As a major artery that runs through the north and south of the kingdom and stretches for 40,000 kilometers, the Inca Road is like this, connecting more than one million square kilometers of land of the Inca Kingdom into a whole, like a blood nourishing the entire kingdom. Although this path has disappeared in reality after the baptism of time and years, as a spiritual bond, it is still the source of the vitality of the Andean people.
The Inca Way: Towards the Radiance of the Sun God
◎ Written and photo courtesy / Smithsonian Institution National Amerindian Museum
Panoramic view of Machu Picchu and the modern road up to the summit of Vajna Picchu
↑As an important town on the Inca Road, Machu Picchu, located in the tropical rainforest area, built a diversion waterway to adapt to the rainy climate from December to March every year. Thanks to this project, which diverted useful and useless water away so that the excess water did not damage roads and buildings, the site of Machu Picchu survived to this day.
On the land of more than one million square kilometers of the Inca Kingdom, the climatic conditions and geographical environment of each region are like spring, autumn, winter and summer, different, and the peoples who live in it are also different, and only when they all yearn for the light radiated by the sun god in the capital Of Cusco, a whole is formed, and only when the tentacles of the kingdom extend to these different "nerve ends" do they contribute to a kingdom. The Inca Road is such a major artery that runs through the north and south of the kingdom and stretches for 40,000 kilometers, connecting the entire Inca kingdom into a whole, like a blood vein nourishing the entire kingdom. Although this path has disappeared in reality after the baptism of time and years, as a spiritual bond, it is still the source of the vitality of the Andean people.
In the early 1200s, a small agricultural state rose up in the Highlands of the Andes, when its people were linguistically and culturally similar to those of neighboring tribes. In 1438, King Kusi Yupanji defeated the invading Chanka people and began the process of conquering the surrounding tribes, conquering the kingdoms of Chimu and Quito, annexing parts of present-day Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, and developing into a kingdom with an area of about one million square kilometers in Pasto in present-day Ecuador in the north, the Maule River in Chile in the south, the sea in the west, and the central Bolivia in the east, becoming the largest and most unified state in the Andean region.
Geographical map of the Kingdom of the Incas
↑ The Kingdom of the Incas is vast and narrow, stretching for nearly 5,000 kilometers from south to north, and only 500 kilometers at its widest point from east to west. The entire kingdom was divided into four parts, called the Realm of the Four Races. The region contains not only complex and changeable geographical conditions and climatic environment, but also a variety of ethnic groups.
It is a vast and narrow area that stretches for nearly 5,000 kilometers from south to north and only 500 kilometers at its widest point from east to west. The region contains not only complex and changeable geographical conditions and climatic environment, but also a variety of ethnic groups. How to integrate this complex territory into a single kingdom was the first test for the rulers of the Incas. In fact, the Inca rulers were quite successful, and Spanish scholars, after studying the literature of the 16th century, described it as a "unified republic".
Archaeologist Bruce Trigel called the state of this early civilization type a wide-spoke state to distinguish it from another type of city-state in early civilization. The broad state is characterized by its territorial vastness, and also refers to the way in which the political multi-level structure of provinces is ruled politically due to the vastness of the territory, that is, unlike the loose union of the city-state, the broad state tends to have a centralized complex management system with strict hierarchies. Among them, the construction of political systems, spiritual structures and infrastructure complement each other, achieving a high degree of unity of power, consciousness and physical space.
Double-sided figurines of the Incas (front and back, respectively) 1470-1532, Lima, Peru, silver-copper alloy.
↑The Inca Way is part of the complex system of the Inca Kingdom. By connecting the capital, Cusco, in mental and physical space with the four regions of the entire kingdom (known as the Realm of the Four Peoples, tawantinsuyu), the Inca Road is like the artery of the kingdom, nourishing the body of the entire kingdom.
