Editing Inca Empire (section)

== Government ==
{{Main|Government of the Inca Empire}}

=== {{anchor|Beliefs}}Beliefs ===
[[File:José Bernardo de Tagle Inti.svg|thumb|upright|[[Inti]], as represented by [[José Bernardo de Tagle]] of Peru]]

The Sapa Inca, the head of upper Cusco,<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Espinoza |first=Waldemar |title=Los Incas |publisher=Amaru Editores |date=1997 |edition=3 |page=297 |language=es |trans-title=The Incas}}</ref> was conceptualized as divine and was effectively head of the state religion. The ''[[Willaq Umu]]'' (or Chief Priest), the head of lower Cusco,<ref name=":5" /> was second to the emperor. Local religious traditions continued and in some cases such as the Oracle at [[Pachacamac]] on the coast, were officially venerated. Following Pachacuti, the Sapa Inca claimed descent from Inti, who placed a high value on imperial blood; by the end of the empire, it was common to [[incest]]uously wed brother and sister. He was "son of the sun", and his people the ''Intip churin'', or "children of the sun", and both his right to rule and mission to conquer derived from his holy ancestor.{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}} The Sapa Inca also presided over ideologically important festivals, notably during the ''[[Inti Raymi]]'' or "Sun festival" attended by soldiers, mummified rulers, nobles, clerics and the general population of Cusco beginning on the June solstice and culminating nine days later with the ritual breaking of the earth using a foot plow by the Inca. Moreover, Cusco was considered cosmologically central, loaded as it was with ''huacas'' and radiating ''ceque'' lines as the geographic center of the Four-Quarters; [[Inca Garcilaso de la Vega]] called it "the navel of the universe".<ref>{{cite book |title=An Introduction to American Archaeology: South America |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=J6pGAAAAMAAJ}} |date=1966 |publisher=[[Prentice Hall]] |last=Willey |first=Gordon R. |pages=173–175}}</ref>{{sfn|D'Altroy|2014|pp=86–89, 111, 154–55}}{{sfn|Moseley|2001|pp=81–85}}{{sfn|McEwan|2008|pp=138–139}}

=== Organization of the empire ===
The Inca Empire was a decentralized government consisting of a central government with the Inca at its head and four regional quarters, or ''suyu'':
* [[Chinchay Suyu|Chinchay suyu]] (NW)
* [[Anti Suyu|Anti suyu]] (NE)
* [[Kunti Suyu|Kunti suyu]] (SW)
* [[Qulla Suyu|Qulla suyu]] (SE)

The four corners of these quarters met at the center, Cuzco. These ''suyu'' were likely created around 1460 during the reign of Pachacuti before the empire reached its largest territorial extent. At the time the ''suyu'' were established they were roughly of equal size and only later changed their proportions as the empire expanded north and south along the Andes.{{sfn|Steward|1946|p=262}}

Cuzco was likely not organized as a ''wamani'' or province. Rather, it was probably somewhat akin to a modern [[federal district]], like Washington, DC or Mexico City. The city sat at the center of the four ''suyu'' and served as the preeminent center of politics and religion. While Cusco was essentially governed by the Sapa Inca, his relatives and the royal ''panaqa'' lineages, each ''suyu'' was governed by an ''Apu'' a term of esteem used for men of high status and for venerated mountains. Both Cuzco as a district and the four ''suyu'' as administrative regions were grouped into upper ''hanan'' and lower ''hurin'' divisions. As the Inca did not have written records, it is impossible to exhaustively list the constituent ''wamani''. However, colonial records allow us to reconstruct a partial list. There were likely more than 86 ''wamani'', with more than 48 in the highlands and more than 38 on the coast.{{sfn|Steward|1946|pp=185–192}}{{sfn|D'Altroy|2014|pp=42–43, 86–89}}{{sfn|McEwan|2008|pp=113–114}}

==== Suyu ====
[[File:Inca Empire South America.png|thumb|upright|The four ''suyus'' or quarters of the empire]]

The most populous ''suyu'' was [[Chinchaysuyu]], which encompassed the former [[Chimor|Chimú Empire]] and much of the northern Andes. At its largest extent, it extended through much of what are now Ecuador and Colombia.

