Old Peru
If the civilisation of ancient Peru did not achieve the standard of
general culture reached by the Mexicans and Maya, it did not fall far
short of the attainment of these peoples. But the degrading despotism
under which the peasantry groaned in Inca times, and the brutal
and sanguinary tyranny of the Apu-Ccapac Incas, make the rulers of
Mexico at their worst appear as enlightened when compared with the
Peruvian governing classes. The Quichua-Aymara race which inhabited
Peru was inferior to the Mexican in general mental culture, if not in
mental capacity, as is proved by its inability to invent any method
of written communication or any adequate time-reckoning. In imitative
art, too, the Peruvians were weak, save in pottery and rude modelling,
and their religion savoured much more of the materialistic, and was
altogether of a lower cultus.
The Country
The country in which the interesting civilisation of the Inca race
was evolved presents physical features which profoundly affected the
history of the race. In fact, it is probable that in no country in
the world has the configuration of the land so modified the events in
the life of the people dwelling within its borders. The chain of the
Andes divides into two branches near the boundary between Bolivia and
Chili, and, with the Cordillera de la Costa, encloses at a height of
over 3000 feet the Desaguadero, a vast tableland with an area equal
to France. To the north of this is Cuzco, the ancient capital of the
Incas, to the south Potosi, the most elevated town in the world,
whilst between them lies Lake Titicaca, the largest body of fresh
water in South America. The whole country is dreary and desolate in
the extreme. Cereals cannot ripen, and animals are rare. Yet it was in
these desolate regions that the powerful and highly organised empire
of Peru arose--an empire extending over an area 3000 miles long by
400 broad.
The Andeans
The prehistoric natives of the Andean region had evolved a civilisation
long before the days of the Inca dynasties, and the cyclopean ruins
of their edifices are to be found at intervals scattered over a wide
field on the slopes of the range under the shadow of which they
dwelt. Their most extraordinary achievement was probably the city
of Tiahuanaco, on the southern shore of Lake Titicaca, built at a
level 13,000 feet above the sea, occupying nearly half an acre in
extent, and constructed of enormous megalithic blocks of trachytic
rock. The great doorway, carved out of a single block of rock, is 7
feet in height by 13-1/2 feet wide, and 1-1/2 feet thick. The upper
portion of this massive portal is carved with symbolic figures. In the
centre is a figure in high relief, the head surrounded by solar rays,
and in each hand a sceptre, the end of which terminates in the head
of a condor. This figure is flanked on either side by three tiers of
kneeling suppliants, each of whom is winged and bears a sceptre similar
in design to the central ones. Elsewhere are mighty blocks of stone,
some 36 feet long, remains of enormous walls, standing monoliths,
and in earlier times colossal statues were seen on the site. When
the Spanish conquerors arrived no tradition remained regarding
the founders of these structures, and their origin still remains a
mystery; but that they represent the remains of the capital of some
mighty prehistoric kingdom is practically admitted.
A Strange Site
The greatest mystery of all regarding the ruins at Tiahuanaco is the
selection of the site. For what reason did the prehistoric rulers
of Peru build here? The surroundings are totally unsuitable for
the raising of such edifices, and the tableland upon which they are
placed is at once desolate and difficult of access. The snow-line is
contiguous, and breathing at such a height is no easy matter. There
is no reason to suppose that climatic conditions in the day of these
colossal builders were different from those which obtain at the present
time. In face of these facts the position of Tiahuanaco remains an
insoluble riddle.
