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May 30, 2007 The empire of the Inca was situated upon a large plateau encompassed by two roads running from the north to the south named by the Spanish the Sierra road and the llanos road. The llanos road was situated upon the coastal plain, the Sierra road at the top of the cliff above the Cordillera below which was the down wards sloping land leading to what was for a long time an area off limits to the Inca. Interconnecting both was a series of secondary roads allowing for the movement of warriors, government officials and traders to the lands below. The llanos road began at the Gulf of Guayaquil at the northern city of Tumbrez from where fleets of rafts had ventured as far north as the coast of Ecuador :a great feat of discovery. To the south this road traversed the ancient realm of Chimus passing through desert to end at the silver mines of present day Argentina. Along these roads were interspersed suspension bridges, forts and storehouses ,forming the sinews of an empire owned by the Inca (King) in much the same way as the first Roman Emperor ,Augustus, had owned the Empire of Rome. The Inca Empire, much like that of Rome, had produced a government designed to respond to the wishes of the ruler. As was the Roman senate was controlled by, and subservient to Augustus,Inca controlled his empire.Four learned men , Alyus ,each responsible for in the four regions of the compass, reported to him. Their authority encompassed political, administrative, and religious matters .Under them were the Curacas; chiefs of defeated tribes who had given up their will to that of Inca. Under these were the nobility, former common people who, in return for performing a great deed beneficial to the Empire, were given leadership roles thereby giving their family the chance of becoming Orejons (nobles)in much the same way as were slaves in Rome granted mamumission to go on in some case to lofty heights. The contemporary Spanish Historian Carcilosa de la Vega called them Inca by privilege. Leadership as in ancient Rome laid great stress upon military ability. Those selected from the Orejon took exams dealing with the speaking of Quechua, (the dominant language), religion, history, geography, land survey, and the reading of relief maps. At the final exam a race up hill would be performed where upon reaching the top the candidates would choose from a number of statuettes, animal and reptile, in order to be assigned an official name. Those coming in first had the greatest choice those coming in last the least,the falcon was the most preferred, the toad the least. War games followed.One such excercise included a requirement where the candidates stood sentry duty for up to ten days with no sleep. Spears would be thrust at his eyes and clubs whirled above his head, where the candidate required to remain perfectly still. After this there was a test of the candidate's skill in the use such weapons as, the bow, the sling, the axe, and the spear. Again there is the link with Rome,the Roman nobility too were required to learn military strategy and to be trained in the use of weapons. The Inca Empire was founded in roughly 500AD with the settling of the Cuzco valley by the Mancos Capac dynasty, later to be consolidated by the Sinchi Rocco who expanded the empire and further consolidated by the actual person of Loque Yupanqui. His heir Maita Capac went on to crush the confederation of the Allbizas, the dominant power in the region going on to invade the shores of Lake Titicaca in the province of Colloa, thus descending down to the cordillera and for the first time in Inca history reaching downwards to the shores of the Pacific. The dynasty of Capac Yupanqui went on to built suspension bridges across the Apurimen River allowing for more conquests in to what had been off limits territory. Surrounding the Inca were the warlike Chancos a situation forcing them to join in the confederation . Additional bridges were thrown across the Desagladero River allowing Cuzco based armies to penetrate into present day Bolivia. As in Roman Republican times when Roman armies were composed of individual tribes (Hastatii, Princepes, Triarii) the army of the Inca was made up using tribes identified by their distinctive national symbols and items of dress each having their own military tactics and weapons. When an enemy force was contacted a sequence would kick starting with diplomatic overtures involving offers of integration into the Inca command system with promises of rewards for chiefs who took up the offer and a warning of dire consequences as the price to be paid for not joining, evocative of the expansion of the Roman Empire from the time of Julius Caesar onward. If the first offer was refused spies would be sent out to ascertain the strength and the disposition of the enemy his allies' .Weak points were noted and attempts made to dislodge them from the main force. Dis-information would be spread regarding the strength and position of the Inca army units and rumours circulated regarding bad omens and other magical circumstances designed to sow doubt. If this bought about no result the second stage went into effect where raids were made against lines of communications ,the cutting off of reserve units ,and the interception his supply columns. Each tribe specialized in a certain weapon, archers in the main coming from the eastern forest, the slingers from the mountainous regions. After the initial probing attack there would be one by tribes equipped with the etoilica, a two foot long staff fitted with a metal lip at the front to which was attached a sharp hard point .At the rear of the shaft a metal hook to which a line was attached. After throwing the weapon the