Author: Maddy

​When Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean more than 500 years ago, he did not know that the American continent existed. He thought that he had landed in the Indies, which is how the Europeans used to call Asia back then. So, he referred to the people he met there as Indians.

Columbus made four voyages to the Americas. During these four voyages, he explored the Caribbean in great detail. He also explored the coastal areas of Central and South America to some extent.

The Spanish (and other European) explorers who came after him ventured deeper into other parts of the American continent as well – North America, Central America, and South America. They met different kinds of people there, like the Aztecs, the Maya, etc. These native populations were the original inhabitants of the Americas. But the Europeans defeated them, displaced them, and settled in the Americas.

As a result of this colonization and the European diseases, most of these native populations were almost wiped out. Only a very small portion of them remain today.

Over the past 500 years, these people have been given various names – Native Indians, Native Americans, American Indians, Amerindians, etc. 

Today, we refer to these people as the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas. 

But who were these people? Where did they come from? And, Why did they come to the Americas? Continue reading to find out.

Where did the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas come from?

The first humans came into existence more than two million years ago. Since then, our ancestors have evolved, moved to other parts of the world, and even created some impressive civilizations. 

But while our ancestors were busy leaving their mark all around Europe, Asia, and Africa, the American continent remained untouched. It did not even see a single human for the most part of this human history. But all this changed in the last ice age, which ended around 11,700 years ago.

During the last ice age, the average global temperature was around 8°C lower than it is today. So, several countries were completely covered in ice and tall glaciers, and hence, were uninhabitable. But since so much water was in the form of ice, the global sea levels were significantly lower. As a result, a large area of land appeared between Alaska and Siberia, where the Bering Sea is today. You could consider this area as a bridge between Asia and America. Hence, it was called the Bering Land Bridge, or simply Beringia.

An outline of Beringia (Picture credits)

Migration from Siberia to Beringia

Beringia was a bit damper than its neighboring Siberia. So, it would have had lots of woody shrubs and trees. Hence, Beringia became an ideal environment for large herbivorous animals like bison and mammoths, according to Scott Elias, who reconstructs past climates and works as a professor in Royal Holloway, University London.

The early humans, who were hunter-gatherers, could have easily survived by hunting these animals. Moreover, they could have used the woody shrubs and tree barks to ignite the bones of these animals. After all, the bones of big animals have a lot of fat in their marrows, and fat can be burned.

Thus, Beringia provided a better chance of survival for human beings. So, some early hunter-gatherers left their dry, icy homeland of Siberia behind and moved to Beringia.

Four types of woody plants: (A) Shrub, here with five stems, branching as in the basic model (about 50 cm tall). (B) Tree with the main stem throughout the plant. (C) Tree with a short main stem with many branches, forming most of the plant. (D) Tree with multiple stems. (C,D) are from Ceco.NET, (B) is from Natural Resources Canada (red alder; tidcf.nrcan.gc.ca), and (A) is from Researchgate.

​But when did these people move to Beringia? How long did they live there? And when did they leave Beringia and move to the Americas?

These were some of the questions that were puzzling historians for the most part of the last century. But two significant discoveries made in the last two decades have helped them find the answers they were seeking. 

The Beringia Standstill Hypothesis

In 2007, the Estonian geneticist Erika Tamm and her colleagues investigated 623 mitochondrial DNAs from Asia and America. Their investigations revealed that the ancestors of the native Americans were genetically very different than their Asian sister groups.

But for them to become so genetically different from their Asian counterparts who stayed back in Siberia, they must have stayed somewhere completely isolated for thousands of years.

So, Erika and her colleagues theorized that the Asians who traveled to Beringia did not move to the Americas immediately. Instead, they stayed in Beringia for thousands of years. During this time, their genes changed completely. Their theory came to be known as the Beringian standstill hypothesis. It is one of the most widely accepted theories regarding the peopling of the Americas. 

In 2017, Lauriane Bourgeon and her team found evidence of human life 24,000 years ago in the Bluefish caves in Western Canada. Since this is where Eastern Beringia was located, it proves that early humans moved to Beringia almost 24,000 years ago.

But at that time, the icy sheets covering various parts of the world were at their maximum heights. So, they couldn’t enter North America because Canada, completely covered in ice, would have blocked their entry. 

Therefore, they might have stayed in Beringia for almost ten thousand years. Then, around 15,000 years ago, they started moving rapidly and settled in different parts of America.