Sacsahuaman and Ollantay
Other remains of these prehistoric people are found in various parts
of Peru. At Sacsahuaman, perched on a hill above the city of Cuzco, is
an immense fortified work six hundred yards long, built in three lines
of wall consisting of enormous stones, some of which are twenty-seven
feet in length. Pissac is also the site of wonderful ruined masonry
and an ancient observatory. At Ollantay-tampu, forty-five miles to
the north of Cuzco, is another of these gigantic fortresses, built to
defend the valley of the Yucay. This stronghold is constructed for the
most part of red porphyry, and its walls average twenty-five feet in
height. The great cliff on which Ollantay is perched is covered from
end to end with stupendous walls which zigzag from point to point
of it like the salient angles of some modern fortalice. At intervals
are placed round towers of stone provided with loopholes, from which
doubtless arrows were discharged at the enemy. This outwork embraces a
series of terraces, world-famous because of their gigantic outline and
the problem of the use to which they were put. It is now practically
agreed that these terraces were employed for the production of maize,
in order that during a prolonged investment the beleaguered troops and
country-folk might not want for a sufficiency of provender. The stone
of which this fortress was built was quarried at a distance of seven
miles, in a spot upwards of three thousand feet above the valley,
and was dragged up the steep declivity of Ollantay by sheer human
strength. The nicety with which the stones were fitted is marvellous.
The Drama-Legend of Ollantay
Among the dramatic works with which the ancient Incas were credited
is that of Apu-Ollanta, which may recount the veritable story of a
chieftain after whom the great stronghold was named. It was probably
divided into scenes and supplied with stage directions at a later
period, but the dialogue and songs are truly aboriginal. The period
is that of the reign of the Inca Yupanqui Pachacutic, one of the
most celebrated of the Peruvian monarchs. The central figure of the
drama is a chieftain named Ollanta, who conceived a violent passion
for a daughter of the Inca named Curi-Coyllur (Joyful Star). This
passion was deemed unlawful, as no mere subject who was not of the
blood-royal might aspire to the hand of a daughter of the Inca. As
the play opens we overhear a dialogue between Ollanta and his
man-servant Piqui-Chaqui (Flea-footed), who supplies what modern
stage-managers would designate the "comic relief." They are talking
of Ollanta's love for the princess, when they are confronted by the
high-priest of the Sun, who tries to dissuade the rash chieftain
from the dangerous course he is taking by means of a miracle. In the
next scene Curi-Coyllur is seen in company with her mother, sorrowing
over the absence of her lover. A harvest song is here followed by a
love ditty of undoubtedly ancient origin. The third scene represents
Ollanta's interview with the Inca in which he pleads his suit and
is slighted by the scornful monarch. Ollanta defies the king in a
resounding speech, with which the first act concludes. In the first
scene of the second act we are informed that the disappointed chieftain
has raised the standard of rebellion, and the second scene is taken
up with the military preparations consequent upon the announcement
of a general rising. In the third scene Rumi-ñaui as general of the
royal forces admits defeat by the rebels.
The Love-Story of Curi-Coyllur
Curi-Coyllur gives birth to a daughter, and is imprisoned in the
darksome Convent of Virgins. Her child, Yma Sumac (How Beautiful),
is brought up in the same building, but is ignorant of the near
presence of her mother. The little girl tells her guardian of groans
and lamentations which she has heard in the convent garden, and of the
tumultuous emotions with which these sad sounds fill her heart. The
Inca Pachacutic's death is announced, and the accession of his son,
Yupanqui. Rebellion breaks out once more, and the suppression of the
malcontents is again entrusted to Rumi-ñaui. That leader, having
tasted defeat already, resorts to cunning. He conceals his men in
a valley close by, and presents himself covered with blood before
Ollanta, who is at the head of the rebels. He states that he has been
barbarously used by the royal troops, and that he desires to join the
rebels. He takes part with Ollanta and his men in a drunken frolic,
in which he incites them to drink heavily, and when they are overcome
with liquor he brings up his troops and makes them prisoners.
Mother and Child
Yma Sumac, the beautiful little daughter of Curi-Coyllur, requests
her guardian, Pitu Salla, so pitifully to be allowed to visit her
mother in her dungeon that the woman consents, and mother and child
are united. Ollanta is brought as a prisoner before the new Inca,
who pardons him. At that juncture Yma Sumac enters hurriedly, and begs
the monarch to free her mother, Curi-Coyllur. The Inca proceeds to the
prison, restores the princess to her lover, and the drama concludes
with the Inca bestowing his blessing upon the pair.
