a powerpoint about the great inca empire

1. The Inca
Empire
Social
Studies
Project
by
Haya
Al-Sineedi
8i

2. Table of Contents
1 2 3
History of The
Inca
Culture
Spanish
Conquest of The
Inca

3. 1
History of The Inca

4. The Inca Empire once dominated South America
It was founded in 1438
Once a civilization of great power and influence,
the Incas came to a sudden demise in the 16th
century after small army of Spanish
Conquistadores successfully invaded the
continent
The Incas never developed written
communication, and only chronicles written by
the Spanish conquistadores offer an insight into
the lives of this mighty empire.

5. It is thought that the Inca Empire started
around the 13th century in the highlands of the
Andes
The Inca established their capital at Cuzco
(Peru)
The Empire grew and stretched a vast area
along the west coast of South America
Location
the Inca Empire

6. Quechua was the official language of the
Inca 's, although other languages such as
Aymara, Puquina, Muchik and many more
were commonly spoken

7. The Empire
The Incas referred to their empire as Tawantinsuyu,
a word in Quechua meaning 4 provinces or 4
regions, with the City of Cusco at heart of the empire
Contrary to popular belief, Cusco (not the mystical
citadel of Machu Picchu) was the most important city
within the empire

8. In common with other Andean cultures, the Inca
left no written records. Their history is known
chiefly from the oral tradition that has been
preserved through the generations by official
“memorizers” and from the written records
composed from them after the Spanish conquest
According to their tradition, the Inca originated
in the village of Paqari-tampu, about 15 miles
(24 km) south of Cuzco
The founder of the Inca dynasty, Manco Capac,
led the tribe to settle in Cuzco, which remained
thereafter their capital.

9. 12,000,000
They began their conquests in the early 15th century and within 100 years had gained
control of an Andean population of about 12 million people

10. The term 'Inca' meaning ruler or lord (in Quechua)
was a name reserved only for the ruling family of the
empire
After the Spanish invasion, the term 'Inca' became
more generic, referring to all of the people within the
empire including natives, not just the ruling family

11. 2
Culture

12. The Incas believed they had a divine right to rule over
conquered peoples as in their mythology they were
brought into existence at Tiwanaku (Tiahuanaco) by the
sun god Inti
As a consequence, they regarded themselves as the
chosen few, the 'Children of the Sun', and the Inca ruler
was Inti's representative and embodiment on earth
In practical terms, this meant that all speakers of the Inca
language Quechua (or Runasimi) were given privileged
status, and this noble class then dominated all the
important political, religious, and administrative roles within
the empire

13. Masonry
The Incas were expert masons crafting locally mined rock into
precisely cut and shaped stones, which could fit together without
the use of mortar
The highest quality stone work was reserved for temples and
religious buildings, where the masons took time to polish the
stones to a smooth finish denoting the importance of these
buildings.

14. Furthermore the Incas developed a complex road system spanning some
20,000 km's that linked the coast to the highlands, and the north to the south.
These roads known as Inca Trails were constructed mainly of stone and
included lodgings, temples and military posts en-route.

15. Tourist Attractions
Although nowadays there are many Inca ruins
throughout South America, the very best examples
are situated in the region of Cusco, in the South of
Peru
One of the most famous ruins — Machu Picchu was
named a U N E S C O World Heritage site in 1983,
and is one of South America's most visited tourist
attractions.

16. However, the region boasts many other
lesser known ruins like the fortress at
Ollantaytambo, the mountain top ruins at
Pisac, the agricultural terraces of Moray
and Tipon, the recently discovered citadel
of Choquequirao, Wiöay Wayna on the
Inca Trail to Machu Picchu to name a few

17. The Inca culture was a very advanced
civilization and was led by 13 Incas, who were in
charge of governing a people divided into social
classes
Quechua was the official language and its main
god was the Sun
It was very common to see gold objects as
accessories on the governors’ garments, they
used it for decorative reasons and not as
currency, as they did not have price for them

18. The Inca religion combined features of
animism, fetishism, and the worship of nature
gods
The pantheon was headed by Inti, the sun god,
and included also Viracocha, a creator god and
culture hero, and Apu Illampu, the rain god

19. People believed that the stones
had a spiritual power and for this
reason the Incas worshiped them
Their techniques were
autochthonous and the large
blocks were linked together,
without any kind of amalgam
Among its great examples of
architecture are the stone of the
12 angles

20. The Inca culture left a great architectural and
historical legacy
Every corner of Cuzco represents the customs,
traditions and practices of the ancestors that still
remain in force

21. The Inca state had no separate judiciary or codified laws
Customs, expectations and traditional local power holders governed
behavior
The state had legal force, such as through tokoyrikoq ("he who sees
all"), or inspectors
The highest such inspector, typically a blood relative to the Sapa
Inca, acted independently of the conventional hierarchy, providing a
point of view for the Sapa Inca free of bureaucratic influence

22. The Inca had three moral precepts that
governed their behavior
Ama sua (Do not steal)
Ama llulla (Do not lie)
Ama quella (Do not be lazy)

23. If one lived by this rule then, when one died, one went to the Land of the Sun
where it was always warm and pleasant and the gods were close
If one ignored this rule, then after death one went to the Underworld where it
was always cold and the soul was lonely in eternal darkness

24. 3
Spanish Conquest of
The Inca

25. The Spanish Conquest
The Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire was one of the most important
campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas
After years of preliminary exploration and military skirmishes, 168
Spanish soldiers under conquistador Francisco Pizarro, his brothers, and
their indigenous allies captured the Sapa Inca Atahualpa in the 1532
Battle of Cajamarca
It was the first step in a long campaign that took decades of fighting but
ended in Spanish victory in 1572 and colonization of the region as the
Viceroyalty of Peru.

