Cuzco Research Paper

The Inca were South American Indian people who ruled one of the largest and richest empires in the America's. The Inca Empire began to expand about 1438 and occupied a vast region that centered on the capital, Cusco, in southern Peru. The Empire extended more than 2,500 miles (4,020 kilometers) along the western coast of South America. It included parts of Present - Day Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. The Inca Empire was conquered by Spanish Forces soon after their arrival in 1532.

Inca is a civilization long lived before in ancient Peru between C.1400 and 1533 CE. Inca had the largest empire on planet Earth. Approximately twelve million people lived there before the Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro invaded the Incan empire in 1532-1572. This fight has lasted for forty until it came to an end and the spanish had won and the former Inca lands had been incorporated and turned in Viceroyalty of Peru.

Inca city located on a mountain about 2,500 meters above sea level. It is located in the Cusco Region

Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui also invented the Capacocha, which was carried out in the following way: The provinces of Collasuyo, Chinchaysuyo, Antisuyo, and Cuntisuyo would bring to this city, from each town and lineage of people, one or two small boys or girls, of ten years old. They would also bring clothes and livestock, as well as sheep [made] of gold, silver, and mullu. These were kept in Cuzco for the reasons that will be told. After all this was assembled, the Inca would sit in the plaza of Haucaypata, which is the large plaza of Cuzco. There the children and other sacrifices walked around the statues of the Creator, Sun, Thunder, and Moon that were already in the plaza for this purpose. They made two turns around them, and after finishing, the Inca summoned the provincial priests and had the offerings divided into four parts for the four suyos: Collasuyo, Chinchaysuyo, Antisuyo, and Cuntisuyo, which are the four regions into which this land is divided. And he would tell them, “Each of you take your share of these offerings and sacrifices, take it to your principal huaca, and sacrifice them there.

In the 1400’s through the 1500”s there were the Aztec and Inca empires, both were empires that started out as marginalized peoples who conquered and absorbed other cultures. Aztec and Inca Empires were based on managing resources, goods, and people in an economy centered on intensive agriculture including having their currency systems. The economic characteristics of the Aztec and Inca empires were similar in that they both changed their environment to improve their agricultural system and they both focused on internal trade networks, however they differed in the way they taxed their people. The Aztecs were a triple alliance; three city states that banded together for the greater good. The joined civilizations were Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan. The Incas were located around modern day Peru, and are known as the largest empire in the pre-Columbian America.

The Incan Empire was the largest indigenous empire in the world before the conquest of South America by the Spaniards. "At its height, the Inca Empire controlled all of the western part of the South American continent between Ecuador and Chile. The Inca capital was at Cusco, Peru, and the Inca legends claimed they were descended from the great Tiwanaku civilization at Lake Titicaca" (Hirst 2012). The Incan rulers, at their Empire's height, were able to exercise control over such a massive territory in part because of their extensive system of roads. Incan roads spanned all over the empire, enabling a great deal of centralized control by the leadership hierarchy despite the territorial sprawl (Hirst 2012). "The Inca state's domain was unprecedented, its rule resulting in a universal language a form of Quechua, a religion worshipping the sun, and a 14,000 mile-long road system crisscrossing high Andean mountain passes and linking the rulers with the ruled" (Clark 2012). The roads were constructed so they could be traversed in all weathers.

The Spanish Conquistadors affected the world immensely. Beginning in 1519, Leader Hernan Cortes created and led the group of soldiers under the idea they would conquer all of the land. When the Aztecs had conquered land, the settlers had grown to oppose Aztec ruling. As a result of this, Cortes found it easy to make allies with people who felt the same way he did. Cortes started by attempting to conquer Tenochtitlán by cutting off food and water supply. This tactic was successful, for at the time smallpox spread and killed thousands of people. Tenochtitlan was conquered and the Spaniards looked to conquer Peru next. Under the leadership of Francisco Pizarro, the Inca empire was weakened significantly. Cuzco, the Incan capital, was captured

The Incan city Cuzco was an elongated triangle formed the meeting of two rivers (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 452). On one end opposite of the confluence, was a hill with several structures, including the imperial armory and a temple dedicated to the Sun god. Below on the plain, the city was laid out on a grid pattern where both the upper and lower class residents of the city lived in adobe houses arranged in a block and courtyard pattern (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 453). Various temples and squares in the city served as ceremonial centers. For instance, one plaza had a platform with the imperial throne and a pillar placed on the top (von Sivers, Desnoyers, and Stow 453).

