Inca Empire | History, Government, Empire, Facts & Culture

The Inca Empire was vast when the Spanish arrived in Peru in the 1500s. It had an estimated 10 million residents and covered more than 2000 km from north to south. To manage such a vast empire, the Inca needed a competent and well-organized government.

Monarchy

The Tawantinsuyu was the name of the Inca administration. It was a monarchy under the control of a single ruler known as the Sapa Inca.

The term “sole ruler” Sapa Inca was used to refer to the Inca Empire’s monarch or king. Everyone in the country answered to the Sapa Inca, who was the most powerful person there. The queen, his main spouse, was known as the coya.

Inca Government Organization

There were various commanders who assisted in governing the empire beneath the Sapa Inca. High ranked officials were always of the Inca class and frequently related to the emperor.

Viceroy
The viceroy, or Inkap Rantin, was in charge beneath the Sapa Inca. He served as the Sapa Inca’s closest counselor and was one of his relatives.

The High Priest
The “Willaq Umu,” the high priest, was a very strong man as well. Due to the significance of religion in the Inca Empire, he was undoubtedly second in authority to the Sapa Inca.

Governing a Quarter:
There were four sections of the Inca Empire. Apu governors served as the head of state in each of these quarters.

The Realm’s Council
The Sapa Inca also maintained a council of individuals who gave him counsel on important issues. These were strong noblemen.

The inspectors
The Sapa Inca employed inspectors to keep an eye on the populace in order to maintain control, ensure that they were paying their taxes, and ensure that they were adhering to Inca customs. “tokoyrikoq” was the name given to the inspectors.

Military commanders
Military generals were also present. Typically, the Sapa Inca’s closest relative served as the top general. They were referred to as “Apukuna” leaders.

Additional Officials
Priests, military officers, judges, and tax collectors were just a few of the various leaders and officials who served the Inca Empire.

Partitioning the Empire

“Suyu” were the divisions used to describe the Empire. Chinchay Suyu, Anti Suyu, Qulla Suyu, and Kunti Suyu were the four suyu. The capital city of Cuzco was located in the middle of the four quarters.

The provinces known as “wamani” were then further divided into each suyu. Each wamani frequently consisted of a tribe that the Inca had subjugated. Each wamani also contained smaller divisions.

The ayllu was the smallest and maybe most significant unit of the government. The ayllu, which consisted of several families, frequently behaved like a big family. Taxes had to be paid by the ayllu. Additionally, the government allocated land to each ayllu based on the population of the group.

The Inca Tax

The Incas need food and resources to run their kingdom, which they obtained through taxes. Taxes had to be paid to the government by each ayllu. To ensure that everyone paid their taxes, the Inca employed tax inspectors to keep an eye on the populace.

The people were required to pay two types of taxes in particular. The first tax was levied against the ayllu’s harvest. The government received the first third of the crops, followed by the priests who received the second third, and the general populace received the third.

The mit’a was the name of the second tax kind. Each man between the ages of 16 and 60 had to pay the mit’a labor tax by spending a certain amount of time each year working for the government. They held a variety of jobs, including those as miners for gold, workers on government structures and highways, and even soldiers.

Laws and Penalties

The Sapa Inca created the laws, which were disseminated to the populace via tax collectors. It was against the law to commit murder, steal, file false tax returns, and curse the gods.

But there wasn’t much crime under the Inca Empire, largely because the penalties were so severe. For instance, cursing the gods resulted in many executions. Their hands would be severed if they were caught stealing.

Interesting information about the Inca Empire’s administration

Every ayllu had a tax collector on staff.

Even though the Inca possessed a network of roadways connecting their cities, commoners were not permitted to use them. Trespassers were typically put to death on the army-guarded roadways.

The inspectors go by the moniker “tokoyrikoq,” which means “he who sees everything.”

Most vanquished tribes were permitted to stay in their original locations. They would be relocated to different parts of the empire if they were thought to be rebellious, though.

Since they were used for communication, the Inca highways were a crucial component of their government.