Running head: Inca Society Reflection Paper 1

The Inca Society Reflection Paper

[Student’s Name]

Evergreen Valley College

Inca Society Reflection Paper 2

Reflection Paper

A study on the Inca Empire and how the Inca people lived before the arrival of the

Spanish in the Americas shows a powerful and well-organized society characterized by

cohesiveness. The Inca was a small group of people that originated from a highland region in

southern Peru and moved towards the Cuzco valley. Their expansion began in about 1438AD

where they occupied a vast region with the center of operations being Cuzco, Southern Peru.

Although the Inca Empire experienced various successes in their conquests, they also faced

numerous challenges from formidable enemies who stopped their quest for expansion. Most of

the successes of the Inca Empire are attributed to the tenets that it held. The study on the Inca

society and its people revealed six main tenets.These tenets are; people, sustainability, ethics,

politics, technology, and global citizenship. While carrying out this study, these tenets were

assessed in terms of their impact, viability, effectiveness, and weaknesses in relation to the

Incan society.

1. People

The first topic that the study focused on was about the Inca people, their food, religion,

sacrifices, customs and arts as well as how their political systems worked. The origin of the Inca

people is not clearly known because there are many theories that attempt to explain where they

came from. For instance, some myths as noted by McEwan (2016) claimed that they survived

massive flooding by hiding in a cave high in a mountain. Inca was a religious community that

had many gods. The gods that the Incas prayed included the Viracocha, Illapa, and Pachamama

who were the creator god, the sun god, and god of thunder respectively. These were not the only

gods that the empire worshipped. The people they subdued and became part of the empire had
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their own gods. There were also household gods that different families worshipped. The Inca

people honored their gods by offering sacrifices which included human sacrifices, mostly virgin

girls who were fed with sacred food before being offered to the gods. They also honored gods by

fasting, praying and burnt animal offerings[ CITATION Owe18 \l 1033 ].

Cultural symbols were in a way responsible for efficient values and customs in Inca.

From the wise snake, puma and the condor, to the Chicana which is unique and has a deep

meaning, Inca culture was a unique one. What is interesting among the four symbols however is

the chicana or the Inca cross. The chikana represented the values of the empire which are love,

connection, awareness, trust, and protection. On the other hand, the condor was a symbol of

righteousness while the snake represented knowledge and wisdom and the puma symbolized the

strength that existed on earth[ CITATION BRA18 \l 1033 ].

2. Sustainability

Methods of sustainability had a big impact on the viability and effectiveness of the Inca

Empire. Accordingly, the empire was characterized by different ecological surroundings from

the rainforest to the mountains of Andes all of which in some way affected how the empire was

run. The Incas had different plants and animals which they kept for food, medicine and for other

purposes such as transportation. For instance, the Incas had domesticated three main species of

animals which include the guinea pigs, the alpaca, and the llama. Accordingly, they used the

llamas and the alpacas as pack animals and also sacrificed them to their gods. Plants such as coca

plants were also highly valued in the Inca Empire due to the medicinal values synonymous with

this plant. For instance, coca plant was used to cure some ailments such as headaches and
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stomach upset among others. With the relationship between the Incas and other organisms

surrounding them, they managed to live better lives than most of other tribes.

The success of the Incas Empire was due to consciousness of their environment and

where they lived. It is for this reason that they built themselves lasting houses with walls that still

exist to date. Accordingly, they built storage rooms for their harvests and adopted high standards

in their agricultural activities to get maximum produce which could sustain the empire. They

created terraces in the mountainous Andes region which allowed them to grow sweet potatoes,

maize, and cucumber among other crops that they required[ CITATION Muj18 \l 1033 ]. Incas had

canal systems that could be useful in irrigating their land. The weakness on the empire was in its

rugged terrain and climatic conditions that changed from time to time in the Andes such as the

earthquakes. However, despite the rugged terrain of the Andes and fluctuating environmental

conditions, the Inca Empire managed to satisfy the needs of population accordingly by growing

various food crops and keeping animals.

