2. Who were the Incas?
The Inca were a group of
people who lived in what
is now modern day Peru
in South America
They built their empire
in the rugged terrain of
the Andes Mountains
They existed between
1438 and 1525 around the
same time as the Aztecs
3. Tough Terrain
The Andes is an area of
geographic extremes:
Tropical Rainforests
Fertile Valleys
Some of the highest
mountains in the world
Highland plateau lies
between two mountain
ranges
4. Adapting to Tough Terrain
Settled in a fertile
The tough terrain made
mountain valley more
than 11.000 feet above sea
level
Founded their capital
city Cuzco
The Inca spread their
territory throughout the
1400’s
Pachacuti became
emperor in 1438
it difficult to rule
Cities were almost
impossible to grow
Cuzco probably held no
more than 25,000 people
and Machu Picchu only
housed around 1,000
5. How did the Inca rule?
The Incas took several
steps to control and
govern their people:
Subjects were divided
into family groups
Required to learn
Quechua language and
worship the Incan gods
6. Daily lives of the Inca
Incan farmers adapted to the difficult terrain –
terraced hillsides and built irrigation
Communication was difficult – chasquis carried
messages up and down the length of the empire
Members of society were asked to perform a few days
of labor each year
Inca had a moneyless economy – trade was in the form
of barter or exchanges of goods and services – Trade
was limited and controlled by the government
7. Nobles ran the
Incan Society
Two Main Groups
Nobles
Commoners
government, controlled
the army, and enjoyed a
rich life style of life
Most commoners (with
the exception of artists)
were farmers and
fisherman –performed
basic tasks like growing
crops for everyone
Once someone was born
into a class they stayed in
a class
8. Incan Religion
Believed that their
emperor was the son of
the sun god Inti – the
most important god
Built many temples
Priests were performed
rituals such as animal
sacrifices and the
occasional human
sacrifice
9. Warfare and the Mighty Incan
Army
Nearly 200,000 strong
It was so frightening that
the emperor often had
only to ask neighboring
peoples to join the
empire
Soldiers were
commoners – some were
prisoners of war
10. Incan Record Keeping
No form of writing
Used a counting tool
called quipu – cord with
knotted rope with
various lengths tied to it
Preserved legacy
through oral tradition
and another type of
quipu
11. Roads
Built a huge network of
roads and highways 14,000
miles
Built tunnels through hills
Built forts, palaces, and
temples from huge stone
blocks put together
without mortar
Artisans made jewelry, and
figurines out of precious
metals
12. Fall of the Incan Empire
Invaded by the Spanish
The empire was weakened by unrest – Atahualpa won the
throne by defeating his brother in a bitter civil war that
began in 1527
1532 Francisco Pizarro arrived at an Incan port
The Spanish tricked the Incan emperor, kidnapped and
executed him
The conquered people of the Incan empire rebelled
By 1535 Spanish controlled most of the Incan lands –
enslaved many, killed millions with dieseases
Last Incan ruler was defeated in `1572