The Incas
The Incas were the largest of the civilizations of the Americas prior to the discovery of the continent by Europeans, and were based in the Andes Mountains of South America. At the time of its collapse there was no other empire equal to it in size.
In terms of modern nations, the Empire stretched from the south of Columbia in its north, down through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and all of Chile. Its capital was in Cuzco, which is in modern day Peru, which is famous for the ruins of Machu Picchu, an Inca city built on a mountain which thousands of tourists go to visit every year.
Machu Picchu
The Incas has a system of writing that was very alien from
the way their conquerors, the Catholic Spanish, understood.
The Spanish used ink and paper, but the Incas used a system
of knots on ropes which were felt, slightly similar to
Braille - the way blind people read. These cords of knots
were called "Khipus" (or quipus). When the Spaniards discovered that
the knots were not, as they had originally thought, methods
of decoration but instead records of the history of the
Inca people they destroyed them. The Spanish were Catholic,
and many of the stories were myths about the Incan gods and
their religion, and the Spanish wanted to force their
religion on the people of the "new world". The Spanish also
destroyed towns and villages that were of the Incan design
and replaced them with European-style cities.
Zia 'writes' in khipu
However, some
of the Inca pottery and inscriptions survived the onslaught
which gave glimpses of the religious life of the Incas.
Much like Muslims and Christians, the Incas believed in an after-life.
Those who did good and righteous deeds went to Hanan Pacha,
the realm of the above, which is like Jannah or Paradise.
Uku Pacha was where those who lived an evil life went to,
and was ruled by a snake. Also like Muslims, they
believed that everyone was born innocent. This led the
Incas to think that by sacrificing children, those children
will die in a state of innocence and go to Hanan Pacha.
Like Hindus, the Incas believed
in multiple gods, and there were gods that were
worshipped in different areas and for different reasons.
Sometimes, when there was an earthquake or a volcano
eruption, the Incas believed that the gods had become angry
with them. To appease the gods they would choose the "most
perfect" of the children and sacrifice it in a ritual.
The Incas were the first civilisation to cultivate potatoes; they also grew other tubers like sweet potato and cassava, and bred alpacas and llamas for fleece and meat and to sacrifice. The Incas made use of the highly flucuating temperatures in regions in their empire to preserve meat and potato - the high temperatures during the day would dry out the meat; at night the sub-zero temperatures would be used to freeze it. The word 'jerky' in fact derives from the Quechuan word for this kind of preserved meat. This kind of meat could be preserved for decades and one conquistador fed his whole regiment for months using Inca stores of meat.
Llama on Machu Picchu
The Incas were not a warlike people, but did become involved in battles which led to them acquiring new territories and expanding their empire. They, however, used their scientists to try to improve the growing of crops and the healing of people, rather then improving their weapons and armoury. This would ultimately be their undoing.
The Incas were great workers, and had a government system which is comparable to Socialism. The Government planned centrally the layout of the land, and what crops should be grown, etc. They collected the grain from where it grew in abundance and spread it out evenly throughout the kingdom. One third of all harvests would be stored away in case of famine. This central government set up a road infrastructure that was better than anything in Britain, France or most of Europe. This road system is still trekked today by people and is known as 'The Inca Trail'. They also had their own form of a postal service. A number of 'postmen' would be stationed along the roads. They would then use a 'relay race' system to deliver khipus, messages and even food. The Incas also had a highly developed irrigation system which the Spanish brought back to Europe and is the basis for the irrigation systems used on French farms today.
Governor Pizarro
The Incas had originally trusted the Spanish, and even invited them into their villages and towns. This was because of an ancient Inca legend saying that their creator god, Viracocha, would some day return to them with an army and would be pale skinned. However, the lightly armed Incas were caught by surprise when, during a royal display, the Spanish massacred thousands of them with their guns and cannons, and captured the Inca king, Emperor Atahuallpa. The trigger for this attack was when a Catholic Friar approached Atahuallpa in a place called Cajamarca, handed him a Bible (the holy book of the Christians) and demanded that the Inca ruler renounce his religious beliefs, become Catholic and accept their king, Carlos I (The Holy Roman Emperor who was also known as Charles V) as his leader. The Inca leader threw the Bible to the floor and spoke ill of the Catholic religion and of the Pope. The Spanish leader (known as a "Conquistador"), Francisco Pizarro, held the Emperor in a ransom room and said he would agree to release Atahualpa if it was filled with gold. However, after Pizarro got his gold he saw that the Incan was strangled to death. The Incas were outraged but the Spanish Army was able to kill them with ease.
After this pockets of Incan resistance continued to battle against Spanish Catholic dominance, led by Pizarro, but without their leader, whom the Incas believed was descended from the sun, they were ineffective. In 1572 the last Inca, Tupac Amaru, was beheaded in front of 15,000 witnesses. The last words of the last Inca being "Ccollanan Pachacamac ricuy auccacunac yahuarniy hichascancuta" ("Mother Earth, witness how my enemies shed my blood").
Some Incas managed to escape and survive the massacre. After all the sacrifices made to their gods, their 'gods' were powerless to save them. One disillusioned survivor of the conquest wrote:
You are lying spirits,
You are cruel and devilish enemies.
You are the cause of my misery and my failure!
I have adored you with all my power,
I have worshipped you with great sacrifices,
With human sacrifices.
You are just greedy robbers
And cruel enemies of my soldiers.
You shall be cursed for what you have done.
None of my children will worship you,
Not even the tiniest girl-child,
And not my royal grandchildren,
I curse you forever.
The descendants of the Incas are the Quechua-speaking inhabitants of the Andes. They make up some 45% of the Peruvian population. Their religion is a mix of Roman Catholicism and pagan beliefs and they earn their living by selling traditional crafts and clothing. There have been incidents of some people still carrying out human sacrifices. Arrests and convictions have been made.