The play was first put into written form in the seventeenth century,
has often been printed, and is now recognised as a genuine aboriginal
production.
The Races of Peru
Many races went to make up the Peruvian people as they existed when
first discovered by the conquering Spaniards. From the south came a
civilising race which probably found a number of allied tribes, each
existing separately in its own little valley, speaking a different
dialect, or even language, from its neighbours, and in many instances
employing different customs. Although tradition alleged that these
invaders came from the north by sea within historical times, the more
probable theory of their origin is one which states that they had
followed the course of the affluents of the Amazon to the valleys
where they dwelt when the more enlightened folk from the south came
upon them. The remains of this aboriginal people--for, though they
spoke diverse languages, the probability is that they were of one or
not more than two stocks--are still found scattered over the coastal
valleys in pyramidal mounds and adobe-built dwellings.
The Coming of the Incas
The arrival of the dominant race rudely broke in upon the peaceful
existence of the aboriginal folk. This race, the Quichua-Aymara,
probably had its place of origin in the Altaplanicie highlands of
Bolivia, the eastern cordillera of the Andes. This they designated
Tucuman (World's End), just as the Kiche of Guatemala were wont
to describe the land of their origin as Ki Pixab (Corner of the
Earth). The present republic of Argentina was at a remote period
covered by a vast, partially land-locked sea, and beside the shores
of this the ancestors of the Quichua-Aymara race may have settled as
fishers and fowlers. They found a more permanent settlement on the
shores of Lake Titicaca, where their traditions state that they made
considerable advances in the arts of civilisation. It was, indeed,
from Titicaca that the sun emerged from the sacred rock where he
had erstwhile hidden himself. Here, too, the llama and paco were
domesticated and agricultural life initiated, or perfected. The arts
of irrigation and terrace-building--so marked as features of Peruvian
civilisation--were also invented in this region, and the basis of a
composite advancement laid.
The Quichua-Aymara
This people consisted of two groups, the Quichua and Aymara, so called
from the two kindred tongues spoken by each respectively. These possess
a common grammatical structure, and a great number of words are common
to both. They are in reality varying forms of one speech. From the
valley of Titicaca the Aymara spread from the source of the Amazon
river to the higher parts of the Andes range, so that in course of
time they exhibited those qualities which stamp the mountaineer in
every age and clime. The Quichua, on the other hand, occupied the
warm valleys beyond the river Apurimac, to the north-west of the
Aymara-speaking people--a tract equal to the central portion of the
modern republic of Peru. The name "Quichua" implies a warm valley or
sphere, in contradistinction to the "Yunca," or tropical districts
of the coast and lowlands.
The Four Peoples
The metropolitan folk of Cuzco considered Peru to be divided into
four sections--that of the Colla-suyu, with the valley of Titicaca
as its centre, and stretching from the Bolivian highlands to Cuzco;
the Conti-suyu, between the Colla-suyu and the ocean; the Quichua
Chinchay-suyu, of the north-west; and the Anti-suyu, of the montaña
region. The Inca people, coming suddenly into these lands, annexed them
with surprising rapidity, and, making the aboriginal tribes dependent
upon their rule, spread themselves over the face of the country. Thus
the ancient chroniclers. But it is obvious that such rapid conquest was
a practical impossibility, and it is now understood that the Inca power
was consolidated only some hundred years before the coming of Pizarro.
