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Inca Civilization.mp4Guide to Machu Picchu for Children_ Lost City of the Inca for Kids - FreeSchool.mp4What was the world like in the time of the Inca?
Here are some other societies that existed in the same time period as the Inca.
Ming Dynasty in China
The Ming Dynasty was a line of rulers that belonged to the same family. These rulers were in power between 1368 and 1644. In the 1400s, the Ming Dynasty built parts of the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China!
Songhai Empire
The Songhai Empire ruled a large part of West Africa between 1464 and 1598. In 1468, the Songhai Empire gained control of the city of Timbuktu. At the time, Timbuktu was known as an important center of learning.
Kingdoms of Castile and Aragon
The country of Spain did not exist in the 1400s! At that time, two kingdoms, Castile and Aragon, controlled most of present-day Spain. In 1492, the Queen of Castile and the King of Aragon worked together to gain control of more land.
Most of what we know about the Inca civilization comes from the work of archaeologists. Archaeologists are people who study objects to learn about people's lives. Many archaeologists that have studied objects left behind by the Inca believe they were the direct descendants of a group of people called the Tiahuanaco (tee-ah-WAH-nah-koh), who formed one of the earliest civilizations in South America.
Here are the events listed in the correct order. The bolded text shows clues for placing the events in order:
Starting around 1500 BCE, the Tiahuanaco settle in South America. They live in the same area for over 1,000 years.
After living in the same place for over 1,000 years, a drought forces the Tiahuanaco to leave and find a new place to live.
In search of a new home, the Tiahuanaco travel north and settle around the Andes Mountains. Their travels bring them into contact with other South American cultures.
The descendants of the Tiahuanaco become known as the Inca. They live in the Cusco Valley in the Andes Mountains and begin a kingdom there.
The Inca's kingdom gains power and their territory starts to spread across the Andes Mountains.
The Inca established the heart of their civilization in the Cusco Valley in the Andes Mountains. Look at the map of the physical features of the Cusco Valley.
Owl or belly button?
There are two stories about where the name Cusco came from. The first comes from an Inca story about the time before the city was founded. According to this story, an owl guided an Inca man to the place where he would build a city. The man named the city Cusco, which means "Rock of the Owl" in Quechua (Keh-CHOO-wah), the language of the Inca.
The second story is based on the writings of one of the first historians of Peru, Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. This historian suggested that the word Cusco meant "belly button." According to this story, the Inca named their capital Cusco because it was in the middle, or the belly button, of their empire!
When the Inca arrived in the Cusco Valley, there were already people living there. But the Inca fought with their neighbors and began taking over territory. Over time, they gained more and more territory until they controlled most of western South America. Look at this map showing where the Inca gained territory.
How long was the territory of the Inca?
Some historians estimate that at its largest size, the territory controlled by the Inca was more than 3,100 miles long. That's similar to the distance between Boston and San Francisco!
The territory controlled by the Inca included a wide variety of landscapes. These landscapes included three of South America's most important natural features:
The Amazon River Basin: An area of low altitude land. Streams and rivers from the mountains flow into the Amazon River, one of the largest rivers in the world. This area is also the home of the largest rainforest in the world.
The Atacama Desert: Trapped between an ocean and a mountain range, this is one of the driest regions in the world.
The Andes Mountains: This is the longest mountain range on any continent in the world. They are the highest mountains in South America.
Most of the Inca territory was located in the Andes Mountains. Climate in mountain ranges is affected by elevation, or how high the land is. The Inca were able to do different activities at different elevations, depending on the climate there.
Llamas are legendary!
According to this Inca legend, llamas once helped save humanity:
Once upon a time, the god of creation was angry with humanity because people had forgotten their duty to worship him. The god spoke to a group of llamas that were grazing and told them that he was planning to send a flood to punish the humans.