3. Politics

The third topic assessed Inca’s political structure where it was found that the strength of

the Incas was in their effective governance structure and political system which allowed

operations to run smoothly. From the Tawantinsuyu- the government, led by the Sapa Inca all the

way to the ayllu, the Inca’s monarchy system was highly organized to ensure that the empire is

efficient in its operations[ CITATION Muj18 \l 1033 ]. There were some powerful figures in the

empire that included the viceroy, high priest, governors of the quarter, council realm, military

generals (Apukuna), and inspectors (tokoyrikoq). The emperor’s wife (coya), was also a

respected person in the empire and was seen as the principal assistant of the Sapa Inca.
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Inca’s political system allowed the government to effectively collect taxes and impose

new laws on the citizens. For instance, the work of collecting taxes was the responsibility of

every ayllu and tax inspectors who ensured that all households pay taxes. According to Mujica,

(2018), the efficiency of collecting taxes was the cause for wealth of the empire. Furthermore,

laws made by the Sapa Inca were passed down through a clear structure to the people at the

bottom of the pyramid by the tax inspectors.

4. Technology

An area that was interesting about the Inca Empire is learning how they managed to come

up with some inventions and how such inventions shaped the empire’s standing to this day. What

stood out in the topic is the Inca’s ability to put together huge rocks and join them perfectly in a

way that the Spanish who had better tools after their arrival failed terribly to emulate. It was

discovered in this topic that rocks as high as five meters and about three meters thick which were

joined with each other had no gaps and did not use mortar[ CITATION Ede19 \l 1033 ]. With the

Andean region being susceptible to earthquakes, the Incas had a solution for this which involved

building doorways and windows that are lean enough to withstand earthquakes. With the stone

cutting technology, they constructed thousands of kilometers of road and built drainage systems

and canals with stones. The Inca stonemasons collected stone from quarries and transported them

to areas where construction was being carried out.

On the other hand, their recordkeeping technology (khipu) was among the best Incan

inventions which still amaze many to this day. The khipu was used to keep records and

communicate information. This system was effective, flexible and efficient in ancient times

considering lack of alphabet system[ CITATION Asc15 \l 1033 ]. It kept record of various events
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which were crucial for the running of the empire such as dates, activities, population in the

empire, bloodlines of the Inca ruling class, land, livestock among others. This invention was

made up of threads twisted together and attached using half-knots according to Ascher (2015).

This masterpiece was crucial to the Inca Empire because it helped one generation to know the

events which took place and record different occurrences in their calendar. Knowing such events

and keeping records of the empires activities, people and belongings put the Inca ahead of other

civilizations.

5. Global citizenship

The fifth topic was about global citizenship and how Inca people carried out their

commerce, their rules, responsibilities, enemies, and allies. According to the research, all citizens

of the Inca Empire had some rights and responsibilities. For instance, while the Sapa Inca had the

responsibility of ensuring that all the citizens in the Inca Empire were safe, the citizens, on the

other hand, were required to respect their leaders and pay taxes to enable operations to run

efficiently[ CITATION Mal09 \l 1033 ]. Taxation and free labor from citizens is perhaps the factor

which made the empire wealthy and increased development. The citizens were required to work

hard when not sleeping as the law punished people who were lazy. The main economic activity

of the Inca people as seen from this topic was agriculture where they grew crops such as sweet

potatoes, maize, cucumber among others.

Although it may sound as if Incas were invincible, the truth is that they also had strong

enemies and one of the leading enemies of the Inca was the Mapuche who they referred to as

Auca or Promuca (Meaning Warrior or enemies). This group of people successfully fought the

Inca at the great Battle of Maule stopping them from expanding their territory. The Incas had
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another powerful enemy in the Chanca tribe who also had remarkable military prowess[ CITATION

Cru10 \l 1033 ].

6. Ethics

In this chapter, religions, values, and laws in the Inca Empire were examined. From this

topic, It was evident that the Inca society was a heterogeneous and practiced polytheistic

religions. Some of the main religions that the people in Inca land practiced included Pachamama

and Viracocha. They also prayed many gods which included Inti (the sun god), Illapa (the god of

thunder), Mamaquilla (Mother moon), Mama Cocha (mother of lakes) and Huacas (supernatural

spirits). All the Inca gods were personified and were offered sacrifices which included llama

meat and children who were killed or buried alive as sacrifices.