The Coming of Manco Ccapac
Peruvian myth has its Quetzalcoatl in Manco Ccapac, a veritable son of
the sun. The Life-giver, observing the deplorable condition of mankind,
who seemed to exist for war and feasting alone, despatched his son,
Manco Ccapac, and his sister-wife, Mama Oullo Huaca, to earth for the
purpose of instructing the degraded peoples in the arts of civilised
life. The heavenly pair came to earth in the neighbourhood of Lake
Titicaca, and were provided with a golden wedge which they were
assured would sink into the earth at the precise spot on which they
should commence their missionary labours. This phenomenon occurred at
Cuzco, where the wedge disappeared. The derivation of the name Cuzco,
which means "Navel," or, in more modern terms, "Hub of the Universe,"
proves that it was regarded as a great culture-centre. On this spot
the civilising agents pitched their camp, gathering the uncultured
folk of the country around them. Whilst Manco taught the men the
arts of agriculture, Mama Oullo instructed the women in those of
weaving and spinning. Great numbers gathered in the vicinity of Cuzco,
and the foundations of a city were laid. Under the mild rule of the
heavenly pair the land of Peru abounded in every desirable thing,
like the Eden of Genesis. The legend of Manco Ccapac as we have
it from an old Spanish source is worth giving. It is as follows:
"There [in Tiahuanaco] the creator began to raise up the people and
nations that are in that region, making one of each nation in clay,
and painting the dresses that each one was to wear; those that were
to wear their hair, with hair, and those that were to be shorn,
with hair cut. And to each nation was given the language that was
to be spoken, and the songs to be sung, and the seeds and food that
they were to sow. When the creator had finished painting and making
the said nations and figures of clay, he gave life and soul to each
one, as well man as woman, and ordered that they should pass under
the earth. Thence each nation came up in the places to which he
ordered them to go. Thus they say that some came out of caves, others
issued from hills, others from fountains, others from the trunks of
trees. From this cause and others, and owing to having come forth and
multiplied from those places, and to having had the beginning of their
lineage in them, they made huacas [14] and places of worship of them,
in memory of the origin of their lineage. Thus each nation uses the
dress with which they invest their huaca; and they say that the first
that was born in that place was there turned into stone. Others say
that they were turned into falcons, condors, and other animals and
birds. Hence the huacas they use are in different shapes."
The Peruvian Creation-Story
The Incan Peruvians believed that all things emanated from Pachacamac,
the all-pervading spirit, who provided the plants and animals (which
they believed to be produced from the earth) with "souls." The earth
itself they designated Pachacamama (Earth-Mother). Here we observe
that Pachacamac was more the maker and moulder than the originator of
matter, a view common to many American mythologies. Pachacamac it was
who breathed the breath of life into man, but the Peruvian conception
of him was only evolved in later Inca times, and by no means existed
in the early days of Inca rule, although he was probably worshipped
before this under another and less exalted shape. The mere exercise
of will or thought was sufficient, according to the Peruvians, to
accomplish the creative act. In the prayers to the creator, and in
other portions of Inca rite, we read such expressions as "Let a man
be," "Let a woman be," and "The creative word," which go to prove that
the Peruvian consciousness had fully grasped the idea of a creator
capable of evolving matter out of nothingness. Occasionally we find the
sun acting as a kind of demiurge or sub-creator. He it is who in later
legend founds the city of Cuzco, and sends thither three eggs composed
of gold, silver, and copper, from which spring the three classes of
Peruvians, kings, priests, and slaves. The inevitable deluge occurs,
after which we find the prehistoric town of Tiahuanaco regarded as
the theatre of a new creation of man. Here the creator made man,
and separated him into nations, making one of each nation out of the
clay of the earth, painting the dresses that each was to wear, and
endowing them with national songs, languages, seeds to sow suitable to
the environment of each, and food such as they would require. Then he
gave the peoples life and soul, and commanded them to enter the bowels
of the earth, whence they came upward in the places where he ordered
them to go. Perhaps this is one of the most complete ("wholesale"
would be a better word) creation-myths in existence, and we can glean
from its very completeness that it is by no means of simple origin, but
of great complexity. It is obviously an attempt to harmonise several
conflicting creation-stories, notably those in which the people are
spoken of as emanating from caves, and the later one of the creation
of men at Tiahuanaco, probably suggested to the Incas by the immense
ruins at that place, for which they could not otherwise account.