The Birth of the Inca Way: The Gift of the Sun God
It all starts with the legend of the Creation of the Incas. According to Inca legend, the creator Tiqzi Wiracocha created everything in the world, including the sun (Inti), the moon (Mamaquilla), the stars, flora and fauna, and humans. Inti, the sun god, asked his children to grant order and civilization to humanity. Among these children were manco Capac, the first king of Inca, and his wife and sister Mama Ocllo. Together with three other siblings, they set out from Lake Titicaca in search of a city to stay in. The sun gods motioned to Manko Capak to stay there when the golden staff in their hands could be inserted into the land of a certain place. When they came to Cusco, everything happened as the sun god had instructed, and here they established the capital of the Inca Empire. The sun god thus became the main god of the Incas, and Manko Capak became the first King of the Incas, and the path he and his wife traveled became the prototype of the Inca path.
lake titicaca
↑In Inca legend, it was from here that the first Inca kings and queens set out in search of Cusco, the capital of the kingdom. The place passed from here to the capital city of Cusco became the prototype of the Inca Road.
Inca bowl
↑ 1450–1500, Peruvian, stone. The bowl used for this ritual symbolizes Lake Titicaca, the snake on the bowl represents water and abundance, and the whirlpool is the symbol of Pachamama, the mother of the earth.
As the center of divinity, the city of Cusco is naturally indispensable to the main temple of the sun god worshipped by all Incas - the Golden House (Golden House), the temple is made of large square stones, the walls are covered with gold, the entire Cusco Valley can see its figure, it is the center of worship of the entire empire. From the Golden House, along the 41 radial lines, there are more than 300 sacred sacrifice points distributed throughout the valley. The sacrifice of the sun god required the use of white llamas, three to four of which were offered daily in Cusco, and gold and silver tributes were found in the Golden House, which were once worn by high-ranking Incas. To show the authority of the center, whenever the Inca kings conquered a place, monumental buildings or similar architectural styles that marked the authority of the monarch and the center were extended to those conquered areas to indicate the boundaries reached by power. Many of the provincial capitals of the Inca Kingdom look like miniature versions of Cusco for this reason.
Pre-Inca style bust
↑ 1000~1500, Cusco, Peru, gold and silver alloy. This gold ornament is the official symbol of the city of Cusco.
The Golden House of the Sun God Sacrifice Main Temple in Cusco, the capital of the Inca Kingdom, and its trapezoidal windows on its stone walls.
Manage the entire empire through the Inca Way
In the early civilizations, the Inca civilization attached great importance to the construction and maintenance of roads that other civilizations could not match, which also became the unique side of the Inca civilization. In addition to the vast territory of the country, it is also related to the complex geographical, climatic and resource types covered by its territory.
Such a complex environment will obviously bring difficulties in the penetration of power, especially the central authority and laws, the army that needs to be dispatched, if there is no road through, will not be able to effectively and timely implement in this complex environment; on the other hand, as a kingdom, the difference in resources between regions can easily lead to interregional imbalances in the kingdom, which requires the central government to redistribute the resources of the entire country, and at the same time to reflect the authority by monopolizing the resources of remote areas, which requires the support of roads as infrastructure.
Beads made of shells
↑1000–1500, Cajamarca region of Peru. In particular, the shells of sea chrysanthemum clams, which are only produced in the northern part of the Chinchaysuyu coast, are difficult to obtain and are very precious, and are considered by the Incas to have divine power, symbolizing water and abundance. During dry seasons, wizards will use this to ask for rain.
Today, the Inca Route no longer exists, but traces of what remains can still be seen as two main roads built at that time — one crossing the highlands, one parallel to the coast, and a series of shorter east-west roads connected to it. The political intent of the road construction was very obvious, and the main road through the highlands was built to choose as much as possible to pass through the main highland administrative centers in order to become the artery of the king's control of the highlands and lowland areas, which was particularly important at the time; in order to make the roads easier, the Incas built as straight passages as possible, thus bypassing the irregular terrain; the roads were owned by the state, so that the inca roads were mainly crossed by soldiers, laborers and government administrators on official business.
Inca corn wine jars
↑ Pedestal with a relief of a human face and a corn-shaped pedestal, 1450–1532, Rio Casama Valley, Peru, silver alloy. Corn was highly praised by the Incas as a source of food, wine, and tribute to the Incas. Every time they conquered an area, they would bring the crop there to grow.
As a result of serving these special people, the Incas built small hotels (tampu) for them to rest for the night, along the way, which provided food and a change of clothes. There are thousands of such small hotels, spread over all sections of the empire. The distance between each guest house is about 20 to 25 km, which is exactly the distance for an adult to walk for a day.