Migration from Beringia to the Americas

There are different theories as to how they moved to different parts of America. When the ice started melting and the sea levels started rising 14,000 years ago, a corridor opened through the ice sheets in Canada and the northern USA.

This corridor was about 1500km long. But it wouldn’t have been suitable for human travel until 12,600 years ago. And when it became traversable 12,600 years ago, the Beringians could have walked through it and reached the southern part of North America.

But recent archaeological explorations found evidence of human activity in the USA 15,000 years ago. More evidence of human activity was found in Chile dating back to somewhere between 14,500 and 18,500 years.

So, these early humans might not have walked through the ice-free corridor, after all. Instead, they might have built primitive wooden boats and sailed along the Pacific coast long before the ice melted. Eventually, they would have reached the habitable parts of North and South America. There they settled and, several thousands of years later, became the Indigenous Inhabitants that Columbus saw.

Now that we know where the Indigenous people of the Americas came from let’s find out more about the different Indigenous Peoples and where they were located. 

Caribbean Islands

Columbus met two types of people in the Caribbean. He named them the Caribs and the Arawaks. The Caribs were those who were friendly to him, and the Arawaks were those who were hostile to him.

Columbus claimed that the Caribs were cannibals who ate humans. But Caribs did not practice widespread cannibalism. They did not eat humans because they liked the taste of it. They did so as a part of a ritual. The Arawaks, too, had a similar custom.

But even if it wasn’t true, Columbus used his claim of Caribs being cannibals as a pretext to get permission from the Spanish monarchs to enslave these Indigenous Peoples.

Once he got permission, he enslaved these people. Then he demanded them to produce a fixed amount of gold or cotton every 3 months. Those who failed were tortured, raped, and killed. As a result, the populations of these two Indigenous Populations reduced considerably.

Today, only around 3,400 Caribs and 10,000 Arawaks are in existence today.

South America

Even though many Indigenous Peoples lived in South America, the most significant among them was the Inca. The Inca began as a small pastoral tribe in Cusco, in present-day Peru, around 1200 AD. 

For the most part of their history, they were a small tribe. Only in the 15th century did they start expanding. But they expanded rapidly and became the most dominant culture in South America very quickly. But they didn’t stop there. They went on to establish the largest empire on earth at that time – The Inca Empire. And they did all this within a span of 100 years.

A map of the Inca Empire, ca. 1527AD (Picture credits)

But even the largest empire on earth couldn’t escape from the evil clutches of the European colonists. Suffering from the European diseases and the torture inflicted by the colonists at the same time, the population of these native people fell by almost 93% within a century.

Today, the descendants of this native population live in South America. They are spread out across various countries – Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and Chile.

Central America

The most significant Indigenous Peoples who lived in Central America were the Aztecs and the Maya.

A map of the Inca, Maya, and Aztec Empires (Picture credits)

Like the Inca, the Aztecs, too, rose to prominence very quickly. But they, too, were decimated by the European diseases and the Spanish conquest.

Today, in the 21st century, the descendants of the Aztecs live in the rural areas of Mexico. They mostly work as farmers or sell handcrafted items to make a living.

Unlike the Aztecs and the Inca, the Maya have a long history. They started as a small agricultural tribe in 1800 BC. But they gradually rose to prominence and established several powerful city-states around 250 AD. Each of these city-states housed 5,000 to 50,000 people. But even though these city-states shared cultural traits, they did not unite politically under a single empire. Instead, they competed among themselves as well as with other empires for power. Today, we collectively refer to these Indigenous Peoples as the Maya.

But despite the prosperity of these city-states, the Maya eventually abandoned most of them in the 9th century. The reasons for their actions are still not clear. But this native population crumbled far before the arrival of the Europeans. By the time the Europeans arrived, the remnants of a once-great civilization were trying to rebuild. So, it was easy for the Europeans to overpower them and defeat them.

Today, the descendants of the Maya can be found in several countries in Central America.

North America

Several Indigenous Peoples lived in North America before the arrival of Columbus. Among them, the Mississippian culture was the most prominent. It originated in the Mississippi River valley around 800 AD and slowly spread outwards.

But the Mississippian culture wasn’t a single tribe. Rather, it was a collection of several societies. Some of them were agrarian societies, while others were hunter-gatherer societies. In stark contrast, there were also societies whose people followed a sedentary lifestyle. But despite their differences, the peoples of the Mississippi culture followed similar traditions, like building large earthen mounds.

The Mississippian culture comprised a series of cities and satellite villages, which were interlinked by loose trading networks. Among these cities, the largest one was Cahokia, which would have been an important religious center back then.

