of the body meant deprivation of immortality.

Before his death, the monk once again tried to convert the pagan to the Christian faith. Realizing that if he converted to Christianity, he would not be burned, but strangled with a garrote (a hoop with a screw to slowly strangle the victim), he agreed to undergo the initiation rite, assuming that the body would be handed over to the people for mummification. But the Spaniards deceived him here too. After the leader was strangled, they burned his clothes and part of his body at the stake. They buried the rest.

Pissaro understood the benefits that a local ruler under Spanish control would offer him. He chose Huayna Capac's son, Manco Inca. When the Spaniards arrived in Cusco, they were greeted as well-wishers who had restored the legitimate ruling branch of the Incas, although all the mummies were safely hidden before their appearance.

The conquistadors were not distinguished by their generosity and humiliated Manco in every possible way, showing a disregard for the customs of the Incas. The worst thing happened when Pissaro went to ocean coast, with the aim of founding a new capital, Lima. He left his brothers Gonzalo and Juan in charge. Gonzalo treated Manco with undisguised contempt. Having kidnapped his beloved wife, he abused her.

The atrocities committed by the Spaniards led to Manco flatly refusing to cooperate and attempting to leave Cusco. The Spaniards returned him to the capital in chains. In conclusion, they were subjected to various kinds of humiliation.
As a result, Manco persuades one of Francisco's brothers, Hernando, who had recently arrived in Cusco from Spain, to release him temporarily from prison so that he could pray in the sanctuary, for which he promised to give him a golden statue depicting his father. As soon as Manco got out of Cuzco, he called his people to revolt. The matter ended with the siege of Cuzco, which lasted almost whole year. During this siege, there were traitors among the Indians, both in Cuzco and beyond, who secretly carried food to the invaders. Among them were even relatives of Manco himself, who feared reprisals for their previous support of the Europeans from the new ruler. The hopelessness of the siege became clear when reinforcements arrived from Spain. Some of Manco's supporters even broke away from him, realizing that the good moment had been missed.

After the failure of the siege of Cuzco, Manco took 20,000 of his compatriots with him into the dense jungle. There they built a new city, Vilcabamba, in a short time. It covered an area of ​​about two square miles and contained about three hundred houses and sixty monumental structures. There were convenient roads and canals.

From this city the Incas sometimes launched raids against the conquerors, attacking outposts. In 1572, the Spaniards decided to put an end to this last stronghold, as evidence of the former power of the natives. Having reached Vilcabamba, they found only deserted ruins on the site of the city. The defenders burned it down before leaving the city. The Spaniards continued the chase, penetrating further and further into the jungle. As a result, they captured the last Inca leader Tupac Amaru. He was brought to Cusco and beheaded in the city square. This is how the dynasty of Inca rulers ended.

The result of the fifty-year stay of the Spaniards was a reduction in the indigenous population by three-quarters. Many died from diseases brought from the Old World, and many from hard labor.

It was exported to Spain huge quantities gold and silver. Objects of art were usually melted down before export. The most beautiful products were delivered to the court of Charles V, then they were exhibited for public viewing in Seville. When Charles began to lack funds for military campaigns, these outstanding works of Inca art were ordered to be melted down.

Literature:
A. Varkin, L. Zdanovich, “Secrets of disappeared civilizations”, M. 2000.
Incas: lords of gold and heirs of glory, translation from English by L. Kanevsky, M., Terra, 1997.

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. In the southeast, the huge mountain range is divided into two ranges, 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 in a continental climate zone with hot, 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 (12th–8th centuries BC – 4th century 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 stands out the early class state of Mochica (c. 1st century BC - 8th century AD), which created magnificent works architecture, ceramics and weaving.

On the southern 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 supported 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, under 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 the deep canyon of the 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, the 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 north to Lake Junin, and in the south they conquered the entire Lake Titicaca basin. Pachacutec's son Tupac Inca Yupanqui (1471–1493) extended Inca rule 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 most important center 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, groundnuts 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 such an extent that they turned them into a dry powder called chunyo. . 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 turned into 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 the farmer's labor 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 Incan 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 Aylyu or, later, to the emperor and, as it were, rented 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 Aylew were produced 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. It's about about the “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 cardinal directions.” From Cusco we went to different directions four roads, 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-kamajok), a hundred households were headed by a pacha-kuraka, a thousand were headed by a malku (usually the manager of a large village), ten thousand were headed by a provincial governor (omo-kuraka), and ten the provinces made up a “quarter” of the empire and were ruled by the apo mentioned above. 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, and 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 a new territory, they expelled all unreliable people from there and settled in Quechua-speaking people. The latter were called “mita-kona” (in Spanish vowel “mitamaes”). The remaining local residents were 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 Incan 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. 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 , who 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). Spanish conquistadors left rave reviews of the system pile .