On the main road, there are also chakiwasi stations every 10 to 15 kilometers, each with porters on standby to deliver information or goods. Since the Incas did not create their own script, they transmitted information using knotted rope notes, which included statistics, the movement of goods and the movement of people, as well as religious and military information.
Belt for carat dance
↑Lake Titicaca, Bolivia, from 1920 to 1928, made of parrot hair, alpaca and cotton. The brilliant bird feathers in the Amazon rainforest were regarded by the Incas as divine, symbolizing the "heavenly world".
Inca alpaca statue
↑ 1400–1500, Peruvian, Gold System. Alpacas were one of the main livestock in the ancient Inca region, serving as the main means of transportation for the Incas and providing wool and meat for the Incas.
The transport of goods depended mainly on the livestock alpaca, which were unique to the Inca kingdom. Before the Spaniards entered the Andean region, there were no horses, no cattle and sheep. Alpacas make up the main means of transport, especially during the harvest season, when alpacas are constantly on the road. Before the alpacas set off, people would bless the leading alpacas and decorate each alpaca. But in general, out of control over resources, especially for rare items, the Inca government did not encourage cross-regional trade within the kingdom, and they set up monitoring stations in provincial management centers, official stations and bridges, and the entry and exit of people and goods in and out of the Cusco region were strictly controlled, and the inter-provincial travel of Incas required official permission.
The construction of the Inca Way: like blood vessels that fill the entire kingdom
The construction and maintenance of the Inca Route was undertaken by local servitude under the supervision of the Incas. Considering that there were no wheeled wagons, no iron tools, and no large animals for expulsion, everything could only maximize manpower, and the Inca road reflected the wisdom and collaborative spirit of the Incas.
The construction of the Inca Route was an act of the State, so that the people involved in its construction and maintenance were appointed by the Government and supervised by local officials. In the Inca kingdom, subjects paid taxes in labor rather than in kind. Therefore, the construction and maintenance of roads is in itself an obligation of the Incas. The government gives back to cooked food, corn beer, entertainment, clothing, etc.
The fenced section of the Inca Road remains in the countryside.
↑ On flat roads, it is usually simply to lay the pavement and erect the fence. In the deep ravine of the canyon area, the ancient Incas invented the suspension bridge. The suspension bridge is made of local materials, and long ropes are woven with locally grown grass, vines and other materials, and then the long ropes are used to arrange, knot and intersperse the bridge deck and railing. Because the material is prone to decay, it needs to be rebuilt every few years, and the oldest one has been rebuilt several times for 500 years. There are about a few thousand of these cobweb-like suspension bridges hanging between the landscapes and rivers of the Inca Empire, each of which is a road to God. Therefore, when the bridge is built, the villagers of the whole village will participate, accompanied by corresponding ceremonies and songs and dances.
drawbridge
↑ Located on the Apurimac River in the province of Canas in the Cusco region of Peru. This is an invention of the ancient Incas in dealing with the many deep ravines on the road when they built the Inca Road. The suspension bridge is made of local materials and woven from locally grown grass, vines and other materials. Because the material is prone to decay, it needs to be rebuilt every few years, and the oldest one has been rebuilt several times for 500 years.
In tropical rainforest areas, in order to adapt to the rainy climate from December to March every year, the Incas invented diversion waterways. The famous site of Machu Picchu in the area survives to this day thanks to this project, which diverts useful and useless water away so that excess water does not damage roads and buildings.
The Afterglow of the Oblique Sun: The Decline of the Inca Road
Since the birth of the Inca Kingdom, the Inca Path has been accompanied by the Inca Kingdom, like the blood in the body of the Kingdom. Once the body is damaged, the blood veins will not exist, and these blood veins that extend to the end of the nerves of the body are likely to become a convenient door for the invasion of the disease. In 1532, Spanish colonists arrived in the Incas. Along the Inca Route, the colonists soon found a shortcut into the kingdom. The Inca kingdom, already devastated by the civil war, soon disintegrated under the guns of the colonists.
↑ The Incas held a sacrifice to inti, the sun god, on the Fortress of Saxawaman in Cusco, Peru, and a rainbow appeared in the sky. The sun god was regarded by the Incas as the main god.
