THE INCA EMPIRE

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AN EMPIRE WITH ONLY THREE RULES: Ama Sua (don't be a thief) / Ama Llulla (don't lie) / Ama Quella (don't be lazy).

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• The beginnings of Tahuantinsuyo were around 1300 AD, its expansion to 1450 and its collapse in 1532.

• Probably emigrated from the basin of Lake Titicaca, its founders led the tribes of the Cuzco Valley in a unification enterprise that encompassed to the entire Andean area.

• It comprised two main areas: the sierra or altiplano, in whose central area the empire originated; and the tropical coast, marshy and humid in Ecuador, desert and without rain in Peru and Chile.

• The Incas never came to dominate the jungle.

• In the Tahuantinsuyo there was a moral code that regulated human coexistence and allowed, both in the cities and in the ayllus, harmonious relations among the citizens of the empire; these were based on mutual help and cooperation.

• Among the norms were also severe sanctions, infractions and punishments, which were implemented according to the seriousness of the offense or crime, which ranged from lashes to the death penalty.

• The Inca Empire was an absolute monarchy with the Inca as its maximum leader.

• His government was: Heliocratic, hereditary and militaristic.

• The Inca was the greatest sovereign.

• The choice depended on the wishes of the gods, which were ascertained through a series of rigorous tests that evaluated the physical and moral capabilities of the candidate.

• That is, his choice was ritual and the power of the Inca was sacred.

• Coya was the main wife of the Inca and among her children the heir was chosen, who was called Auqui.

• He himself was trained in the tasks of public administration to prepare him for the government.

• Anyway, he had to go through the ritual selection before taking the throne.

• They had a polytheistic religion, meaning that they believed in many gods, but the main one was the sun god, called Inti.

• In addition, Pachamama or Mama Pacha, who was the goddess of the earth, Quilla (goddess of water), Illapu (god of lightning), among others, was venerated.

• The creator god was Viracocha.

• It is a pantheistic religion, meaning that a river or a mountain could also be venerated as gods, for example the Apus (the hills).

• They believed in the existence of three parallel worlds or dimensions: Hanan Pacha: The superior world. Kay Pacha: Medium world. Uku Pacha: Inferior World.  

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SOCIETY:

• The minimum unit of the Inca society was the ayllu, which were the relatives who were united by kinship by paternal line.

• This shows that the collective work was ESSENTIAL and MANDATORY although this also meant that those belonging to the ayllu had personal benefits and rights.

• The AYNI was a system of work and reciprocity between the members of the ayllu, destined to agricultural works and to the constructions of houses.

• It consisted in helping (by working) the people from the ayllu with the only condition of corresponding in the same way when they needed it, as they say: "today for you, tomorrow for me" and in return meals and drinks were served during the days that the work was done.

• Idleness was severely punished, even with banishment.

• These practices persist until today in Andean communities or their descendants.

• The MINKA: The members of the Ayllu were gathered in groups to carry out the work assigned to them, such as bringing to the silos the product of the harvest, etc.

• This type of work it was characterized by happy songs and in an atmosphere of joy and pleasure, they were obliged to perform it dressed infancy clothes. In retribution to these tasks, the assistants to the MINCAS received from the curaca the food, the chicha that was elaborated by the women of the community and the coca, this retribution was only made while the assigned work lasted.

• The MITA was a form of work based on the tribute or the provision of obligatory personal services by the strongest  adults of the Ayllu.

• This work was carried out by turns or stations, during which they were dedicated to serving as combatants, or pawns in public works outside their Ayllus, like for example in the construction of roads, the cutting of forests and the extraction of minerals, as in the construction of great fortresses and temples among other public works.

• In summary, this work was done for the benefit of the Empire.

• The feeding in the incanato began with a first meal at 8 or 9 am and ended with a second before twilight. They cooked their products on the coals, in leaves, in ceramic pots, with hot stones for the elaboration of soups called chupes, in hot stones as an underground oven called pachamanca or huatia, steamed, roasted, salted, smoked and boiled. In the Tahuantinsuyo almost exclusively corn chicha was taken, although there are records that it was prepared also with other inputs. The chicha was consumed during the working day and before or after meals, but never during them. They consumed chili pepper in almost every corner of the empire and came out in lumps that did not add to their food, but rather consumed licking apart. These foods were often fasted periodically for religious reasons. The Inca and the nobility had a similar basic diet, but enriched with meats and delicacies from around the empire.

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EATING HABITS AND RITUALS

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• The feeding in the incanato began with a first meal at 8 or 9 am and ended with a second before twilight.

• They cooked their products on the coals, in leaves, in ceramic pots, with hot stones for the elaboration of soups called chupes, in hot stones as an underground oven called pachamanca or huatia, steamed, roasted, salted, smoked and boiled.

• In the Tahuantinsuyo people drinked almost exclusively corn chicha, although there are records of it being prepared with other ingredients.

• The chicha was consumed during the working day and before or after meals, but never during them.

• They consumed chili pepper in almost every corner of the empire and salt lumps that they did not add to their food, but rather consumed licking apart.

• These foods, salt and chillies, were often fasted periodically for religious reasons.

• The Inca and the nobility had a similar basic diet, but enriched with meats and delicacies from around the empire.

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