The Incan Army: From Its Origins Until Its Destruction (Volume 1)

By Leiner Cárdenas F.

This work tells the history of the Incan army from its origins until its destruction in 1572 A.D. It describes how, thanks to the organization and discipline of the army, the Incas were able to expand their borders and become one of the largest empires in the world.

The events of this ancient empire are explored from a military and historical viewpoint, highlighting wartime activities and major battles, and the main heroes who fought against the Spaniards. An excellent book for historians and anyone interested in the history of the ancient Peru of the Incas. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: BadPress
• Release date: Jun 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781547522576

Book preview

Chapter 1

Wars in the Andean world

Archeological evidence shows that there were wars in ancient Peru; there are fortresses, weapons, walled towns, trophy heads and other examples that bear this out. Although researchers have not been able to prove the existence of writing in the Andes, oral traditions tell the causes of war in the Andean world; the main reason was the fight for possession of farmland, water sources, and cattle. These conflicts gave rise to the first armed groups, which would subsequently organize into armies.

Extraordinary civilizations that occupied this region had specific characteristics, and each excelled at a certain activity; military organization, for example, evolved according to the circumstances, some inspired by the need to defend resources, and others to expand territory. When there were disputes regarding possession of land, water and pastures among towns, they chose their own chiefs (sinchis) exclusively to fight the wars. The Inca accumulated the most salient contributions from other ethnic peoples, forming a disciplined and powerful army, and becoming the largest empire in America in less than 100 years.

The wars of the Inca

The Inca initially fought for land and water; during the imperial stage, however, the purpose of the Incan wars was to consolidate occupation of the territories they had conquered, and to incorporate them into the imperial sphere. They also fought against outside aggressors, conspiracies and rebellions.

To achieve their ends, the group in power trusted more in the army, while the communities (ayllus) were not very interested in the military and political matters of the Incan Imperial State. There was no conflict between ayllus and the State, but there was indeed conflict from the leaders of the conquered peoples, who sought to have their own autonomy. This is why war became an important activity in the Tawantinsuyu. Incan peace was sustained due to activation of the ayllus, ongoing rewards, redistributions and garrisons of the imperial state.

One sector of the army was permanent (high-ranking military men); it was formed by the high command led by nobles from Cuzco who were led by the Inca himself and by his personal guard, which was comprised of people who had been trained in war and who were exclusively dedicated to war. The other sector of the army (comprised of lower-ranking military men) had high turnover; it included men who fulfilled their obligatory military duty by providing their services as soldiers for a determined period of time. The latter group was comprised of men from the different conquered cultures; these men were organized according to their ethnic origin, and they fought under the command of their respective kuracas, who in turn were subject to the high command.

State-run warehouses (kolcas) were built to handle the military apparatus. Soldiers in the upper and lower ranks enjoyed many benefits, especially high-ranking officers.

Soldiers (aucaruna) received abundant rations, and according to their rank, prestigious articles (jewelry, coca, cloth, etc.); while the Incan State required its community to continue cultivating land or raising cattle, other villages were dedicated to manufacturing weapons and military gear. Soldiers had great privilege and good reputations.

During the period of the last Inca, there were more war expeditions, but not to conquer new lands; rather to fight violent enemy incursions. During those governments more military campaigns were put into action to reveal conspiracies that arose from inside the ruling group of the imperial state, rather than to annex other provinces.

Economic and ideological matters were the determining factors for Inca military expansion. Economic interests predominated, as they benefited three social groups: first to benefit were the Sapa Inca, meaning the only Inca, and his family, then the nobility and finally the ayllu.

The dominant sector developed an ideology that it put into practice through education and special training regarding feelings of honor and military courage; this included ceremonies, songs and legends of military prowess that encouraged and fostered the pursuit of war.

Forms of conquest

The power of the Incan army meant that the Inca were able to expand their territory, but before resorting to force to conquer a region the Inca used diplomacy to attempt peaceful conquest. The Inca would send a diplomat called a Cachasca, who would inform foreign people and leaders of the advantages of becoming part of the empire. The Inca offered numerous benefits to the curaca, or chief of the region they sought to conquer, if he agreed to recognize the Inca as his overlord. If he submitted, whether in a friendly manner or due to fear of the invincible Incan army, he received the benefits offered, but submitted to the demands of the Incan State (to provide land, labor, soldiers, etc.). The Inca furthermore would respect the customs of the incorporated nation and its leaders.

When the diplomatic approach failed, that is, when the people the Inca sought to conquer did not agree to submit, or to the benefits that the Inca offered, violent conquest ensued.

War always loomed and the Incan army almost always triumphed. According to how long the war lasted, the conquered people were subject to the respective reprisals and their leader was executed if his rebellion was extreme. The survivors became yanaconas (yanakunas). Entire populations could be transferred to a more distant location, or completely annihilated if they were belligerent and as a lesson to prevent future uprisings.

Duality

The notion of duality or dualism was a type of logic through which the Andean man understood and organized his world.

