The Incas: Expansion

Mann (1471) identifies the Incas' goal thusly: “The Inka* goal was to knit the scores of different groups in wesern South America – some as rich as the Incka themselves, some poor and disorganized, all speaking different languages – into a single bureaucratic framework under the rule of the emperor. The unity was not merely political: the Inka wanted to meld together the area's religion, economics, and arts.” The Incas were attempting something that had never been done in South America. They weren't just looking to expand their borders and gain riches, they had a focus on cultural imperialism as well. Much like the Spanish colonists who would one day be their demise, the Inca imposed their language and culture onto the peoples of eastern South America. This is important to note. As Mark Adams points out: “Today, perhaps because Machu Picchu is so popular among the spiritually inclined, the Incas are sometimes portrayed as a peaceful race who graciously invited neighboring tribes to join their thriving territorial conglomerate. In reality, they could be as brutal as the conquistadors.” As brutal and terrifying as the Spanish conquest of Peru was, it was not a brand new phenomenon. The Incas were just the last and most successful of many imperial states that conquered and subjugated native South American populations. I say this not to excuse the Spanish, but to remind us to be wary of seeing the Inca as passive, pathetic victims. Indeed, we will see later that some groups, unhappy with Incan rule, aided the Spanish in their march to Cusco.

The historian Edward W. Luttwack distinguishes between two kinds of empires: territorial and hegemonic. A territorial empire is what most of us think of when we hear the word empire: armies expanding borders and directly ocuppying new territories and the overthrow of pre-imperial rulers. Territorial empires rule directly. Hegemonic empires are subtler. Hegemonic empires allow conquered areas to retain much of their governments as long as they recognize the authority of the empire. A territorial empire is expensive to maintain, because they are so tightly controlled. A hegemonic empire, while cheaper, is also more prone to rebellion because of the loose ties between the imperial state and the conquered governments. While any imperial state employs both strategies, the Incas tended toward the hegemonic route. This is in no small way a matter of geographical destiny. Without horses or camels, the Incas couldn't move their armies as quickly as Old World empires could. Therefore it was much more difficult to reassign forces that were occupying territory to serve imperial interests elsewhere.

The Incas had territorial expansion down to a process.

1.      Import settlers from another region of the empire to the newly conquered region.

2.      Encourage the settlers not to assimlate.

3.      Require everyone (settlers and locals) to use Ruma Suni (today known as Quechua).

4.      Manipulate the resulting tension between the settlers and the locals to establish cultural and political control.

The end result of this process is homogeneity. Everyone speaks the same language, everyone worships the gods. Incan expansion wasn't about a victory of “us” over “them,” it was about turning “them” into “us.” They were pretty successful. You only have to look at the above map of the regions where Quechua is still spoken today (in yellow) to see how lasting parts of their legacy has been.

*Quechua, the language of the Incas, was not written down before the Spanish arrived. Therefore, when the Spanish missionaries began compiling histories and learning the Quechua language, they used the Spanish alphabet to record spoken Quechua. One result of this is that there is no standard Quechua dictionary. The same word is spelled multiple ways. Inca and Inka are equally acceptable. Cuzco, Cusco, Q'osqo are all different ways to spell the name of the city that I flew into 2 months ago. Like the changing names of the Inca rulers, it makes things confusing.