Life in the Inca Empire
Life in the Inca Empire, before the arrival of Europeans, is often pictured as peaceful and idyllic. In most ways, life for the Indians under Inca rule was much better than the cruelty which they later suffered under the Spaniards – but life under the Incas wasn’t idyllic. At times, life in the Inca empire was bloody and brutal. The Inca empire was sometimes referred to as the "Empire of Blood and Gold."
The Incas built many cities and great fortresses, but most of the people were peasants and farmers. They lived in the countryside and small villages. Agriculture was the single most important feature of Inca life – without reliable food and the development agricultural systems (such as irrigation), the Inca empire would never have existed. The Incas’ improvement of their predecessors’ irrigation systems and their selection of the best crops for planting helped to make the empire rich and prosperous.
Life in rural areas was probably similar to life in remote Andean settlements today – people lived in small, solid huts. Few trees grow in the Andean highlands, so huts were built using stones and thatched reeds, and had to be built to withstand cold temperatures and heavy snows. As a result, they centred around a fireplace to provide warmth and had few windows – making the huts dark, smoky (and smelly) on the inside.
Farmers’ lives focused on their family and their local communities. There was no private property, so everyone shared the land and assisted in work to plant and harvest the fields. Without oxen or horses to help them plough their fields, Inca farmers ploughed their fields using foot ploughs – long poles with a hard point, foot rests, and handles. This took great effort, with lots of men standing in lines to dig up the earth while their wives stood opposite them to plant seeds. Commonly grown crops included potatoes, corn, and rice-like quinoa. Animals were also raised for their wool and food Everyone contributed to village life – children were given chores, the blind and lame were given tasks for whatever they were capable, and the old were employed to scare birds away from newly-planted fields. In return, everyone shared in the supplies of food and clothing drawn from the community’s storehouses.
There was no such thing as money but, when necessary, people exchanged and bartered their goods in local markets. Clothing and textiles were the most valued items, although the finest clothes were only worn by people of great importance. The best clothing and textiles were produced from alpaca and vacuna wool, and were reserved solely for Inca royalty or high-ranking Inca officials.
Each year, the village set aside a portion of their produce to be paid to the Inca as taxes. The Inca also required each village to provide workers to assist the construction of roads, cities, fortresses, and community projects – or as soldiers for the Inca’s army. In return, the villages received the Inca’s protection and help building improved irrigation canals, roads, and other public works. The Inca also decreed several public holidays and feast days each month so that people were regularly rested from their hard work and were able to celebrate.
The Incas are famous for their great cities and fortresses. The capital city of their empire was Cuzco, located in the Andean highlands. This city was rebuilt by the Inca, Pachacuti. He ordered the construction of new palaces and public buildings suitable to be the capital of his expanding empire. The centre of the old city was torn down, and replaced with temples, palaces, and gardens filled with exotic herbs, trees, and flowers. When the Spanish conquistadors first saw the city, one of them was forced to admit, "This is the most beautiful city, even by Spanish standards. It is full of palaces wonderfully made and buildings most remarkable."
At the centre of the city was Coricancha – the Temple of the Sun. It consisted of six chapels set around a central courtyard. The walls were made of stone overlaid with gold. Elsewhere in the city were built other temples and palaces, schools, houses, and a large square for public ceremonies and gatherings. Although most of the city was later torn down and looted by the Spanish, the city’s buildings are still based on the stone foundations built by the Incas. Inca stonework didn’t require mortar to cement the stones together – instead the stones were carefully shaped so that they fit tightly together. Inca stone work is still regarded as the best in the world.
Cuzco, and other Inca cities, were busy like most other cities. There were frequent messengers travelling back and forth across the empire with news or delivering orders from the Inca to his administrators. Armies, engineers, and processions of priests and administrators travelled to wherever in the empire they were needed, and great trains of llamas brought back loads of food, cloth, and other exotic goods intended for the Inca’s royal storehouses. Strangely, despite the Incas’ fine roads, the wheel was unknown to the Incas before the arrival of Europeans (there were no wagons, or horses to pull them) so travel was always on foot.
The Inca was the most important person in the empire. He was revered as the empire’s ruler, but people also believed that he was a living god – descended from the Sun. This meant that the Inca was worshipped by his people, and controlled religious ceremonies as well as running his empire.
As befitting his high rank, the Inca was dressed in the finest clothes interwoven with gold, and lived in a huge palace. He had many servants, concubines chosen from the empire’s most beautiful women, and a personal guard of over 100 relatives of royal blood. Everywhere he went, he was treated like a god:
Like the Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, the only person considered to be worthy of marriage to the Inca was his own sister. This guaranteed the integrity of the royal line.
Wherever the Inca travelled within the empire, he was accompanied by huge crowds of loyal followers and servants. They carried him on a golden litter lined with brightly coloured macaw feathers, preceded by a procession of women and children in colourful costumes who swept the ground before him, threw flowers, and played music. The Inca’s face was hidden behind a very fine fabric because it was thought that his appearance was too powerful to be seen by the human eye.
Those related to the Inca were very fortunate. The Inca made sure that his relatives were granted titles, wealth and important positions responsible for the running of the empire.