But unlike the civilizations of Central and South America, the Europeans were not able to defeat these people easily. Indeed, they suffered high casualties and had to withdraw their attack. But the diseases they brought with them stayed back and decimated these peoples, who had no immunity against them. Each individual tribe in the Mississippi culture suffered greatly due to these diseases. This undermined their social structure, and many of these tribes later collapsed.

So, when the Europeans returned a hundred years later, many of these tribes had completely vanished, leaving vast areas of North America uninhabited.

Some of the societies which survived formed new tribes to respond to European colonization. In order to keep track of these different groups, geographers have classified them into different ‘culture areas.’ These culture areas are:

• The Arctic
• The Subarctic
• The Northeastern woodlands
• The Southeastern woodlands
• The Great Plains
• The Great Basin
• The Northwest Plateau
• The Northwest Coast
• California
• The Southwest

The story of Columbus‘ landing is one that most people in the American continent would be familiar with. Most people know that Columbus set sail with three ships from Spain in the fifteenth century. Upon landing in the Caribbean, he met two types of native peoples there – the Caribs and the Arawaks. The Arawaks were friendly people. On the contrary, the Caribs were hostile cannibals who ate human flesh. Most of us know that.

Columbus meeting the Indigenous People of the Caribbean (Picture credits)

But these were Columbus’ views, not the truth.

So, was Columbus actually telling the truth? Were Caribs really cannibals? Who were the Arawaks and Caribs really, and how did they live? Read on and find out.

Caribs and the Arawaks

The indigenous people who inhabited the Caribbean at the time of Columbus’ arrival were the Kalinago and the Lokono. Both these native populations came to the Caribbean islands from South America. They survived by fishing, hunting, and farming.

Neither of these American Indians had a written language. So, most of their faint history from this time comes from stories that were passed down orally through generations.

The Lokono ​was the indigenous population who inhabited the Caribbean initially. The  Kalinagos and the Kalinas originally lived in South America. But centuries before the arrival of Columbus, the Kalinagos started migrating to the Caribbean. After hundreds of years of warfare, they managed to seize the southern islands of the Caribbean from the Lokono. Eventually, they started living there but were perpetually engaged in warfare against the Lokono.

The Lokono (Arawaks)

The Lokono lived by fishing, hunting, and farming. They used trickery to catch birds like ducks. The technique they used to catch these birds is fascinating.

The Lokono first let a number of calabashes, a tropical American fruit, float on the river. Then, he waited until the ducks got used to these fruits and considered them harmless objects. Once that happened, a Lokono male placed a calabash over his head and slipped into the water silently. Then, when he neared the duck, he pulled its legs until the bird drowned and died before putting it in a bag and taking it away. 

Interesting, isn’t it?

Most of the Lokono were naked. But they wore gold in their noses and painted their faces and bare body parts. In some of the Caribbean islands, married women wore skirts around their waists.

Social organization

Their society was patriarchal. They practiced polygamy, with each man having two or three wives. The leader of the Lokonos was called Cacique and had as many as 30 wives. It was a great honor to be married to the leader. Hence, his wives wore longer skirts, portraying authority. 

They built their houses using wooden posts, grass, and other materials. Around 10 to 15 men lived in each house, with all their wives and entire families. So, each house had around 100 people. Only the Cacique, the Lokono chief, lived in a separate house with his wives. But since he had a lot of wives and children, his house would have around 100 people. The title of Cacique was passed down from father to son.

The Lokono were people who loved peace. But since they had to fight the Kalinagos often, they had to defend themselves. So, they had weapons like poisoned arrows, war clubs, and spears with fish hooks attached on one end. 

Despite being peaceful folk, the Lokono had slaves too. They used their prisoners as slaves. These slaves were made to do jobs, which the members of the tribe were not expected to do. But slavery was not passed on to successive generations. Slavery was just a way for the Lokono to make their prisoners work hard before accepting them into their tribe.

The Kalinago (Island-Caribs)

In contrast, the Kalinago were people who emphasized on fighting. Their culture honored physical powers and individualism. Kalinago groups often fought against other Kalinago groups and also against the neighboring Lokonos. After their battles, they took the Lokono women as slave-wives and killed the men.

Like the Lokono, the Kalinago, too, wore little to no dress. But they painted their bodies to appear fierce and ate a lot of pepper to become fierce. They used weapons like poisoned arrows, burning arrows, and other weapons deadlier than those of Lokono.