Afraid for the safety of their owners, the llamas ran and told them of the coming flood. The owners who believed the talking llamas followed their companions to the top of the highest mountains in the Andes. When the flood came, only the humans who had followed the llamas survived. The humans who survived were called the Inca.
The terrain and weather conditions in the Andes made life challenging. The Inca had to be creative to live there. They designed different systems that made it easier to grow crops and manage water in the mountains.
How did agricultural terraces help crops?
Terraces allowed the Inca to create flat spaces to grow their crops. But, terraces had other advantages as well.
The stones in the terrace walls absorbed heat from sunlight. When temperatures dropped at night, heat from the rocks helped keep the soil and the roots of the plants warm.
When it was rainy, the walls kept the rainwater from flowing downhill. They helped conserve the water that crops needed to grow!
The Inca people were successful farmers. When the weather in the Andes was good, the Inca harvested more crops than they needed. The Inca built structures called colcas (KOHL-kahs) to preserve the extra food they harvested. This food could be used in case of emergencies.
Inca refrigerators
Colcas were built high up on mountains where the air was cool. Inca engineers placed sets of windows near the ceilings of these structures. The windows allowed cool wind to come in and warm air to go out of the colcas.
Today, many historians call the large amount of territory the Inca controlled the Inca Empire. One of the main characteristics of the empire was that Inca society was under the control of a single person known as the Inca emperor. Ruling such a large territory could be a difficult task.
Today, many historians call the large amount of territory the Inca controlled the Inca Empire.
One of the main characteristics of the empire was that Inca society was under the control of a single person known as the Inca emperor.
Ruling such a large territory could be a difficult task.
What did the Inca call their empire?
Inca Empire is the name that Spanish explorers, and later historians, gave to the government that the Inca created. But the Inca had a word for their government in their own language. The Inca called their government Tahuantinsuyu. In Quechua, the word Tahuantinsuyu means "the four regions united as one."
Inca emperors started many building projects. One of the biggest projects was building a road system.
When it was finished, the system included more than 24,000 miles of road! It was one of the largest and most complex road systems in the world at that time.
A beautiful road!
The Inca called their road system the Qhapaq Ñan (kah-PAHK NYAHN) which means "the beautiful road." The Inca made sure that their road system was always in good condition. For example, hanging bridges connected sections of road, and engineers replaced the bridges every year! The Inca took care of their road so well that some sections of road are still used by thousands of indigenous people today.
Because the empire was so large, sharing news across it was hard. But roads made it much easier to carry information between Cusco and the rest of the empire. The table describes some of the people involved in delivering messages.
When there was a problem in a far-away part of the empire, a community leader called a curaca would come up with a message to share with the emperor. Next, a chasqui memorized the message and ran to deliver it to the emperor.
The chasqui would travel to the capital by following the roads. He could travel safely because the roads were protected by the hatun runa.
Once a chasqui arrived in Cusco, he would meet with a quipucamayoc. The quipucamayoc listened to the chasqui and communicated his message to the emperor.
The Inca road system also allowed people from all over the Inca Empire to visit Cusco, the capital city. The Inca capital became both the center of government and an important trading center. Since Cusco was an important place, one emperor, named Yupanqui (joo-PAHN-kee), wanted to make sure the city looked important. So, he asked for many new buildings to be built.
You can still visit the buildings built by the Inca!
The city of Cusco still exists today. While the city has changed a lot since the time of the Inca, many of the structures that the Inca emperor had built are still around. The two best-preserved buildings from Inca Cusco are the sun temple and a fortress just outside the city.
Inca emperors needed lots of workers for their projects. To get workers, an emperor would force people from all over the empire to come work for him. However, it was important to the emperor that these workers felt like they benefited from the work.
How many people did it take to build Cusco?
According to some historians, the Inca emperor Pachacuti requested 30,000 people to work in building projects across all of Cusco. These workers usually spent three months working in the capital before being replaced by new workers. Some of the more complex buildings, such as the sun temple, took more than 25 years to finish!
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