Local Creation-Myths
In some of the more isolated valleys of Peru we discover local
creation-myths. For example, in the coastal valley of Irma Pachacamac
was not considered to be the creator of the sun, but to be himself a
descendant of it. The first human beings created by him were speedily
separated, as the man died of hunger, but the woman supported herself
by living on roots. The sun took compassion upon her and gave her a
son, whom Pachacamac slew and buried. But from his teeth there grew
maize, from his ribs the long white roots of the manioc plant, and
from his flesh various esculent plants.
The Character of Inca Civilisation
Apart from the treatment which they meted out to the subject races
under their sway, the rule of the Inca monarchs was enlightened and
contained the elements of high civilisation. It is scarcely clear
whether the Inca race arrived in the country at such a date as would
have permitted them to profit by adopting the arts and sciences of the
Andean people who preceded them. But it may be affirmed that their
arrival considerably post-dated the fall of the megalithic empire
of the Andeans, so that in reality their civilisation was of their
own manufacture. As architects they were by no means the inferiors
of the prehistoric race, if the examples of their art did not bulk
so massively, and the engineering skill with which they pushed
long, straight tunnels through vast mountains and bridged seemingly
impassable gorges still excites the wonder of modern experts. They
also made long, straight roads after the most improved macadamised
model. Their temples and palaces were adorned with gold and silver
images and ornaments; sumptuous baths supplied with hot and cold water
by means of pipes laid in the earth were to be found in the mansions
of the nobility, and much luxury and real comfort prevailed.
An Absolute Theocracy
The empire of Peru was the most absolute theocracy the world has
ever seen. The Inca was the direct representative of the sun upon
earth, the head of a socio-religious edifice intricate and highly
organised. This colossal bureaucracy had ramifications into the
very homes of the people. The Inca was represented in the provinces
by governors of the blood-royal. Officials were placed above ten
thousand families, a thousand families, and even ten families, upon
the principle that the rays of the sun enter everywhere, and that
therefore the light of the Inca must penetrate to every corner of
the empire. There was no such thing as personal freedom. Every man,
woman, and child was numbered, branded, and under surveillance as
much as were the llamas in the royal herds. Individual effort or
enterprise was unheard of. Some writers have stated that a system
of state socialism obtained in Peru. If so, then state surveillance
in Central Russia might also be branded as socialism. A man's life
was planned for him by the authorities from the age of five years,
and even the woman whom he was to marry was selected for him by the
Government officials. The age at which the people should marry was
fixed at not earlier than twenty-four years for a man and eighteen
for a woman. Coloured ribbons worn round the head indicated the place
of a person's birth or the province to which he belonged.
A Golden Temple
One of the most remarkable monuments of the Peruvian civilisation
was the Coricancha (Town of Gold) at Cuzco, the principal fane of the
sun-god. Its inner and outer walls were covered with plates of pure
gold. Situated upon an eminence eighty feet high, the temple looked
down upon gardens filled, according to the conquering Spaniards,
with treasures of gold and silver. The animals, insects, the very
trees, say the chroniclers, were of the precious metals, as were the
spades, hoes, and other implements employed for keeping the ground in
cultivation. Through the pleasances rippled the river Huatenay. Such
was the glittering Intipampa (Field of the Sun). That the story is
true, at least in part, is proved by the traveller Squier, who speaks
of having seen in several houses in Cuzco sheets of gold preserved
as relics which came from the Temple of the Sun. These, he says,
were scarcely as thick as paper, and were stripped off the walls of
the Coricancha by the exultant Spanish soldiery.
The Great Altar
But this house of gold had but a roof of thatch! The Peruvians were
ignorant of the principle of the arch, or else considered the feature
unsuitable, for some reason best known to their architects. The
doorways were formed of huge monoliths, and the entire aspect of the
building was cyclopean. The interior displayed an ornate richness
which impressed even the Spaniards, who had seen the wealth of many
lands and Oriental kingdoms, and the gold-lust must have swelled
within their hearts at sight of the great altar, behind which was
a huge plate of the shining metal engraved with the features of the
sun-god. The surface of this plate was enriched by a thousand gems,
the scintillation of which was, according to eye-witnesses, almost
insupportable. Around this dazzling sphere were seated the mummified
corpses of the Inca kings, each on his throne, with sceptre in hand.