The Kalinago started training their children to fight from a very early age. Almost always, the initiation began by teaching the children to bear the pain. 

When a boy reached puberty, the Kalinago scratched his body with animals’ claws and rubbed pepper in the wound. If the boy flinched, he was trained to become a priest. If he didn’t, he was trained to become a warrior.

Social organization

The Kalinago chief was chosen based on his skills in battle. The Kalinagos lived mostly separated by gender. The men in the village lived together in a large building, where they trained. The women, on the other hand, lived in many smaller houses. The women mostly met their husbands only when they brought food for them.

The Kalinago were expert swimmers for whom fishing and sea trading were very important. They were also skilled boat-builders, sailors, and navigators who could remember the way to several islands by heart.

The Kalina (Mainland-Caribs)

The Kalina was an indigenous population who lived in the northern coastal areas of South America. They may have been related to the Kalinaga. But they were not as aggressive as the Kalinaga.

They spent their day growing crops like cassava and hunting using a bow and arrow. They lived in small settlements.

Historically, the Kalina and Kalinaga were thought of as being related to each other. So, the Europeans started calling them as Mainland-Caribs because they lived in the mainland of South America, whereas the Kalinago were called Island-Caribs because they lived in the Caribbean islands (More on why Kalinago came to be known as Caribs later on).

The Lokono, The Kalinago, and the Spanish conquest

When Columbus came to the Caribbean, he first met the Lokono, who were friendly to him. As he sailed further south, he met the hostile Kalinagos, with whom he did not get along well.

There was a Lokono settlement in a village called Aruacay. The people he met there were very friendly to the Spanish explorers and offered them gifts. For reasons unknown, the Lokono people who lived in Aruacay started calling themselves as the Aruacas to differentiate themselves from the hostile Kalinagos and show to the Spanish that they were a friendly group. With time, the term Aruaca became Arawak, the peace-loving people of the Caribbean.

The term ‘Carib’ was supposed to mean brave. And the Kalinagos were brave for standing up against the Spanish conquerors. So, they came to be known as Caribs. But for Columbus, brave meant aggressive. So, he created a myth that Caribs were people-eating savages to get the authorization for acquiring them as slaves. He even used their name to create the term Caniba, which would eventually become the term Cannibal in English. But in reality, Caribs were not cannibals.

The human flesh-eating Ritual of the Caribs

The  Caribs ate human flesh only during rituals. The Caribs believed that eating a small amount of human flesh would give them the characteristics of the deceased person. This belief was central to their culture.

So, they ate small amounts of flesh before wars so that their warriors can obtain the characteristics of their enemies, and during initiation, so that young boys can become brave like deceased heroes. They also kept the bones of their victims as trophies.

But these customs were not practiced by the Caribs alone. The Arawaks had similar customs as well. But neither of these indigenous groups practiced widespread cannibalism, as Columbus claimed.

But Christopher Columbus’ propaganda, despite being untrue, helped him obtain permission from the Spanish monarchy for procuring slaves. In 1503, Queen Isabella gave permission to capture the so-called cannibals. She believed that it was the only way to protect the Arawaks, who, according to her, were now her subjects. It was also the first step to convert the Caribs into civilized human beings.

But we all know what happened after that. Her permission created an urgency among the Spanish explorers to find as many Caribs as possible. And since Arawaks had similar customs as well, Arawaks were also captured. Then the captured Arawaks and Caribs were made to work as slaves in their own homeland. Most of them died due to abuse, the inhuman working conditions, and the diseases the Spanish brought with them, to which they had absolutely no immunity.

Are there any Caribs and Arawaks left today?

Today, not a lot of Caribs and Arawaks are left.

Where do the Caribs live today?

Only around 3400 Caribs are alive today. Of these, only 60 consider themselves pure Caribs. They live as one of the minorities in Dominica.

A picture of some Caribs in 1892 – By Roland Bonaparte – Photothèque, Musée de l’Homme, Paris. (Photo scanned from the book Pau:wa itiosan:bola: Des Galibi à Paris en 1892.), Public Domain, Link

The Dominican government has built primary schools, water, and health facilities for these people in their territories. They also have a police station that employs three people, who are mostly Caribs.

But there are no secondary schools in the Carib territories. So, understandably, the unemployment rate is very high there.

As a result, the incomes of these people are lower than the Dominican national per capita income. They survive mostly by farming their land collectively and selling handicrafts they made to tourists.

Where do the Arawaks live today?