Altar (Ushnu)
↑ Curamba region of Peru. On the Inca Road, there are such altars piled in the shape of pyramids of stones, built on the top of the mountain with no view, and it is the main place for public worship in each region. The objects of worship include both the main indoca god, the sun god, and local gods, such as mountain gods and earth gods.
The Inca Path belonged spiritually to the sun god, to nature gods large and small throughout the kingdom, and theocracy and monarchy merged with each other, while Western civilization Christianity was more humane monotheism. Under the colonial rule of the Westerners, the power of the Inca Kingdom quickly disintegrated, which also meant that the religion that accompanied it lost its refuge in reality. The Golden House of the Temple of the Sun God, the temple of the Sun God, at the beginning of the Inca Route, was destroyed by the Spaniards, leaving only the pedestal on which a Catholic church now stands. The traditional sacrificial points of the Inca Way have also added crosses as symbols of new religious conquest.
On the material level, with the disintegration of the Inca Kingdom, the original function of the Inca Way in unifying the power and material of the entire state naturally disappeared. No more messengers, armies, caravans of nations came and went on the Inca Road, which naturally gradually became covered with wild grass.
↑ The Inca Route runs through the kingdom from south to north, through complex geographical types including canyons, plateaus, deserts, rainforests, high-latitude plains, and coastlines. Pictured here is a desert on the border between Bolivia and Argentina.
The spirituality of the Inca Path is hidden
With the loss of the function of transmitting information and resources to the Inca Kingdom, the Inca Route, on a material level, was no longer able to penetrate the entire Andean region, although today there are still about 500 villages where villagers use its branches in the mountains and in parts of the land. But on the spiritual level, the Inca Path has left a tenacious influence, and the ancient Inca tradition it represents still reverberates from time to time in the spirit and life of the entire Andean people, becoming an internal spiritual bond connecting the entire Andean people.
A bag with an alpaca pattern for coca leaves
↑ 1450–1532, southern coast of Peru, cotton products. The Antisuyu region, located in the northeastern part of the kingdom, is a typical tropical rainforest environment with abundant natural resources, rich in coca trees, medicinal plants and gold mines. The coca leaf was one of the items commonly used in Inca sacrifice and was a medium used by wizards to communicate with the gods.
Jars used by the Incas for corn wine (Arybalo)
↑1450–1532, Lima, Peru, pottery painting. This uniquely shaped clay pot is a symbol of the Inca Kingdom, which can be found everywhere in the Inca Kingdom, and the pattern on the surface of the jar varies from region to region.
Cultural and spiritual imprints are always deeper and more enduring than material. After the adaptation and transformation of the Incas, the Western culture brought by the Spanish colonizers was only superficially integrated into the ancient traditions. Contemporary Andeans describe their relationship with Europeans as "at both ends of the funnel—the narrow one is the Inca, and the wide one is the white one." "Two cultures forge each other, but still distinguish each other.
Knotted ropes of the Incas
↑1400–1600, Nazca region, Peru, cotton. The Incas did not create their own writing, and used knotted rope notes to convey information.
A jar where fish and boat images coexist
↑ 1000–1400, Lambayeque region, Peru, pottery. The Contisuyu region, located in the southwest of the kingdom, faces the Pacific Ocean, providing the kingdom with abundant marine resources, including fish, shells, seaweed and guano for fertilizer.
Just as the Golden House has been replaced by the Catholic Church, the foundation has not changed; the various places of worship on the Inca Road have added distinct Catholic crosses, but the places where they are located have not changed, the inner form has not changed, and traces of the worship of the sun god can still be seen; Catholicism is not accepted by the Andeans in a way that replaces traditional religion, but enters the andean vision in a heterogeneous and isomorphic way, such as Jesus is regarded as the new mountain god, and the Virgin is regarded as the new mother of the earth.
The cross on the shores of Lake Titicaca
↑ After the arrival of the Spanish colonizers, the Incas gradually accepted Christianity, and the addition of crosses to the sacrificial points that originally belonged to the place was a manifestation of the acceptance of this new culture and religion.
Brilliant typography presentation
This article is excerpted from the September 2015 issue of Civilization
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