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What do you remember from your chapters about Inca, Maya and Aztecs?
Cuzco and the Incas: 15th century AD
In the early 15th century the town of Cuzco is a small place, the headquarters of one of many competing tribes within the region which was once ruled from Tiwanaku. But in about 1438 a younger son of the ruler defeats the neighbouring Chanca people, usurps power, gives himself the resounding title Pachacuti ('transformer of the earth') and begins an astonishing process of military expansion. The policy is continued by his son, Topa Inca (also sometimes called Tupac Inca).
By the end of two long reigns (about fifty-five years in all) the Cuzco dynasty, known as the Incas, are in loose control of an empire stretching from Quito in modern Ecuador to the Maule river in Chile - a distance of nearly 2500 miles.
Even allowing for the exaggerations of oral history transmitted within a ruling dynasty, this is a remarkable achievement. Pachacuti and Topa Inca, though hardly household names, are a double generation of conquerors comparable toPhilip of Macedon and his son Alexander.
The Inca expansion also shares some features withGenghis Khan's programme of conquest. A few brutal military victories suffice to terrify other petty rulers into cooperation, and the success of the Incas derives partly from excellent roads and communications.
Inca roads: 15th century AD
The Inca roads, the arteries of an empire, amount in all to more than 14,000 miles. They are not paved, in the way of Roman roads, nor are they even much flattened - for this empire contains no wheeled vehicle nor any horses.
The Incas rule over massively varied terrain, made up of large areas of jungle, desert and rugged highlands. Their roads are in effect paths, kept clear in these difficult conditions. Suspension bridges span small ravines, enabling runners to hurry unimpeded with a message - or caravans of llamas to make slower but steady progress with bales of raw materials and precious fabrics.
As in the ancient Persian empire and many others, runners are housed at short distances along the routes to provide a rapid relay service. But unlike similar routes in Asian empires, these roads transmit only verbal messages. The Incas have no writing. Their empire is administered like a vast game of Chinese whispers. No doubt most communication gets through in accurate form. But then perhaps long-distance messages in all early empires tend to be simple - instructions to fight, to return to base, to send stated amounts of men or materials, with sometimes news of a king's death or the identity of his successor.
Instead of writing, the local medium for recording simple information is an invention of the Andean civilizations - the quipu.
Read more:http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac84#ixzz1b3UsQarc
Cuzco and the Incas: 15th century AD
In the early 15th century the town of Cuzco is a small place, the headquarters of one of many competing tribes within the region which was once ruled from Tiwanaku. But in about 1438 a younger son of the ruler defeats the neighbouring Chanca people, usurps power, gives himself the resounding title Pachacuti ('transformer of the earth') and begins an astonishing process of military expansion. The policy is continued by his son, Topa Inca (also sometimes called Tupac Inca).
By the end of two long reigns (about fifty-five years in all) the Cuzco dynasty, known as the Incas, are in loose control of an empire stretching from Quito in modern Ecuador to the Maule river in Chile - a distance of nearly 2500 miles.
Even allowing for the exaggerations of oral history transmitted within a ruling dynasty, this is a remarkable achievement. Pachacuti and Topa Inca, though hardly household names, are a double generation of conquerors comparable toPhilip of Macedon and his son Alexander.
The Inca expansion also shares some features withGenghis Khan's programme of conquest. A few brutal military victories suffice to terrify other petty rulers into cooperation, and the success of the Incas derives partly from excellent roads and communications.
Inca roads: 15th century AD
The Inca roads, the arteries of an empire, amount in all to more than 14,000 miles. They are not paved, in the way of Roman roads, nor are they even much flattened - for this empire contains no wheeled vehicle nor any horses.
The Incas rule over massively varied terrain, made up of large areas of jungle, desert and rugged highlands. Their roads are in effect paths, kept clear in these difficult conditions. Suspension bridges span small ravines, enabling runners to hurry unimpeded with a message - or caravans of llamas to make slower but steady progress with bales of raw materials and precious fabrics.
As in the ancient Persian empire and many others, runners are housed at short distances along the routes to provide a rapid relay service. But unlike similar routes in Asian empires, these roads transmit only verbal messages. The Incas have no writing. Their empire is administered like a vast game of Chinese whispers. No doubt most communication gets through in accurate form. But then perhaps long-distance messages in all early empires tend to be simple - instructions to fight, to return to base, to send stated amounts of men or materials, with sometimes news of a king's death or the identity of his successor.
Instead of writing, the local medium for recording simple information is an invention of the Andean civilizations - the quipu.
Read more:http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ac84#ixzz1b3UsQarc
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