Today, around 10,000 Arawaks live in the coastal areas of North America.

Picture of some Arawaks in 1880 – By Tropenmuseum, part of the National Museum of World Cultures, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

They are primarily concentrated in Venezuela, Suriname, Guyana, and French Guiana. More Arawaks live in the interior parts of South America as well. Unlike other indigenous communities, the population of Arawaks has been growing steadily in the last few years.

The Inca were one of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas who established the Inca Empire. By 1400 AD, they were a small tribe. But by the time Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean a hundred years later, they had established a mighty empire in South America. Their empire stretched across parts of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Chile. It was the largest empire on earth at that time, with almost 10 million people living under its banner.

But how did such a small tribe rise to prominence so fast? How could they defeat the other kingdoms in that area so easily? Read this blog post to find out.

Origin

The ancestors of the Inca were the People from Siberia who first migrated to Beringia 24,000 years ago. These people stayed in Beringia for thousands of years and then moved to different parts of the American continent.

Some of these people reached South America too. There, they learned to cultivate crops like corn, potato, and cotton. Then, between 3000 BC and 2500 BC, they started to domesticate animals like llamas and alpacas. These animals served as a good source of meat and wool and could carry almost one-fourth of their weight. So, they proved highly beneficial for food, clothing, and carrying goods.

Thus, keeping farming and animal husbandry at their core, several complex societies originated in this area. These complex societies eventually gave rise to different cultures, which are collectively called the Andean civilizations. 

The Inca were one of such different cultures that began as a small tribe. In the 12th century, searching for land to farm, they came to Cusco, a city in present-day Peru. Since the soil there was fertile, they settled there.

But even though the Inca came to Cusco in the 12th century, nobody knows where they were before that. We only have the Inca origin myths to rely on, which were passed through generations of the Inca orally.

Inca Origin myths

The Inca have four mythical tales that explain their origin. The most prominent among them is the story of Manco Capac and his magic staff.

According to this myth, the Inca were created by their sun god Inti. After creating them, Inti sent his four sons and four daughters to earth. They came to earth through a cave. This cave was located in the center of the line along which two other caves were located. From the other two caves, people carrying seeds came out. These people would eventually become the ancestors of the Inca today.

These four brothers and four sisters were supposed to lead the Inca and show them where to settle.

One of these brothers had magical powers and was too strong. So, afraid of him, the other brothers tricked him into entering a cave and closed its entrance. After this incident, one of the other brothers climbed the cave and proclaimed that he would look after the Inca. Once he proclaimed that, he turned to stone. Looking at all this fuss, one of the two remaining brothers left the Inca and started his own journey. So, finally, only one brother, Ayar Manco, was left. He eventually married his older sister, who bore him a son.

Ayar Manco carried a magic staff made of gold. This magic staff would show the Inca where to settle. So, the Inca started traveling, searching for a place where this staff would sink into the ground.

Cusco

When they reached the valley near Cusco, Ayar Manco’s staff sank into the ground. So, taking it as the divine sign they were waiting for, the Inca decided to settle there. But there were people already living there. Therefore, the Inca fought against these people, chased them out of their land, and settled in Cusco around 1200 A.D.

After this victory, Ayar Manco came to be known as Manco Cápac, the one who founded the Inca.

This is one of the four myths that explain where the Inca came from. The Inca didn’t have a writing system. These myths were only passed down through generations of the Inca orally. So, nobody knows which of these myths to believe in.

The Inca Empire

But regardless of which myth was true, the Inca settled in Cusco around 1200 AD.

Initially, the Inca were a pastoral tribe. They were shepherds who tended to Llamas and Alpacas. They roamed far and wide, looking for a place for these animals to graze.

But the place where the Inca settled, Cusco, was located between two empires that existed earlier. These empires had already built the infrastructure needed to expand and maintain the areas under their control. So, when the Inca started expanding, they didn’t have to build everything from scratch. The roads, the hydraulic systems, and other systems the Inca needed to establish an empire were already partly in existence.

So, utilizing this already available infrastructure, the Inca started to expand.

Viracocha

The Inca’s expansion began during the rule of their fourth emperor Mayta Capac. This expansion continued over several generations, and by the time their eighth emperor Viracocha Inca came to power, they had become a truly expansive tribe. Viracocha is the Inca ruler who introduced the custom of leaving some of his soldiers behind in conquered lands. This practice helped the Inca make sure that the conquered lands were loyal to them.

Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui

In 1438, when Chancas, enemies of Inca, attacked Cusco, Viracocha escaped to a military outpost. His son Urco, who was to become the next Inca king, also fled the capital with his father.

But for Viracocha Inca’s third son, Cusi Inca Yupanqui, who had no claim to the throne, it was a brilliant opportunity to display his talent. So, he refused to abandon the capital. Instead, he and his other brothers rallied the armies and launched a desperate defense.

The Inca revered Yupanqui greatly for not running away even when fighting was futile. So, they stood up against the invaders and fought alongside Yupanqui very bravely. Yupanqui was able to inspire the Inca so much that it was said that even the stones in Cusco rose up to fight on his side. As a result, the Inca defeated the Chancas decisively and captured many of their leaders. 

After winning the war and the hearts of his people, Inca Yupanqui demanded to be made the next emperor. But his father Viracocha refused and tried to assassinate him instead. When the assassination attempt failed, Viracocha fled the country.

Inca Yupanqui became the next Inca emperor and renamed himself Pachacuti, which meant the ‘Earth Shaker.’ Pachacuti would eventually become one of the most influential Inca rulers, transforming the Cusco kingdom into Tawantinsuyu, the far-reaching Inca Empire.

Expansion of the Inca Empire

Pachacuti expanded the borders of his empire through both conquest and friendship. He used a simple process for this purpose.

First, he sent spies to the kingdom he wished to conquer. Once his spies returned with information about the kingdom, he sent luxurious gifts to its ruler, stating the advantages of joining the Inca Empire. If the ruler accepted the gifts, his kingdom was peacefully annexed into the Inca Empire. The rulers of most kingdoms accepted Pachacuti’s proposal.

But If the ruler refused to accept his proposal, Pachacuti sent a threat of war.

If the ruler still did not give up, Pachacuti defeated the kingdom through military conquest. He then executed its leaders and brought their sons to Cusco to teach them about the Inca culture. Once they have grown up and learned about the Inca culture, they were sent back to rule their kingdoms. Thus, Pachacuti converted his enemies into Inca nobility, and at times, even married off Inca women to them to ensure their loyalty.

But as Tawantinsuyu grew larger, the chances that a conquered tribe would rebel increased. So, in such cases, when Pachacuti sensed that a conquered ethnic group would rebel, he allegedly displaced thousands of its people and redistributed them into the farthest regions in his empire so that they could have no chance of organizing a rebellion.

Thus, Pachacuti and his successors expanded the borders of the Cusco kingdom and transformed it into the mighty Inca Empire. But conquering the regions was only one aspect of a great empire. The more important aspect was to incorporate the conquered lands into the empire.

Pachacuti knew that very well. So, he reorganized the government by transforming the Cusco kingdom into Tawantinsuyu. 

The Inca government

In the system of Tawantinsuyu, the Sapa Inca, the sole ruler, was at the core. He had absolute power in the Empire. He lived in the Inca capital Cusco, which was practically an impenetrable stronghold because of the fortresses Pachacuti had built there to withstand enemy attacks. 

Surrounding the capital on four sides were the four Suyus, the four regions of the Inca Empire. 

Cusco and the four Suyus (Picture Credits)

Each Suyu was further divided into provinces called Wamani. Most of these provinces were actually tribes that had previously been conquered by the Inca. Each of these provinces, in turn, was subdivided into several factions. The smallest entity of the Tawantinsuyu was the Ayllu. 

Each Ayllu functioned as an individual unit. Therefore, even though each Ayllu consisted of several families, in reality, an Ayllu was just like a big family. 

The government allocated land to each Ayllu based on the number of people in that Ayllu. In return, each Ayllu had to pay tax to the government.

Inca taxation system

There were two types of taxes that the Ayllu paid to the government. The Inca didn’t have a currency. So, they didn’t pay money to the government. Instead, they paid taxes in other ways.

The first tax they paid to the government was a portion of their crops. The crops they gave as the tax was then divided into three parts. The first part went to the government, the second part went to the priests, and the final part went to the people. 

The second tax they paid to the government was in the form of labor. They paid this tax by working for the government. They built roads, constructed buildings, mined gold, and even worked as warriors for the army.

In return for their labor, the Inca people were provided feasts on special occasions by their ruling authority. After all, the Inca didn’t use any form of money. And they didn’t need it either, because there were no markets or shops in the Inca Empire. So, there was nothing they could buy. All their requirements, like food, clothes, and tools were provided by the government. Therefore, the feasts served as the payment for their labor.