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 lulla, ama chella” – “Don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t be lazy.”

Art.

Inca 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 Cusco, 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 with a total height of 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, on the one hand accurate, on the other hand tendentious in the 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, he was strangled by garrote.

All these events plunged the Incas into a state of strange apathy. The Spaniards, encountering almost no resistance, reached great road to Cusco 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 escalated 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. In order to protect the southern road from military attacks by Indians, Pizarro set up the Ayacucho military camp. Meanwhile, the civil war continued 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, in the main city square, with a gathering of a large number of 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 controlled the Indians through intermediaries - community elders "kuraka" – and did not interfere with daily life 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 Yu. Inca-Quechua. M., 1975
Culture of Peru. M., 1975
Berezkin Yu. Mochika. L., 1983
Berezkin Yu. The Incas. Historical experience of the empire. L., 1991



Several civilizations are known to have existed in South America, but the most significant is the Inca civilization. In the fifteenth century, its population was at least six million people living over a vast territory. At the head of the Empire was the son of the Sun, Inca - the divine ruler. The economy was based on agriculture. All subjects were required to work for one month of the year. community service, building government facilities: fortresses, canals, bridges, roads. The state regulated all aspects of citizens' lives, including personal life. The Incas created legends, myths, religious hymns, epic poems and even dramatic works. This civilization did not have real writing, therefore from its cultural heritage little has survived. The Inca Empire fell with the arrival of conquerors from Europe in the mid-sixteenth century.

The Inca Empire (Quechua Tawantin Suyu, Tawantinsuyu, Tawantinsuyu, Tawantinsuyu, Tawantinsuyu) is the largest Indian early class state in terms of area and population in South America in the 11th-16th centuries. It occupied the territory from what is now Pasto in Colombia to the Maule River in Chile. The empire included the entire territory of present-day Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador (with the exception of part of the flat eastern regions covered with impenetrable jungle), partially Chile, Argentina and Colombia. The first European to penetrate the Inca Empire was the Portuguese Alejo Garcia in 1525. In 1533, the Spanish conquistadors established control over most of the empire, and in 1572 the Inca state ceased to exist. There is a hypothesis that the last independent refuge of the Incas is the undiscovered city (country) of Paititi (until the middle or end of the 18th century).

Archaeological research shows that a large number of achievements were inherited by the Incas from previous civilizations, as well as from the neighboring peoples they subjugated. By the time the Incas appeared on the historical scene in South America, there were a number of civilizations: Moche (Mochica culture, famous for colored ceramics and irrigation systems), Huari (this state was the prototype of the Inca Empire, although the population apparently spoke a different language - Aymara), Chimu (center - the city of Chan-Chan, characteristic ceramics and architecture), Nazca (known for creating the so-called the Nazca line, as well as their underground water supply systems, ceramics), Puquina (the civilization of the city of Tiahuanaco with a population of about 40 thousand people, located east of Lake Titicaca), Chachapoyas (“Warriors of the Clouds”, known for their formidable fortress Kuelap, which is also called “ Machu Picchu of the North").

The Quechua name of the country, Tawantinsuyu, can be translated as the four united provinces (Tawantin - "group of four" (tawa "four" with the suffix -ntin meaning "aggregate"); suyu - "country", "region" or "province" "). As Quechuan linguist Demetrio Tupac Yupanqui points out: “-ntin - “all integrated,” “all that make up one whole.” The previous parts disappear to give way to one distinct integration - one whole. It creates what we whimsically call a “legal entity,” the subject and the responsible being distinguished by their constituent parts. It is as if there were one enterprise in which the legal entity assumes responsibility, thereby releasing the constituent parts.”

This name is due to the fact that the country was divided into four provinces: Kuntinsuyu (Kunti Suyu), Qulla Suyu, Anti Suyu and Chinchay suyu. In addition, four roads left Cuzco (Quechua Qusqu) in four directions, and each of them was named after the part of the empire to which it led.

