The Inca Empire Great Empires

Roads Link the Empire / 14,000-mile-long network of roads and bridges spanned the empire / traversed rugged mountains and harsh deserts / 14,000-mile-long network of roads and bridges spanned the empire / traversed rugged mountains and harsh deserts

The Inca Road System / roads ranged from paved stone to simple paths / guest houses provided shelter for weary travelers / a system of runners traveled the roads carrying messages from one end of the empire to the other / allowed the easy movement of troops to bring control to zones where trouble might be brewing / roads ranged from paved stone to simple paths / guest houses provided shelter for weary travelers / a system of runners traveled the roads carrying messages from one end of the empire to the other / allowed the easy movement of troops to bring control to zones where trouble might be brewing

governed by a central bureaucracy divided territory and people into manageable units Social groups were identified by officially dictated patterns onclothing imposed a single official language, Quechua (KEHCHwuh) founded schools to teach Incan ways 5 Easy Steps for the Inca Empire to Create Unity

The Inca System of Record Keeping / the Inca had no writing system / kept records using a quipu, a complicated set of colored strings tied with different-sized knots at various intervals / the Inca had no writing system / kept records using a quipu, a complicated set of colored strings tied with different-sized knots at various intervals each knot represented a certain amount or its multiple the colors of each cord represented the item being counted: people, animals, land, etc. Quipucamayoc: special officials who kept records of births, deaths, marriages, crops, and history

Machu Picchu: Inca Monumental Architecture / discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1912 / a sun temple, public buildings, a water system, and a central plaza / possible use: / an estate of the king Pachacuti / a retreat for Inca rulers or the elite / actual purpose = unknown / discovered by Hiram Bingham in 1912 / a sun temple, public buildings, a water system, and a central plaza / possible use: / an estate of the king Pachacuti / a retreat for Inca rulers or the elite / actual purpose = unknown

Master Engineers Incan builders carved and transported huge blocks of stone, fitting them together perfectly without mortar. Like the Romans, the Inca were masterful engineers and stonemasons. They had no iron tools and did not use the wheel.

Religion Supports the State / Incan ruler was considered a descendant of the sun god, Inti / Temple of the Sun in Cuzco was the most sacred of all shrines / It was heavily decorated in gold, a metal the Inca referred to as “sweat of the sun” / Incan ruler was considered a descendant of the sun god, Inti / Temple of the Sun in Cuzco was the most sacred of all shrines / It was heavily decorated in gold, a metal the Inca referred to as “sweat of the sun”

Early 1500s: Discord in the Empire King Huayna Capac toured the empire in Quito, Ecuador, the king opened a gift box. Out flew butterflies and moths, considered an evil omen. About 1525, while still in Quito, Huayna Capac died of disease. Civil war broke out between his sons, Atahualpa and Huascar, who both claimed the throne. Atahualpa won, but the war tore the empire apart. 1532, the Spanish arrive and conquer the empire.

Inca Power and Decline