Planetary Temples
Surrounding the Coricancha several lesser temples clustered, all
of them dedicated to one or other of the planetary bodies--to the
moon, to Cuycha, the rainbow, to Chasca, the planet Venus. In the
temple of the moon, the mythic mother of the Inca dynasty, a great
plate of silver, like the golden one which represented the face of
the sun-god, depicted the features of the moon-goddess, and around
this the mummies of the Inca queens sat in a semicircle, like their
spouses in the greater neighbouring fane. In the rainbow temple of
Cuycha the seven-hued arch of heaven was depicted by a great arc
of gold skilfully tempered or painted in suitable colours. All the
utensils in these temples were of gold or silver. In the principal
building twelve large jars of silver held the sacred grain, and even
the pipes which conducted the water-supply through the earth to the
sanctuary were of silver. Pedro Pizarro himself, besides other credible
eye-witnesses, vouched for these facts. The colossal representation of
the sun became the property of a certain Mancio Serra de Leguicano,
a reckless cavalier and noted gambler, who lost it on a single throw
of the dice! Such was the spirit of the adventurers who conquered this
golden realm for the crown of Spain. The walls of the Coricancha are
still standing, and this marvellous shrine of the chief luminary of
heaven, the great god of the Peruvians, is now a Christian church.
The Mummies of Peru
The fact that the ancient Peruvians had a method of mummification
has tempted many "antiquarians" to infer therefrom that they had some
connection with ancient Egypt. These theories are so numerous as to
give the unsophisticated reader the idea that a regular system of
immigration was carried on between Egypt and America. As a matter
of fact the method of mummification in vogue in Peru was entirely
different from that employed by the ancient Egyptians. Peruvian
mummies are met with at apparently all stages of the history of
the native races. Megalithic tombs and monuments contain them in
the doubled-up posture so common among early peoples all over the
world. These megalithic tombs, or chulpas, as they are termed, are
composed of a mass of rough stones and clay, faced with huge blocks
of trachyte or basalt, so put together as to form a cist, in which
the mummy was placed. The door invariably faces the east, so that it
may catch the gleams of the rising sun--a proof of the prevalence of
sun-worship. Squier alludes to one more than 24 feet high. An opening
18 inches square gave access to the sepulchral chamber, which was 11
feet square by 13 feet high. But the tomb had been entered before,
and after getting in with much difficulty the explorer was forced to
retreat empty-handed.
Many of these chulpas are circular, and painted in gay primary
colours. They are very numerous in Bolivia, an old Peruvian province,
and in the basin of Lake Titicaca they abound. The dead were wrapped
in llama-skins, on which the outlines of the eyes and mouth were
carefully marked. The corpse was then arrayed in other garments,
and the door of the tomb walled up. In some parts of Peru the dead
were mummified and placed in the dwelling-houses beside the living. In
the rarefied air of the plateaus the bodies rapidly became innocuous,
and the custom was not the insanitary one we might imagine it to be.
On the Pacific coast the method of mummification was somewhat
different. The body was reduced to a complete state of desiccation,
and was deposited in a tomb constructed of stone or adobe. Vases
intended to hold maize or chicha liquor were placed beside the
corpse, and copper hatchets, mirrors of polished stone, earrings,
and bracelets have been discovered in these burial-places. Some of
the remains are wrapped in rich cloth, and vases of gold and silver
were placed beside them. Golden plaques are often discovered in the
mouths, probably symbolic of the sun. The bodies exhibit no traces
of embalming, and are usually in a sitting posture. Some of them have
evidently been dried before inhumation, whilst others are covered with
a resinous substance. They are generally accompanied by the various
articles used during life; the men have their weapons and ornaments,
women their household implements, and children their toys. The dryness
of the climate, as in Egypt, keeps these relics in a wonderful state
of preservation. In the grave of a woman were found not only vases
of every shape, but also some cloth she had commenced to weave,
which her death had perhaps prevented her from completing. Her light
brown hair was carefully combed and plaited, and the legs from the
ankle to the knee were painted red, after the fashion in vogue among
Peruvian beauties, while little bladders of toilet-powder and gums
were thoughtfully placed beside her for her use in the life to come.
