Ancient Incan Empire

The Ancient Inca’s were one of the biggest empires of the pre-colonial America’s. The Ancient Inca’s contributed to civilization through some of their crops, their 2,250 miles of roads and their technology. The Ancient Inca’s were on the Pacific Coast of South America. The Ancient Incan Empire lasted from the 12th century through to the 16th century: when the Spanish brought diseases and invaded/ sacked the Incan Empire. The Incan Empire was one the of the largest empires in the America’s along with others like the Mayan’s and Aztecs.

The Incan Empire gave great achievements to human civilization and technology. The Incan Empire lasted between the 12th century- through the 16th century. They were located in modern day Peru, the Pacific Coast and the Andean Highlands. The ancient Incan’s created the Nazca lines in the 12th century- a series of lines drawn into the landscape.  Incan subjects typically were, “Most Inca subjects were self-sufficient farmers who tended to corn, potatoes, squash, llamas, alpacas and dogs, and paid taxes through public labor.”[1] This meant that most Incan citizens were completely self sufficient and gave to the Incan empire by doing some public labor to help the Incan empire grow. The Incan’s are best known for the Machu Pichu, an amazing fortress complex. Their greatest gifts to civilization include calendars, textiles, ceramics, surgical techniques, agriculture techniques called surface squaring and Cocoa leaves as medicine. The Incan Empire’s achievements included religion as well, that continues to be mixed with the Roman Catholic Religion in South America. [2]

Incan religion was based on nature and environmental influences. Incan religion was based on the sun god, creator god and the rain god. The Incans committed animal sacrifice to create their divination which was used to solve crimes, diagnose illnesses and also predict the outcome of warfare. Past emperors were also recognized as religious/ divine figures, so they were paraded around religious festivities. Incan religion is still a small part of the global culture- contributing to small changes in local South American Religion to the Roman Catholic Church.[3]

The Incan Empire lasted from the 12th-16th century- after which it started to collapse and then be sacked, because of disease and superior troops. The Incan empire started to collapse in the 15h century when the invading Spanish Empire brought with them Smallpox and Influenza. The diseases decimated their population, afterward there was a massive civil war that further weakened the empire. When the Spanish came, they kidnapped and executed the emperor of the Incas, in 1538, and then pillaged the Incan capital. They were only 168 Spanish Soldiers that sacked an entire empires capital- even though they were greatly outnumbered, the Spanishes’ superior armor and weapons allowed them to fight off a much higher number of troops. Incan Society was very stratified. [4]

The Incan Empire lead South America all along the Pacific Coast. The structure of Inca society was highly differentiated from an Emperor, then nobles leading the Incan Empire. It was a harsh and repressive empire with the emperor highly controlling everything in his grasp. Incan technology and architecture were highly developed. The economy was based on farming- local indigenous foods- they had a few animals that they farmed as well. They made clothing out of llama wool and cotton. Houses were made from stone or mud.  The Incan Empire is comprised of 2,250 thousand miles of roads. Runners could pass messages along at the rate of 150 miles a day. The descendants of the empire are about 45% of modern-day Peru citizens. The Incan left no written records. What we know about them today comes from orally passed down knowledge, the Spanishes writings about them and archeology. The Incan Empire did have a little bit of written down writing- but modern humans have not been able to decipher it yet.[5]

The ancient Incan Empire lasted for 400 hundred years, was highly stratified, its religion was based on nature, and they were mostly farmers. The Ancient Incan Empire fell when the Spanish came because the Spanish were vastly superior militarily; influenza and smallpox also were devastating and killed millions of people. The Incan Religion was based on a Sun god, Raid god and a Creator god. The Ancient Incans had advanced technology and the Emperor was very controlling/powerful and it was a harsh system.

Citations:

“The Inca.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. Last modified April 21, 2025. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Inca.

Schrager, Sara, David A. Vieglais, and Marlys L. Koschmann. “The Inca: A Comprehensive Review of Historical and Cultural Legacies.” Journal of Andean Studies 54, no. 2 (2007): e1–e15. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2629829/.

Pruitt, Sarah. “Inca: Empire, Religion & Civilization.” History, A&E Television Networks. Last updated May 27, 2025. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://www.history.com/articles/inca.

[1] Sarah Pruitt, “Inca: Empire, Religion & Civilization,” History, A&E Television Networks, last updated May 27, 2025, https://www.history.com/articles/inca.

[2] Ibid

[3] Ibid

[4] Ibid

[5] “The Inca,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, last modified April 21, 2025, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Inca.