The Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu)

Key takeaways

• Rise: from the 1430s the ruler Pachacuti expanded the Cusco-based state into an empire of the four suyus.
• Roads: a network of tens of thousands of kilometres connected the empire, and is now a UNESCO World Heritage property (Qhapaq Ñan).
• Labour: the mit'a system obliged communities to work for the state and in return supplied food and cloth from storehouses.
• Records: the Inca kept accounts and possibly narratives on khipu, knotted cords still under study.
• End: civil war between two claimants and the arrival of Spanish forces in 1532 led to conquest, though resistance continued for decades.

State and society

The Inca ruler governed through provincial governors and local lords. Local communities kept their own organisation under the ayllu, a kin-based unit that shared land and labour. The empire moved people, goods and knowledge across mountains, deserts and forests.

Engineering and agriculture

Terraces, irrigation canals and high-altitude storehouses made it possible to farm and store crops across varied terrain. Royal estates such as Machu Picchu show the skill of Inca stonework.

Legacy

Quechua, the language of the Inca administration, is spoken by millions today. The Inca state is studied through archaeology, colonial documents and Andean oral traditions, with attention to Indigenous perspectives.