There was a need to think about things by looking at them in halves, that is, by dividing them into two parts that were opposite but complementary: up and down, left and right, inside and outside; those halves were divided in two, resulting in a quadripartite. One half was masculine and the other was feminine, and both had to relate to each other reciprocally (giving and receiving), although one was dominant over the other.

Geographic diversity may have allowed this duality. Due to Andean ecological complementarity, people learned to depend on each other, and levels of interchange related to sharing and solidarity appeared. From this the principle would have been sustained that things complement and balance each other, suggesting the idea of complementary halves, governed by reciprocity and the pursuit of harmony.

Duality was fundamental for understanding the division of spaces and their political and social organization. The ayllus and overlords were organized into halves, each under the command of a curaca, who was the complement of the other. It was precisely the custom to divide cities into zones, as in the case of Cuzco (hurin and hanan), that reflected the criteria of complementary halves.

Thus the Cuzco dynasties of Hurin Cuzco (the lower area of Cuzco) and Hanan Cuzco (the upper zone of Cuzco) developed; and from there the Incan form of governing evolved, which was also dual, or a diarchy.

The Incan Army

Figure 1: Map of the capital of the Tawantinsuyu where the two dynasties resided.

The Hurin and the Hanan

The Hurin Cuzco engaged in mainly religious and priestly functions, while the Hanan Cuzco were tied to administrative, civil and military functions (that is, they were the government). These dynasties coexisted simultaneously during the emergence of Incan civilization.

The first five Inca leaders assumed religious and priestly functions, but also administrative, civil and military. They had to concentrate all of their powers, because it was they who founded the kingdom, which had suffered a great deal due to constant hostilities from neighbors.  

However, starting with Inka Roq’a the kingdom had a certain strength to it, therefore after some disputes the dynasties took up their respective functions.

The diarchy: a government with two kings

There were two Incas simultaneously in the Incan government, meaning there were two high chiefs who were opposite and complementary, with one being dominant over the other.

One of the Inca was part of the Hurin Cuzco dynasty, and the other was part of the Hanan Cuzco dynasty. The former had religious and priestly functions (head Inca priest), and the latter had political, economic and military functions (governing Inca). The two dynasties coexisted during the initial stages of Incan history, but starting with Inka Roq’a, it was the Hanan who were dominant over the Hurin.

Chapter 2

The origins of the Incan army

In the twelfth century, Taipicala (the capital of Tiwanaku), was attacked by people who came from the south called the Aymaras. The state of Tiwanaku could not repeal the attack due to the violence and unexpectedness of the invasion. It had insufficient time to organize its defense; furthermore, the chiefs of the peoples they had conquered, desperate for freedom, helped the Aymaras destroy the city. The capital, Taipicala, was captured and completely destroyed. Taipicala’s leaders were pursued, and almost everyone was murdered. The leaders of the Hanan half of Taipicala were killed; only the Hurin Taipicala, whose function was religious, were able to escape.

The heads of the Hurin Taipicala, with five ayllus in that half, another five ayllus being Hanan, and three others in another area, led by the high priest, fled to the island in Lake Puquinacocha (Titicaca), and remained there for a time. With the advance of the Aymaras, the refugees had to go to the northeast (Cuzco, Peru), led by the chief of the Hurin Taipicala, named Apo Tambo, because the warrior chief of the Hanan Taipicala had been killed after the incursion of the Aymaras. They remained in Pacariqtampo (Tamputoco) for many years. This exodus occurred at the end of the twelfth century.

There were new migrations from that area until the Acamama Valley (now the Cuzco Valley) was reached. But the recent arrivals found a valley that was already inhabited, with advanced political organizations such as the reigning Ayamarca Pinagua; thus they had to go to war in order not to lose their position in the region, where they later founded Cuzco.

The Incan Army

Figure 2. Ethnic populations established in the Cuzco Valley before the arrival of the Inca (from the book The Incas, by Terence N. D’Altroy)

Chief Manko Qhapaq and his first army

Pakareq Tampu (Pacariqtampo) was the agreement between the Hurin and the Hanan Taipicala that maintained cultural traditions. In just a few years the population increased, and therefore more land was needed to support it. Some were interested in the Urubamba-Vilcamayo valley, while others who followed Manko Qhapaq were interested in the fertile valley of Acamama (Cuzco), and they were bent on taking it, by either peaceful or violent means.

The sinchi, or warrior chief Manko Qhapaq, son of Apo Tambo, gathered together ten migrant ayllus (five Hurin and five Hanan) to start the conquest of Acamama.

From Pakareq Tampu, they went to Guaynacancha or Huanacancha, and remained there for several months. Manko Qhapaq continued as the political, warrior and religious leader (supreme military command and head priest). When they continued their march, they went to Tampuquiro and then Pallata, where they again remained for several months. They continued marching, taking possession of the jurisdictions of Huaysquirro, Quirirmanta, Huanacauri and Matagua, from where they started their attack on the valley of Cuzco, or Acamama, an area that had a good climate, soil and enough water for agriculture. Although