26. the lack of integration of conquered peoples into
that empire, combined with a civil war to claim
the Inca throne and a devastating epidemic of
European-brought diseases, meant that the
Incas were ripe for the taking
Francisco Pizarro arrived in Peru with an
astonishingly small force of men whose only
interest was treasure
With superior weapons and tactics, and valuable
assistance from locals keen to rebel, the
Spanish swept away the Incas in little more than
a generation.

27. Francisco Pizarro and his partner Diego de Almagro
were both in their mid-50s, from humble backgrounds,
and neither had won any renown in their native Spain
they led a small group of Spanish adventurers eager to
find the golden treasures their compatriots had found in
the Aztec world of Mexico a decade earlier

28. On Friday, 15th of November, 1532 CE, the Spaniards approached the Inca town of
Cajamarca in the highlands of Peru
Pizarro sent word that he wished to meet the Inca king, there enjoying the local springs
and basking in his recent victory over Waskar
Atahualpa agreed to finally meet the much-rumoured bearded white men who were known
to have been fighting their way from the coast for some time
Confidently surrounded by his 80,000 strong army Atahualpa seems not to have seen any
threat from such a small enemy force, and he made Pizarro wait until the next day.

29. The first formal meeting between Pizarro and Atahualpa involved a few speeches, a drink together while they watched some Spanish
horsemanship, and not much else
Both sides went away planning to capture or kill the other party at the first available opportunity. The very next day Pizarro, using the
conveniently labyrinth-like architecture of the Inca town to his advantage, set his men in ambush to await Atahualpa's arrival in the main square
When the royal troop arrived, Pizarro fired his small canons, and then his men, wearing armour, attacked on horseback
In the ensuing battle, where firearms were mismatched against spears, arrows, slings, and clubs, 7,000 Incas were killed against zero Spanish
losses. Atahualpa was hit a blow on the head and captured alive.

30. Either held for ransom by Pizarro or even offering a ransom
himself, Atahualpa's safe return to his people was promised if a
room were filled with all the treasures
This was done, and the chamber was piled high with gold
objects from jewellery to idols. The room was then filled twice
again with silver objects. The whole task took eight months, and
the value today of the accumulated treasures would have been
well over $50 million.
Meanwhile, Atahualpa continued to run his empire from captivity,
and Pizarro sent exploratory expeditions to Cuzco and
Pachacamac while he awaited reinforcements from Panama,
enticed by sending a quantity of gold to hint at the wealth on
offer.
Then, having got his ransom, Pizarro summarily tried and
executed Atahualpa anyway, on the 26th of July, 1533 CE. The
Inca king was originally sentenced to death by burning at the
stake, but after the monarch agreed to be baptised, this was
commuted to death by strangulation.

31. Atahualpa’s Death
As a living god, Pizarro perhaps knew that only the king's death could bring
about the total defeat of the Incas
Indeed, even in death, the Inca king exerted an influence over his people for the
severed head of Atahualpa gave birth to the enduring Inkarri legend
For the Incas believed that one day the head would grow a new body and their
ruler would return, defeat the Spanish, and restore the natural order of things
Crucially, the period of Atahualpa's captivity had shown the Spanish that there
were deep factions in the Inca Empire and these could be exploited to their own
advantage.

32. The first battle was with troops loyal to Atahualpa near Hatun Xauxa, but the Spaniards were helped by
the local population delighted to see the back of the Incas
The Spaniards were given supplies from the local Inca storehouses, and Pizarro established his new
capital there
Local assistance and the plundering of the Inca storehouses would become a familiar pattern which aided
Pizarro for the remainder of his conquest.

33. A brief resistance at Cuzco was overcome, and the city fell into
Pizarro's hands with a whimper on 15th of November, 1533 CE
The treasures of the city and the golden wonders of the Coricancha
temple were ruthlessly stripped and melted down
Pizarro's first attempt to install a puppet ruler - Thupa Wallpa, the
younger brother of Waskar - failed to restore any sort of political order,
and he soon died of illness
A second puppet ruler was installed – Manqo Inka, another son of
Wayna Qhapaq. While he ensured the state did not collapse from
within, Pizarro and his men left to pacify the rest of the empire and see
what other treasures they could find.

34. Approaching the End
The Spanish, after decades of their own internal problems, which
included the murder of Pizarro, eventually established a stable colonial
government in 1554 CE
For the Andean people, their way of life, which had stretched back
millennia despite the Inca interruption, would be challenged again by
the new epoch
These were the lucky ones, though, as by 1570 CE 50% of the pre-
Columbian Andean population had been wiped out
For those ordinary people who survived the ravages of war and
disease, there was to be no respite from a rapacious overlord once
again eager to steal their wealth and impose on them a foreign
religion.