Inca

(noun)

A member of the group of Quechuan peoples of highland Peru who established an empire from northern Ecuador to central Chile before the Spanish conquest.

Related Terms

Examples of Inca in the following topics:

  • The Incas

  • Textiles of the Inca

    • The Incas were highly regarded for their textiles, which were influenced by the artistic works of the pre-Inca Chimú culture.
    • The Incas were highly regarded for their textiles, influenced by the artistic works of the pre-Inca Chimú culture.
    • The Chimú, who arose about 900 CE, were conquered in a campaign led by the Inca ruler Tupac Inca Yupanqui around 1470 AD.
    • An example of Inca textiles.
    • Inca officials wore stylized tunics decorated with certain motifs, while soldiers of the Inca army had specific uniforms.

  • The Spanish Conquest

    • The Inca Empire already faced instability due to the War of Succession, European diseases, and internal revolt when explorer Francisco Pizarro began the conquest of Inca territory.
    • As scholar Jared Diamond points out, the Inca Empire was already facing threats:
    • Local unrest in the provinces after years of paying tribute to the Inca elite created immediate allies for the Spanish against the Inca rulers.
    • The Inca continued to revolt against totalitarian Spanish rule until the year 1572.
    • The last Inca ruler, Tupac Amaru, was killed by Spanish forces in 1572, effectively ending any potential for an Inca uprising.

  • The Inca People

    • The Inca Empire was the largest of the pre-Columbian mesoamerican empires.
    • The Inca Empire, or Inka Empire, was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America.
    • Machu Picchu was built around 1450, at the height of the Inca Empire.
    • The construction of Machu Picchu appears to date from the period of the two great Inca emperors, Pachacutec Inca Yupanqui (1438–71) and Tupac Inca Yupanqui (1472–93), and was probably built as a temple for the emperor Pachacutec.
    • The intricate metalwork of the Inca was heavily influenced by the Chimú culture, which was conquered and absorbed into the Inca culture around 1470.

  • Metalwork of the Inca

    • The Inca were well known for their use of gold, silver, copper, bronze, and other metals.
    • Although the Inca Empire contained a lot of precious metals, however, the Incas did not value their metal as much as fine cloth.
    • Metal tools and weapons were forged by Inca metallurgists and then spread throughout the empire.
    • Gold and silver were used for ornaments and decorations and reserved for the highest classes of Inca society, including priests, lords, and the Sapa Inca, or emperor.
    • Gold and silver were common themes throughout the palaces of Inca emperors as well, and the temples of the Incas were strewn with sacred and highly precious metal objects.

  • Architecture of the Inca

    • The Inca capital city of Cusco is one of the finest examples of both traditional Inca and colonial architecture.
    • The Inca Empire was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America.
    • The capital of the Inca empire, Cusco, still contains many fine examples of Inca architecture, although many walls of Inca masonry have been incorporated into Spanish Colonial structures.
    • The Kingdom of Cusco was a small city-state in the Inca empire.
    • A testimony of the importance of these compounds in Inca architecture is that the central part of the Inca capital of Cusco consisted of large kancha, including Qurikancha and the Inca palaces.

  • Religion in the Inca Empire

    • The main temple in the Inca Empire, called Qurikancha, was built in Cusco.
    • The ruling Inca often incorporated these deities into the Inti cosmos.
    • The Inca believed in reincarnation.
    • The Incas also performed child sacrifices during or after important events, such as the death of the Sapa Inca or during a famine.
    • The Inca also practiced cranial deformation.

  • Machu Picchu

    • Often referred to as the "City of the Incas," Machu Picchu is one of the most significant pre-Columbian Inca sites in Peru.
    • Often referred to as the "City of the Incas", most archaeologists believe that it was built as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472).
    • The Incas started building the "estate" around 1400, but abandoned it as an official site for the Inca rulers a century later at the time of the Spanish Conquest.
    • The Inca absorbed much of their technical skill from the cultures they conquered.
    • As part of their transportation system, the Incas built a road to Machu Picchu.

  • The Spanish Conquest and Its Effects on Incan Art

    • After the fall of the Inca Empire, many aspects of Inca culture were systematically destroyed or irrevocably changed by Spanish conquerors.
    • The Spanish Conquest of the Inca Empire was catastrophic to the Inca people and culture.
    • The Inca population suffered a dramatic and quick decline following contact with the Europeans.
    • Spaniards burning the Inca leader Atahualpa at the stake, following their conquest of the Inca people.
    • Evaluate the effects of the Spanish Conquest on the art and culture of the Inca.

  • Administration of the Inca Empire

    • The Inca Empire utilized complex road systems, recording tools, and a hierarchical rule of law to oversee the administration of its vast populations.
    • The Inca Empire was a hierarchical system with the emperor, or Inca Sapa, ruling over the rest of society.
    • One segment was comprised of the common people, including those cultures that had been subsumed by the Inca Empire.
    • The Inca utilized a complex recording system to keep track of the administration of the empire.
    • Understand the importance of the governing bodies, road system, recording tools, and social hierarchy of the Inca Empire.