The largest ''suyu'' by area was [[Qullasuyu]], named after the [[Aymara language|Aymara]]-speaking [[Qulla people]]. It encompassed what is now the Bolivian [[Altiplano]] and much of the southern Andes, reaching what is now Argentina and as far south as the [[Maipo River|Maipo]] or [[Maule river]] in modern [[Incas in Central Chile|Central Chile]].<ref name="Dillehay1988">{{Cite book |last1=Dillehay |first1=T. |last2=Gordon |first2=A. |author-link1=Tom Dillehay |editor-first1=Tom |editor-last1=Dillehay |editor-first2=Patricia |editor-last2=Netherly |chapter=La actividad prehispánica y su influencia en la Araucanía |title=La frontera del estado Inca |chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=F9UuVyGcZ7MC}} |publisher=Editorial Abya Yala |isbn=978-9978-04-977-8 |date=1998}}</ref> Historian [[José Bengoa]] singled out [[Quillota]] as likely being the foremost Inca settlement in Chile.{{sfn|Bengoa|2003|pp=37–38}}

The second smallest ''suyu'', [[Antisuyu]], was northwest of Cusco in the high Andes. Its name is the root of the word "Andes".{{sfn|D'Altroy|2014|p=87}}

[[Kuntisuyu]] was the smallest ''suyu'' located along the southern coast of modern Peru, extending into the highlands towards Cusco.{{sfn|D'Altroy|2014|pp=87–88}}

=== Laws ===
The Inca state had no [[Judicial independence|separate judiciary]] or [[Code (law)|codified laws]]. Customs, expectations and traditional local power holders governed behavior. The state had legal force, such as through ''tukuy rikuq'' ({{lit|he who sees all}}) or inspectors. The highest such inspector, typically a blood relative to the Sapa Inca, acted independently of the conventional hierarchy, providing a point of view for the Sapa Inca free of bureaucratic influence.{{sfn|D'Altroy|2014|pp=235–236}}

The Inca had three moral precepts that governed their behavior:{{Citation needed|date=September 2024}}
* ''Ama sua'': Do not steal
* ''Ama llulla'': Do not lie
* ''Ama quella'': Do not be lazy

=== Administration ===
Colonial sources are not entirely clear or in agreement about Inca government structure, such as exact duties and functions of government positions. But the basic structure can be broadly described. The top was the ''Sapa Inca'', who wore the {{lang|qu|[[maskaypacha]]}} as a symbol of power.<ref>{{cite book |last=Baudin |first=Louis |title=Daily Life in Peru under the Last of the Incas |date=1961 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]]}}</ref> Below that may have been the ''Willaq Umu'', literally the "priest who recounts", the High Priest of the Sun.{{sfn|D'Altroy|2014|p=99}} However, beneath the ''Sapa Inca'' also sat the ''Inkap rantin'', who was a confidant and assistant to the ''Sapa Inca'', perhaps similar to a Prime Minister.<ref>{{cite journal |first=R. T. |last=Zuidema |title=Hierarchy and Space in Incaic Social Organization |journal=Ethnohistory |volume=30 |issue=2 |date=Spring 1983 |pages=49–75 |doi=10.2307/481241 |jstor=481241}}</ref> Starting with [[Topa Inca Yupanqui]], a "Council of the Realm" was composed of 16 nobles: 2 from ''hanan'' Cusco; 2 from ''hurin'' Cusco; 4 from Chinchaysuyu; 2 from Cuntisuyu; 4 from Collasuyu; and 2 from Antisuyu. This weighting of representation balanced the ''hanan'' and ''hurin'' divisions of the empire, both within Cuzco and within the Quarters (''hanan suyu'' and ''hurin suyu'').{{sfn|Zuidema|1983|p=48}}

While provincial [[bureaucracy]] and government varied greatly, the basic organization was decimal. Taxpayers – male heads of household of a certain age range – were organized into [[corvée labor]] units (often doubling as military units) that formed the state's muscle as part of [[mit'a]] service. Each unit of more than 100 tax-payers were headed by a ''kuraka'', while smaller units were headed by a ''kamayuq'', a lower, non-hereditary status. However, while ''kuraka'' status was hereditary and typically served for life, the position of a ''kuraka'' in the hierarchy was subject to change based on the privileges of superiors in the hierarchy; a ''pachaka kuraka'' could be appointed to the position by a ''waranqa kuraka''. Furthermore, one ''kuraka'' in each decimal level could serve as the head of one of the nine groups at a lower level, so that a ''pachaka kuraka'' might also be a ''waranqa kuraka'', in effect directly responsible for one unit of 100 tax-payers and less directly responsible for nine other such units.{{sfn|Julien|1982|pp=121–127}}{{sfn|D'Altroy|2014|pp=233–234}}{{sfn|McEwan|2008|pp=114–115}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Kuraka in Charge{{sfn|Julien|1982|p=123}}{{sfn|D'Altroy|2014|p=233}} !! Number of Taxpayers
|-
| ''Hunu kuraka'' || 10,000
|-
| ''Pichkawaranqa kuraka'' || 5,000
|-
| ''Waranqa kuraka'' || 1,000
|-
| ''Pichkapachaka kuraka'' || 500
|-
| ''Pachaka kuraka'' || 100
|-
| ''Pichkachunka kamayuq'' || 50
|-
| ''Chunka kamayuq'' || 10
|}