Law was another crucial component that as seen in this topic. Incas had strict laws that

led to low rates of crime in the empire. The laws in place included those that were aimed at

making members of the empire safe. Crime in Inca Empire was severely punished and so was

cursing gods, adultery, laziness, and disrespecting the authority through failure to pay tax among

other ways. the Inca society did not tolerate those who lie, thieves and lazy people. These people

were punished in different way including sanctioning them[ CITATION Ber14 \l 1033 ].

Effectiveness

From the above six tenets of the Inca empire, the element of effectiveness can be seen.

For instance, the running of the Inca Empire was efficient due to various reasons. One of the

leading aspects which enhanced effectiveness are laws which were strictly adhered to by all the

citizens. For instance, everybody was required to work and lazy people were required to pay

taxes. These taxes and free labor that people offered to the empire grew the economy of the
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empire significantly. Secondly, technology and innovation was a critical part of the Inca empire.

Stone cutting technology for example allowed the Inca to build canals, roads and walls as well as

strong houses which could withstand earthquakes and sustain them. Also, Incas had strong

cultural values that contained things that were allowed and those which were harshly punishable.

The society was built on the values of mutual cooperation and harmony between citizens which

saw prosperity and peace throughout the empire. The empire had laws in place which punished

people who went against the rules while the symbols on the other hand instilled positive values.

For instance, stealing, adultery, and cursing gods were harshly punishable by whipping and even

execution.

Viability

The success of the Incas were in their hardwork which was ingrained into their culture.

As a result of this, they had plenty of food. Their food crops included maize, wheat, sweet

potatoes, beans, and chili peppers. They also planted other crops such as cucumber, cashews,

avocados, and peanuts[ CITATION Mar15 \l 1033 ]. One cannot fail to note that Incas were also

good in works of art. They produced some of the best textiles, ceramics and were also good in

metal works. What makes them stand out to this day however are their stonemasons who built

the best stone walls in the entire Andean region.

Weaknesses

The main weaknesses in the leadership of the Inca Empire was in its monarchy system of

governance which saw only one family ruling the others. Through this leadership style,

inequality was witnessed in the empire in terms of wealth dispersement and leadership positions.

People from Sapa Inca’s family and close friends held high positions in the empire while the
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other remained poor and ended up working hard to feed the royal family and their friends.

Secondly, the Inca society did not keep variety of animals which could have included other

species such as cows, goats and sheep among others which could have provided them with more

food products and hides and skins for clothing. This had a negative impact on their economy as it

reduced their trading activities and also lowered their capacity to manufacture their own

garments. Thirdly, the Incas had formidable enemies who stopped them from expanding their

territory such as the Mapuche and Chanka.. Lastly, too much expansion of the Inca Empire led to

too large and less cohesive empire which became hard to govern. They also had negative

customs which included wrapping the head of a newborn to correct deformities in their skulls

and also practiced cannibalism which they believed allowed the living to inherit powers of a

person through eating their flesh

Recommendations for the perceived area of Weakness in Inca Empire

Taking into account the expansion of territory by the Incas, it became hard for the Sapa

Inca to rule an expanding empire which had millions of people effectively. It would have been

better if the Inca Empire was small and cohesive as this would have eased management. The

Incas should have established a small and more cohesive empire which would have increased its

management and strength. The second weakness which affected the running of Inca Empire was

the monarchy kind of rule. Although this type of government became effective for them, it left

many people disgruntled and that is one of the reasons why the Spanish gained an advantage in

their entry. The Incas ruling class should have involved citizens in making crucial decisions

rather than forcing them. Lastly, Inca was not too involved in trade like other empires in the

Andean region. If they had been aggressive enough in their trading activities, they would have

made many allies and obtained strong weapons which they could have used to defeat the Spanish
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on their arrival. Had they lived in peace with its neighbors such as the Chanca and Mapuche,

they might have had a chance of fighting the Spanish collectively and maybe they would have

defeated them.
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References

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in History: Technology, Culture, Society, 21.

Bertazoni, C. (2014). Apu Ollantay": Inca Theatre as an example of the modes of interaction

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Goeldi. Ciências Humanas, 9(1), 27-36.

Cartwright, M. (2015, 2 7). Inca-food--agriculture/. Retrieved 9 26, 2019, from

https://www.ancient.eu: https://www.ancient.eu/article/792/inca-food--agriculture/

Cruz, E. A. (2010). The Grand Araucanian Wars (1541–1883) in the Kingdom of Chile. Xlibris

Corporation.

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