Thus, by establishing such a well-defined hierarchical government, the Inca emperor was able to rule such a vast empire.

The Inca social structure

The vast empire of the Inca was formed by conquering various tribes. So, even though it was just one empire in name, more than a hundred ethnic groups lived under its banner. Hence, to bring all of its 12 million inhabitants with varied ethnic origins into one system, the Inca followed a strict social structure. 

This hierarchical social system assigned each person in the empire to one of the four classes:

The Inca social class structure (Picture Credits)

The King

At the top of the hierarchy was the Inca emperor. The Inca believed that their king was the son of their sun god. So, he was the wealthiest, most powerful, and most respected person in the entire kingdom. He had several wives and children. The Inca called him Sapa Inca. 

The Royalty

Below the king was the Royalty. The king’s family and his relatives formed this class of the Inca. They enjoyed all the luxuries in the kingdom and were the most respected people after the king.

The Nobility

The next class in the Inca social system was Nobility. Nobility could be achieved either by blood relations or by showing distinction in one’s service to the empire. This category included high priests, the army commander, army generals, other special military members, architects, artisans, and local leaders. These people enjoyed several privileges.

For example, the local leaders were considered important, and hence, commoners brought gifts to them often. The king considered them essential as well. Therefore, he exempted them from paying taxes. Thus, local leaders enjoyed several privileges both from the king for whom they worked as well as the commoners whom they governed.

The Commoners

Most of the population of the Inca fell under the remaining social class – the Commoners. This was the lowest class in the social hierarchy of the Inca. As the lowest social class, the commoners received only low wages even when they did all the hard manual work in the empire. Farmers, shepherds, servants for nobles or royal families, and slaves were considered commoners.

How did the Inca Empire grow so rapidly?

Besides their efficient government, strict social structure, and intimidating military, there were also other factors that contributed to the Inca’s rapid growth.

1. Extensive roadways

The Inca had an extensive network of roads, whose length added up to 15,000 miles. But strangely, commoners were not permitted to use Inca roads. Only the King, Royal people, and Nobles were allowto use the roads. The other category of people who were permitted to use these roads were Relay runners. They were messengers who covered almost 150 miles/day, to relay information from one corner of the empire to another. 

2. A superior farming system

The Inca Empire spread over four different climate zones. Hence, their agricultural produce was diverse. The Inca were initially a pastoral tribe. But as they conquered nearby tribes and their empire grew, they learned and developed several farming techniques. These techniques helped them maximize their harvest.

They transformed the land by creating canals, irrigation networks, terracing, and draining the water out of wetlands. They also fertilized the land with llama dung, fish heads, etc., and rotated their crops regularly. These techniques helped them increase their agricultural produce and feed more people easily.

But despite their innovative techniques, storms, floods, and droughts destroyed their crops. In such cases, Inca’s talent for preserving food came into play.

The Inca built tens of thousands of stone storehouses across their empire. They were circular or rectangular in shape and were built in such a way that food items could be stored there for two to four years. The Inca didn’t have a writing system. Yet, they kept perfect track of the food items stored in these storehouses by using a recording device made using strings and knots.

3. Expertise in architecture

The Inca were expert architects. They utilized the natural landscape and the locally available resources to build long-lasting structures.

Machu Picchu, one of the seven wonders of the world, stands testimony to the Inca’s expertise in architecture. The Inca built the entire site just by cutting stones and placing them one over the other with nothing but gravity to hold them together. And the fact that they did it without using wheels or iron tools makes it an even more astonishing feat. Yet, even though they built it using a simple technique, Machu Picchu has survived for more than half a millennium. 

Stone walls of a building in Machu Picchu

The Inca built this city on a hill that receives almost two meters of rainfall every year. So, they created a perfect drainage system that not only drained the water effectively without eroding the soil but also used a part of the water for irrigation.

But it is not clear who built it and when they built it. But historians believe that Pachacuti might have built it in the 15th century as a summer resort house.

4. Religious tolerance

The Inca were highly religious people. Everything they did had a religious meaning behind it.

The Inca prayed to many gods. Among them, their sun god Inti was the most important. They built the Qurikancha temple for him at Cusco, where the first Inca settled. It was the most important temple in the Inca Empire.

The Inca believed in reincarnation. They believed that the body needed to be preserved so that the soul can peacefully pass on to the afterlife. So, they mummified their dead and buried them along with valuable jewelry, textiles, etc. During ceremonies, they took out these mummies and even fed them food as if they were feeding a living person. 

