Inca Empire: Advanced Mesoamerican Civilization

Early Incan Empire

Known as Tawantinsuyu or the Land of Four Quarters, the Incan Empire began in the Andean Mountains of South America during the 12th century—descended from pre-Incan groups in the region credited with creating the ancient Nazca Lines—gradually expanding their territory through military conquest and the diplomacy of their emperors, eventually spanning some 2,500 miles from northern Ecuador to central Chile.

Incan Empire Population and Civilization

At the empire’s peak during the reign of the eighth Incan emperor Viracocha Inca in the early 15th century, the Incan Empire grew to some 12 million inhabitants from more than 100 distinct ethnic groups, forming a cohesive state due to shared religious beliefs and a common language.

Known for their expansive irrigation and transportation networks, including 15,000 miles of interconnected roads, the Incas employed relay runners to carry messages across the vast Incan Empire, at an impressive rate of 150 miles a day, thanks to the ingestion of coca leaves, which is the unrefined plant-based precursor to cocaine.

Most Incas were self-sufficient farmers who tended to corn, potatoes and squash, llamas, alpacas and dogs, while paying taxes through public labor, which led to the construction of mountain palaces, city states and temples, where high priests diagnosed illnesses, solved crimes and predicted the outcome of planned military campaigns.

The Incan people also developed surgical techniques, sophisticated calendars, intricate textile patterns and decorative yet functional ceramics, as well as gold and silver jewelry and art.

Who Conquered the Incas?

Much like the Mayan and Aztec empires to the north in Central America, the arrival of Spanish explorers in the 1500s spelled an end to the Incan Empire, due to the superior weaponry of the Spanish, and the introduction of foreign diseases like smallpox and influenza, which eventually wiped out 90% of indigenous populations in North, Central and South America.

Driven by rumors of Incan gold, Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro lured Incan emperor Atahualpa into a meeting in November of 1532, later killing him before sacking the Incan stronghold of Cusco in late 1533.

36 years later, the Spanish captured the Inca’s final jungle town of Vilcabamba, ending the Incan Empire by capturing and executing Tupak Amaru, the final heir to the Incan thrown, making the Incan Empire, one of the most advanced civilizations in mesoamerican history.