In the Andean region and the adjacent coast in the 1st millennium BC. e. - 1st thousand AD e. developed agricultural civilizations of Chavin, Paracas, Nazca, Mochica, Tiahuanaco, etc. arose. In the 12th century, a people appeared on the shores of Lake Titicaca, led by the Inca, the supreme ruler. He moved to the new capital, Cusco, and spread his influence over a vast territory, covering by the 15th-16th centuries. most of modern Ecuador, Peru, a significant part of Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, as well as a small area of ​​Colombia.

The creation of the state is attributed to the legendary Inca Manco Capac, who also founded the capital - the city of Cusco, at an altitude of 3416 meters above sea level, in a deep valley between two mountain ranges.

After its creation, the country's territory constantly expanded. Especially after the Inca Yahuar Huacac created a regular army in the empire. Great conquests were carried out by Inca Pachacuti. He created a real empire, because before this the Incas were just one of the many Indian tribes, and Cusco was an ordinary town. Most of the Inca-controlled lands were conquered by Pachacuti and his son Tupac Inca Yupanqui. A small part of the territory was annexed by the eleventh Inca, Huayna Capac. The rulers Huascar and Atahualpa were sons of Huayna Capac. After his death, they began a grueling internecine war. When the Spaniards arrived, Atahualpa became the winner of the war.

When conquering neighboring tribes, the Incas, on the one hand, used their strong and numerous army, and on the other hand, attracted the elite of the conquered regions. Before taking military action, the Incas three times invited the rulers of the conquered region to voluntarily join the empire. They forced the conquered tribes to learn the Quechua language, imposed their customs and introduced their own laws. The local nobility and the priesthood of the conquered peoples retained their position, and the practice of local religions was not prohibited, subject to the obligatory worship of the imperial sun god Inti. The Incas attached great importance to the preservation of local folk crafts and costume, so that by the dress of any resident of Tawantinsuyu it would be easy to determine his origin and social status.

The Incas were characterized by the division of power and society into: warriors and non-warriors. The main generals and military leaders were either the rulers of the Empire or people appointed by them from the ruling ethnic group - the Incas. At the same time, it seems that there was still some kind of dual power - a full-fledged duumvirate: when economic activity The ruler (governor) of the city of Cusco was in charge of supplying and supporting the troops, as historian Juan de Betanzos repeatedly mentions.

At the peak of its existence, the Inca Empire was one of largest states on the ground. The number of subjects of the empire reached, according to various sources, from 5-6 to 12 million people.

In 1521, Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztecs. This conquest inspired Francisco Pizarro. According to the report of Juan de Samano, secretary of Charles V, Peru first became known reliably in 1525 in connection with the completion of the first Southern Expedition of Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro. The expedition left Panama on November 14, 1524, but was forced to return in 1525. After this, two more trips were carried out. In 1532, Pizarro arrived on the coast of modern Peru with 200 foot soldiers and only 27 horses. However, on the way, his army is replenished by those dissatisfied with the rule of the Incas. The Incas fiercely fight the conquerors, but the empire is weakened by internal turmoil and internecine war, in addition, a large number of Inca warriors die from smallpox and measles brought by the Spaniards.

By deception, Pizarro was able to capture and execute the Great Inca Atahualpa, after which the resistance was led by the military leader Rumiñavi for 2 years. The Incan capital, Cusco, was conquered by the Spaniards in 1536. Inca Manco Inca Yupanqui with a small number of followers hides in the mountainous region of Vilcabamba, where the Inca rule continues for about 30 years. In 1572, the last Inca ruler, Tupac Amaru, was beheaded. This marked the end of the Tawantinsuyu Empire. The state was plundered, the Inca culture was destroyed.

In the book “Chronicle of Peru,” Cieza de Leon was the first European to ask the question of the reason for such an easy conquest of the Inca Empire:

Thus, although I have depicted Peru as three deserted and inhabited Cordilleras, out of them, as I related, by the will of God, there emerge valleys and rivers, beyond which in no way could people survive: this is the reason why the local inhabitants were so easily conquered and why do they serve without rebelling, because if they did that, they would all die from hunger and cold. Because (as I said), with the exception of the land they inhabited, most of it is uninhabited, these are continuous snow-capped mountains and amazingly high peaks.
- Cieza de Leon, Pedro. Chronicle of Peru. Part one. Chapter XXXVI.

The conquered Incas became part of the Quechua people. The result of the Spanish conquest was clearly noted by the same chronicler Cieza de Leon:

I do not approve of the overthrow of power in any way, but I still mourn the extortion and ill-treatment inflicted by the Spaniards on the Indians, enslaved by cruelty, regardless of their nobility and the high dignity of their people. Because of this, all these valleys are now almost deserted, but in the past they were densely populated, as many people know.
- Cieza de Leon, Pedro. Chronicle of Peru. Part one. Chapter LXI.