warrior would allow the line to slither through his palm to fly straight, allowing it to be easily retrieved. An unusual weapon, at least from the point of view of a westerner, was the aylos (bolos) consisting of a central rope to which were attached three smaller ropes attached to metal balls . The metal balls could cause serious injury or even death as they ensnared their victim. In melee situations swords, axes, daggers and lances were used.Just as the plumes of the centurions identified the Roman cohorts so did the tribes identify themselves by the use of multihued plumes on the headdress of the captains allowing the commanders to identify their troops during the battle. From time immemorial Indians unconnected with the combat would watch battles from the hills and as one side appeared close to victory would go to their aid in order to loot the apparent loser ,making war a very touchy proposition, the apparant loser given no chance to retrieve the situation. As territory was acquired it caused a shifting of the tribes about the countryside. On the outskirts of the empire ,close to unfriendly tribes, were placed tribes most loyal; the Amitma. Near the capital would be placed those most likely to rebel, the most despised of all classes; the Yanacunas,tribes that had in the past actually rebelled and so made slaves. These had few rights and not allowed to carry weapons but as time passed an understanding usually come about leading to pardon and even to full rehabilitation. An area five times the size of France required an infinite amount of discipline. Maize and other agricultural products would be cultivated and distributed to those whose needs were the greatest. Clothes and agricultural implements were held at large storehouses until ready to be moved. Weapons and military supplies were also distributed in this way. Such organization needed an administrative system. The Incas had no written language and so a device named quipus were used in order to keep track of accounts. Knots were tied on to a series of ropes, each knot representing: thousands, hundreds, tens, or single units written left to right, top to bottom.Color was used in order to define such things as the type of product, a person, a religious event, an administrative task, or a military manoeuvre etc. Several quipus could be used at the same time. In order to understand the proper sequence a set of songs had to be learned by the quipus reader at an early age. The penalty for fraud or a mistake in the tying of the knots was instant death. Key to the stability of the empire were the strategic roads and the fortified places. These strongholds still exist in a ruined state in many parts of present day Peru. The Chumis tribes, although conquered by the Incas, were superior in the building of fortifications and constructed a veritable Great Wall of China consisting of a series of small circular and square forts blocking in the coastal plains from the cordillera to the sea. An example still existing today is the fortress of Parmunca situated upon a partly artificial hill carved into three terraces .Sixty feet above the surrounding plain on the upper level are ornamental temples and dwellings, their walls ornamented with coloured friezes of red and white . The intermediate terrace is 15-35 feet wide containing two rooms featuring red and yellow paintings. The whole structure forms a vast quadrilateral flanked at each angle by a forward bastion on the level of the lower terraces. Ramps run through narrow passages thus joining the platforms. Around the fortress is a wall 9-18 feet high with a parapet and pathways running around the top. About 60 feet from the main fortification there is an auxiliary fort situated upon a hillside. Further north on the Pacific shore there is a peak that was used as a look out point covering both the sea and inland. As the Incas subdued tribes they occupied their fornications allowing for the construction of roads and bridges thus further enlarging the empire. Its limits in the west were the Pacific Ocean ,in the east the easterly the forests of present day Brazil. Canoe expeditions were mounted into these forests in order to subdue primitive tribes who would periodically raid across the eastern frontier. One of the more famous Incas was the Prince Cursi who after throwing back the Chancos was subject to an attempted assassination by those who wanted to prevent his promotion. His bodyguard became aware of the plot thus saving his life. Prince Cursi went on to rebel against the Inca Unco who has been placed under an historical cloud, the quipus leaving his rule a blank, at least in the one written for public consumption. He was known to be a debouched, lazy and vain Inca ,and more importantly, treacherous. All in all the record of his rule is embarrasingly non-existent, as if there was an attempt to gloss over his legacy. Not so regarding the reign of of Inca Cursi. Great works were undertaken consisting of: the building of roads, the conquest of additional territory, the improvement of general well being of the population.
However the Inca appear to have suffered much the same
fate as that of Imperial Rome. Messengers, inspectors,
administrators and such would travel to and fro
performing great acts of administration, the average
person becoming more and more like one of the native
llamas heeding the call of an unseen Shepherd. This
zombie like state was ideal as far as the
administration was concerned, the docile apathy
ensuring the smooth running of the empire.However the
gradual inability to think was one of the main reason
for its ultimate down fall exacerbated with the
capture by the conquistador Pizzario of the Inca King.
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