Picture of an Inca mummy

The Inca also sacrificed people and even children, mostly during distressing times like the death of their emperor or severe drought.

But despite having such strict religious beliefs, they also let the conquered tribes follow their own religious beliefs. They even incorporated the gods of the conquered tribes into their religion. In return, the conquered tribes had to respect the Inca gods more than their own gods.

Thus, the Inca practiced religious tolerance to a certain degree. It was a prominent force in bringing people of different ethnicities together and making them feel like part of a big empire.

Thus, by using such methods, the Inca grew rapidly and established the largest empire within a span of hundred years.

The downfall of the Inca Empire

The downfall of the Inca Empire began with the Spanish arrival. When the Spanish invaders landed in Central America, they spread deadly diseases like smallpox and influenza. These diseases spread like wildfire and reached South America too.

As a result, a big portion of the Inca population died, leaving the Inca civilization crippled. As more and more people in the working class died, agricultural output reduced. 

Moreover, due to the death of the relay runners who relayed information, Inca’s communication network was severely damaged. So, it became impossible for the ruling class to tell if their territories were attacked. 

The Civil war

But the biggest thorn in the flesh came in 1527 when the then Inca ruler Huayna Capac and his eldest son and heir to the throne Ninan Cuyochi died due to smallpox. Due to their deaths, the Inca Empire was left without an emperor.

So, a fight for power began. The two people involved in this power struggle were Huayna Capac’s younger son Huascar and his illegitimate son Atahualpa. Even though Huascar had the right to the throne, Atahualpa was skilled than him in warfare.

Since they couldn’t reach an agreement, the country split into two factions, and a civil war started. After five long years, the civil war ended with the loss of several lives and the victory of Atahualpa.

Spanish Conquest

Thus, in 1532, the Inca Empire finally had a leader. But the empire was completely exhausted due to the diseases and the civil war.

It was at this time that the Spanish invaders led by Francisco Pizarro went to meet Atahualpa. Atahualpa thought it was a peaceful meeting arranged by the newcomers to show their respect to the king.

But the Spanish gave him a copy of the Bible and asked him to swear his allegiance to the Spanish monarchy instead. Atahualpa became angry and threw the Bible away. Taking his action as an excuse, the Spanish killed Atahualpa’s guards.

Atahualpa understood that the Spanish were not there for a peaceful gathering but only for gold and silver. So, he offered to give them a room full of gold and two rooms full of silver if they let him go free. But the Spanish took the money and arrested him.

One year later, the Spanish executed Atahualpa. Then, they attacked Cusco. Even though the Inca had superior numbers, the Spanish had better weapons. So, the Spanish defeated Cusco.

A painting depicting the death of Atahualpa – By Luis Montero (Piura, 1826 – Callao, 1869) – painter (Peruvian)Born in Piura. Dead in Callao.Details of artist on Google Art Project – LgEg2gaAx_wK1w at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level, Public Domain, Link

Then, wanting to maintain peace in Cusco, the Spanish installed Manco Inca, Atahualpa’s brother, as a puppet king. But the plan backfired, and Manco Inco was overthrown in 1536. Thereafter, Manco Inca escaped into the mountains. There, he created a government that survived for 36 years. In 1572, the Spanish conquerors captured and executed Manco Inca’s son, thereby bringing an end to his government.

Thus, the mighty Inca Empire came to an end.

Where do the Inca live today?

After the Inca Empire fell, the Europeans started abusing the Inca in all ways imaginable. They enslaved, tortured, raped, and killed the Inca people mercilessly. This resulted in the deaths of thousands, if not millions of the Inca. 

But more Inca died due to smallpox and measles, the diseases the Europeans had brought with them. These diseases occurred in three outbreaks during the 16th century in South America. First, a smallpox outbreak occurred, then a measles outbreak, and then both of them occurred together. These diseases affected children as well, thereby affecting the succeeding generations too.

As a result of these diseases and the European colonization, almost 93% of the Inca population had vanished by the end of the 16th century. 

Moreover, in the name of converting the masses into Christianity, Europeans also destroyed the Inca religion and culture.

But despite the inhuman treatment leashed out against them, the Inca have not completely vanished. Their culture has also survived. 

The Inca traditions and practices are still followed in some countries in South America. Up to ten million people in South America, from Columbia to Chile, speak the Inca language Quechua. The textiles and dishes they make are famous across the world. Their monumental archaeological site Machu Picchu also attracts millions of tourists every year. All these things are reminders of the great civilization that once flourished in these areas.