The Inca

The Inca civilization of the Andes mountains is one of many pre-Columbian societies that arose in western South America. Because the Inca were the dominant group at the time of European discovery and subsequent conquest by Francisco Pizzaro in 1532, we know more about them then all of their predecessors.

The "Inca Civilization" was a society of the Quechua people. During their relatively brief reign from about 1250 A.D. to1532 A.D., the government brought several other tribes and societies into the economic and politcal sphere of the Sapa Inca, the supreme ruler. This society was theocratic. The Sapa Inca was believed to be the Son of the Sun and a divine being himself. The amount and variety of territory and peoples that the Inca Empire controlled is truly astonishing. In its height of expansion, the area included extremely dry coastal regions, high Andean plateaus and portions of the cloud forest and even tropical rain forest of the Amazon basin. The nation-state extended for 1,200 miles in the north-south direction along the coast of the continent and inland over the Andes and onto the east side.

• About the Political/Religious Organization of the Inca Empire
• Visit the Ruins of Sacsahuaman
• Visit the Ruins of Machu Picchu
• Further Reading about the Incas

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