The empire was divided into 4 parts: Chinchaisuyu - red color, Kolyasuyu - blue color, Antisuyu - green color, and Kuntisuyu - yellow color, in turn, each such part consisted of provinces:

north of Cusco were: Vilcas, Xauxa, Bombon, Cajamarca, Guancabamba, Tomebamba, Latacunga, Quito, Carangue ;

on the other side of Cusco, to the South: Atuncana, Atuncolla, Ayavire, Chuquiabo, Chucuito, Paria and others, stretching to Chile.

Each province had its own capital, where taxes were collected, where there was a temple of the Sun, foundries and jewelry workshops, a garrison, large inns, warehouses, as well as a representative of the Court - the governor.

Separately in administrative division, as the capital, the city of Cusco stood out. It was indicated in yellow. Each village, which was the capital of the province, had its own number. For example, to indicate that “Manco Capac, the first Inca ruler, conquered the first capital of the province, one large knot was introduced into the thread, two large knots were introduced into the second, and so on with all the others. It is known that Cuzco, the capital of the Empire, had three or four nodes, one above the other." It is also known that the distance of a province from the capital of the empire, Cuzco, was often made dependent on ordinal numbers: for example, the closer the province, the closer it or its curaca representative was to the Inca ruler in services, campaigns, rituals, and ceremonies.

To define the provinces of the Tawantinsuyu Empire in the Khipu script, each province had its own mixture of colored threads. On the thread, in turn, a red thread could be placed (inserted) to indicate those killed in one’s army “from/in such and such a province.” Also, the use of thread color for the provinces of the Empire was found in quipus related to the statistics and taxation of such provinces. The same system applied to reports on geographical and economic description Empire.

Pedro de Cieza de Leon, in his Chronicle of Peru, reported on the unprecedented accuracy of accounting using quipus: “In each capital of the province there were accountants called quipucamayocs, and with the help of these nodes they calculated and recorded the necessary taxes paid by the inhabitants of that area, starting from silver, gold, clothing and livestock, and ending with firewood and other much more insignificant things; and with the help of these same quipus, after one year, or ten, or twenty, they notified the one who was entrusted with collecting the reports; and it was done so well that even a couple of alpargata could not be hidden.”

Cieza de Leon provided information about the number of positions of Quipucamayoc in a single territorial unit: “and in every valley this accounting is still available today, and always in the inns there are as many accountants as there are managers in it [the valley], and every four months they submit their reports in the above manner." For the provinces, the deadline for submitting reports was set at 1 year, since “at the end of the year, each province ordered that all people, both those who died there that year and, accordingly, those who were born, be included in the pile according to the number of its nodes. And at the beginning of the year they were entering, they came to Cusco with piles, from which it became clear how many were born that year and how many died.”

In the vicinity of the village of Cotapachi in Cochabamba, there were 2076 collcas (rounded storage facilities), which is 22.09% of warehouse buildings out of the currently known 9395 units in the Inca Empire, that is, it was one of the strategic areas of the empire where the procurement and storage of provisions took place. The average diameter of the storage facilities in Cotapachi was 3.5 m, and the approximate height was 2 m, therefore, the volume of round storage facilities in the Cochabambe Valley could be 45,000 m3 (almost the entire volume was filled with provisions), which was a very significant figure even in relation to other provincial centers Inca Empire. In modern terms, this is comparable to 1,360 TEU (20-foot containers) that could fit on a Handymax Class container ship (1,000-1,700 TEU). In general, the scale of the Incas' warehouse economy was so large that it is quite comparable with our modern ones.

The absence of a distinguished layer of free artisans and the associated weak development of private exchange, the absence of trade and any kind of commercial intermediaries is a feature of Inca society, in contrast to the Aztecs. It is explained by the fact that in Peru the early despotic state appropriated the labor of the community members, leaving them with little surplus for exchange.

Coins
In general, coins were not used in domestic trade, but in foreign trade they circulated mulu shells, coca leaves, clothing, and copper hatchets. The Indians of the Chonos culture (Ecuador) back in the 15th-16th centuries smelted copper with a content of 99.5% and used it as a coin in the form of hatchets 2 cm on the sides and 0.5 cm thick. This coin was circulated throughout west coast South America, including in the Inca state in the province of Chincha, where 6,000 traders lived.