The Aztec and Inca Empires The Aztec empire was established in the 14th century in the present-day location of Mexico City. Previous civilizations had already occupied the region which allowed the Aztecs to form a foundation off of their accomplishments. The Aztecs built the capital of Tenochtitlan on an island in Lake Texcoco. This would benefit them in the future.

The Incan Empire was the largest empire in the 16th century in South America. The capital was Cusco and the civilization had expand from the west coast of South America, modern day Ecuador, Boilivia, Argentia, and expanded to Peru. The government style was similar to that of socialism. The empire was divided into four provincial governments: Chinchasyu, Antisuyu, Kuntisuyu, and Qullasuyu. Inca Pachacuti had founded the empire and unite all of the kingdoms together. The thrown was then inherited by his decendent, but once the Spanish had reached South America the empire fell. Francisco Pizarro led the spanish into the empire and manipulated the two ruling emperors which then hed him to his victory. After capturing one of the emperors, Pizarro

The title "Inca Empire" was given by the Spanish to a Quechuan-speaking Native American population that established a vast empire in the Andes Mountains of South America shortly before its conquest by Europeans. The ancestral roots of this empire began in the Cuzco valley of highland Peru around 1100 AD. The empire was relatively small until the imperialistic rule of emperor Pachacuti around 1438. Pachacuti began a systematic conquest of the surrounding cultures, eventually engulfing over a hundred different Indian nations within a 30-year period. This conquest gave rise to an empire that, at its zenith in the early 16th century; consisted of an estimated 10 million subjects living

The City of Cuzco was a complex urban center with distinct religious and administrative functions. It was surrounded by clearly defined areas for agricultural, artisan, and industrial production. Besides the religious and government buildings, there were also exclusive abodes for royal families, which formed an unprecedented symbolic urban compound. This compound showed a stone construction technology with remarkable aesthetic and structural properties, such as the Temple of the Sun or Qoricancha. Cuzco was the capital of the Tawantinsuyu Inca Empire, which covered much of the South American Andes between the 15th and 16th centuries AD. It was abandoned by the Incas when the Spaniards conquered it in the 16th century.

In efforts to acquire more land, become wealthy by retrieving gold, and forcefully converting others to Catholicism, Francisco Pizarro imitated Cortés’s technique to vanquish and dominate the Incas, which resided in Peru in 1531. He captured Atahualpa, (the ruler at that time) in 1532, and made the Incas pay an extremely expensive ransom a year later. Nevertheless, Atahualpa was executed. Pizarro was then able to successfully defeat the Incas in 1533.He then took Cuzco, the capital

The wonderful description of Cuzco holds the purest truth! First, the city’s location is quite remarkable! Located at a breathtaking 11, 200 feet elevation, Cuzco offers a gorgeous site of pasture lands, mountains, and rivers (Scher). Second, the city’s layout is ideal, because it is composed of four highways for comfortable travel. Consequently, I could travel throughout the city safely and could enjoy the sites, such as the plazas and buildings. For example, I witnessed the tallest structure in the city—the Sunturwasi—and the notorious complex—the Coricancha (Cartwright). The precious metals that decorate the Coricancha both illustrate the wealth and power of the Incan Empire, and they amaze those who witness it. In general, Cuzco matched

Peru has a long history of people and groups that could possibly pre date the ancient superior compared to the others, and that was the Incan Empire. The Incan Empire originated from a tribe in Cuzco which became the capital. The Incan’s dominated a vast area of South America including from north to south Ecuador, part of Columbia, the northern half of Chile and the northeast part of Argentina; and from west to east, from Bolivia to the Amazon rainforest. (New World Encyclopedia) The Incans were not only powerful, but also very advanced. They created arguably the most advanced agricultural civilization in the world. Machu Picchu was a prime example of how advanced the Incan people were. Like all good things, everything has to come to an end. Spanish explorer named Francisco Pizarro found Peru in 1531 which was a time in which the Incan Empire was going through a civil war and ultimately led to their Empire. Francisco Pizarro captured the Incan Emperor and made all of the Incan people comply with him taking over. After the Empire was taken down, The Spanish conquerors established Lima as