Laws and Customs
The legal code of the Incas was severe in the extreme. Murderers and
adulterers were punished by death, and the unpardonable sin appears to
have been blasphemy against the sun, or his earthly representative,
the Inca. The Virgin of the Sun (or nun) who broke her vow was
buried alive, and the village from whence she came was razed to the
ground. Flogging was administered for minor offences. A peculiar and
very trying punishment must have been that of carrying a heavy stone
for a certain time.
On marriage a home was apportioned to each couple, and land assigned
to them sufficient for their support. When a child was born a separate
allowance was given it--one fanega for a boy, and half that amount for
a girl, the fanega being equal to the area which could be sown with a
hundred pounds of maize. There is something repulsive in the Inca code,
with its grandmotherly legislation; and if this tyranny was beneficent,
it was devised merely to serve its own ends and hound on the unhappy
people under its control like dumb, driven cattle. The outlook of
the average native was limited in the extreme. The Inca class of
priests and warriors retained every vestige of authority; and that
they employed their power unmercifully to grind down the millions
beneath them was a sufficient excuse for the Spanish Conquistadores
in dispossessing them of the empire they had so harshly administered.
The public ground was divided afresh every year according to the
number of the members of each family, and agrarian laws were strictly
fixed. Private property did not exist among the people of the lower
classes, who merely farmed the lot which each year was placed at
their disposal. Besides this, the people had perforce to cultivate
the lands sacred to the Inca, and only the aged and the sick could
evade this duty.
The Peruvian Calendar
The standard chronology known to the Peru of the Incas was a simple
lunar reckoning. But the four principal points in the sun's course
were denoted by means of the intihuatana, a device consisting
of a large rock surmounted by a small cone, the shadow of which,
falling on certain notches on the stone below, marked the date of
the great sun-festivals. The Peruvians, however, had no definite
calendar. At Cuzco, the capital, the solstices were gauged by pillars
called pachacta unanchac, or indicators of time, which were placed
in four groups (two pillars to a group) on promontories, two in the
direction of sunrise and two in that of sunset, to mark the extreme
points of the sun's rising and setting. By this means they were
enabled to distinguish the arrival and departure of the solstices,
during which the sun never went beyond the middle pair of pillars. The
Inca astronomer's approximation to the year was 360 days, which were
divided into twelve moons of thirty days each. These moons were not
calendar months in the correct sense, but simply a succession of
lunations, which commenced with the winter solstice. This method,
which must ultimately have proved confusing, does not seem to have
been altered to co-ordinate with the reckoning of the succession of
years. The names of the twelve moons, which had some reference to
the daily life of the Peruvian, were as follows:
Huchuy Pucuy Quilla (Small Growing Moon), approximately January.
Hatun Pucuy Quilla (Great Growing Moon), approximately February.
Pancar Pucuy Quilla (Flower-growing Moon), approximately March.
Ayrihua Quilla (Twin Ears Moon), approximately April.
Aymuray Quilla (Harvest Moon), approximately May.
Auray Cusqui Quilla (Breaking Soil), approximately June.
Chahua Huarqui Quilla (Irrigation Moon), approximately July.
Tarpuy Quilla (Sowing Moon), approximately August.
Ccoya Raymi Quilla (Moon of the Moon Feast), approximately
September.
Uma Raymi Quilla (Moon of the Feast of the Province of Uma),
approximately October.
Ayamarca Raymi Quilla (Moon of the Feast of the Province of
Ayamarca), approximately November.
Ccapac Raymi Quilla (Moon of the Great Feast of the Sun),
approximately December.
