Category Great Civilizations

          The Incas had an incredible system of roads. Since they lived in the Andes Mountains, it took great engineering and architectural skill to build the roads. Their cities were advanced. They had very efficient drainage and water supply system. A series of finely carved stone channels and basins carried water down through the mountain cities. The stone masons of the Inca Empire were very skilled, and they built marvellous shrines using stones.

          The government of the Inca Empire was organized like a pyramid, with the emperor Sapa Inca at the top. The emperor was believed to be descended from the sun and was treated as a god.

          The chief priest or Willaq Umu was the second to the emperor. The Incas had a council that comprised of 16 nobles. This council helped the emperor in administration. The Incas kept records of their administration by using knotted strings called quipu. 

               It may sound strange that the Incas had a festival called the ‘Festival of Dead’, where the dead emperors were paraded through the streets. The Incas strongly believed in the afterlife.

               According to the Inca belief, death was a passage to the next world that was full of difficulties. They called the spirit of the dead ‘camaquen’ and believed that a camaquen need the help of a black dog that can see even in darkness, so that they could pass the long road ahead of them. 

 

 

               They embalmed, or mummified their dead before burial. After the burial, relatives would bring food to the tomb of their beloved.

               The Incas did not practice creamation. They believed that, burning would cause their vital force to disappear, and also block their passage to the next world. The Incas also believed that the dead could hear them. 

          The Incas were prominent among the Andean civilizations. The Inca Civilization arose from the highlands of Peru sometime in the early 13th century. They built a powerful empire by defeating their neighbours and were the largest empire in pre-Columbian America, and possibly the largest empire in the world in the early 16th century.

          Under their great ruler, Pachacuti, they even extended their territory to the north, south and west. The Inca called their empire Tahuantinsuyu, meaning ‘land of four quarters’.

          The Incas were unique in many aspects. They never used wheeled vehicles. Instead, they carried goods on llamas. They did not use metals such as iron and steel. Above all, they lacked a system of writing.

          Today, it is remembered as one of the great civilizations that ever existed. 

             The Maya lived in city states, each with its own ruler. The cities were well organized. The largest Maya city was Tikal, in today’s Guatemala. It was settled in around 900 BC. But it rose to become an important city state only around AD 200. Tikal was in constant dispute with its neighbouring state Calakmul. The city had about 3,000 buildings. It extended over an area of 64 square kilometres, with a population of about 50,000.

            Palenque was another great city of the Maya. It became important from about AD 550. King Pakal the great, who ruled from AD 600 to 683, made this city great. But, after AD 780, the city’s power and glory declined.

            Another great city of the Maya Civilization was Chichen-Itza. It was founded in around AD 435. By AD 987, the city flourished, and become a major trading centre. The city Chichen-Itza is famous for its architectural wonders like the step pyramid of Kukulcan, the Temple of the Warriors, and the largest Maya ball game court.

          The Spanish conquest stripped away most of the defining features of Maya Civilization.

          However, many Maya villages remained remote from Spanish colonial authority, and for the most part, continued to manage their own affairs.

          The basic Mesoamerican diet of maize and beans continued, although agricultural output was improved by the introduction of steel tools. Traditional crafts such as weaving and ceramics continued to be practiced. Community markets and trade in local products continued long after the conquest.

          At times, the colonial administration encouraged the traditional economy in order to extract tribute in the form of ceramics or cotton textiles, which were popular among the Spanish.

          Besides that, the Maya language and beliefs proved resistant to change.

 

            The Maya city states were continuously at war with each other. By around AD 1240, most of the Maya territories disintegrated into small communities, battling against each other. All their wealth was destroyed by these frequent wars. This made their conquest by the Spanish easy.

            In 1511, a Spanish ship sunk in the Caribbean, and about a dozen survivors entered the coast of Yucatan peninsula, in south-eastern Mexico. They were seized by a Maya lord, and most were sacrificed, although two managed to escape.

           From 1517 to 1519, three separate Spanish expeditions explored the Yucatan coast, and engaged in a number of battles with the Maya inhabitants.

   

 

            In 1523, Pedro de Alvarado came with a huge army. Earlier, they formed a good alliance with the Maya but it did not last long because Spanish demanded the gold as tribute.

            Francisco de Montejo and his son, launched a long series of campaigns against the kingdoms of the Yucatan Peninsula in 1527, and finally completed the conquest of the northern portion of the peninsula in 1546. This left only the Maya kingdoms of the Peten Basin independent. In 1697, Martin de Ursua launched an assault on the Itza capital Nojpeten, and the last independent Maya city fell to the Spanish.