The Festivals
That the Peruvian standard of time, as with all American people,
was taken from the natural course of the moon is known chiefly from
the fact that the principal religious festivals began on the new moon
following a solstice or equinox. The ceremonies connected with the
greatest festival, the Ccapac Raymi, were made to date near the lunar
phases, the two stages commencing with the ninth day of the December
moon and twenty-first day, or last quarter. But while these lunar
phases indicated certain festivals, it very often happened that the
civil authorities followed a reckoning of their own, in preference
to accepting ecclesiastical rule. Considerable significance was
attached to each month by the Peruvians regarding the nature of
their festivals. The solstices and equinoxes were the occasions of
established ceremonies. The arrival of the winter solstice, which in
Peru occurs in June, was celebrated by the Intip Raymi (Great Feast of
the Sun). The principal Peruvian feast, which took place at the summer
solstice, when the new year was supposed to begin, was the national
feast of the great god Pachacamac, and was called Ccapac Raymi. Molina,
Fernandez, and Garcilasso, however, date the new year from the winter
solstice. The third festival of the Inca year, the Ccapac Situa,
or Ccoya Raymi (Moon Feast), which is signalled by the beginning of
the rainy season, occurred in September. In general character these
festivals appear to have been simple, and even childlike. The sacrifice
of animals taken from sacred herds of llamas was doubtless a principal
feature of the ceremony, accompanied by the offering up of maguey,
or maize spirit, and followed by the performance of symbolic dances.
The Llama
The llama was the chief domestic animal of Peru. All llamas were
the property of the Inca. Like the camel, its distant relative, this
creature can subsist for long periods upon little nourishment, and it
is suitable for the carriage of moderate loads. Each year a certain
amount of llama wool was given to the Peruvian family, according to
the number of women it contained, and these wove it into garments,
whatever was over being stored away in the public cloth-magazines
for the general use. The large flocks of llamas and alpacas also
afforded a supply of meat for the people such as the Mexicans never
possessed. Naturally much attention was given to the breeding of these
animals, and the alpaca was as carefully regarded by the Peruvian
as the sheep by the farmer of to-day. The guanacos and vicuñas, wild
animals of the llama or auchenia family, were also sources of food-
and wool-supply.
Architecture of the Incas
The art in which the Incan Peruvians displayed the greatest advance
was that of architecture. The earlier style of Inca building shows
that it was closely modelled, as has already been pointed out, on that
of the megalithic masons of the Tiahuanaco district, but the later
style shows stones laid in regular courses, varying in length. No
cement or mortar of any kind was employed, the structure depending
for stability upon the accuracy with which the stones were fitted to
each other. An enormous amount of labour must have been expended upon
this part of the work, for in the monuments of Peruvian architecture
which still exist it is impossible to insert even a needle between
the stones of which they are composed. The palaces and temples were
built around a courtyard, and most of the principal buildings had
a hall of considerable dimensions attached to them, which, like the
baronial halls of the England of the Middle Ages, served for feasting
or ceremony. In this style is built the front of the palace on the
Colcampata, overlooking the city of Cuzco, under the fortress which
is supposed to have been the dwelling of Manco Ccapac, the first
Inca. Palaces at Yucay and Chinchero are also of this type.
Unsurpassed Workmanship
In an illuminating passage upon Inca architecture Sir Clements Markham,
the greatest living authority upon matters Peruvian, says:
"In Cuzco the stone used is a dark trachyte, and the coarse grain
secured greater adhesion between the blocks. The workmanship
is unsurpassed, and the world has nothing to show in the way of
stone-cutting and fitting to equal the skill and accuracy displayed
in the Ynca structures of Cuzco. No cement is used, and the larger
stones are in the lowest row, each ascending course being narrower,
which presents a most pleasing effect. The edifices were built round
a court, upon which the rooms opened, and some of the great halls
were 200 paces long by 60 wide, the height being 35 to 40 feet,
besides the spring of the roof. The roofs were thatch; and we are
able to form an idea of their construction from one which is still
preserved, after a lapse of three centuries. This is on a circular
building called the Sondor-huasi, at Azangaro, and it shows that even
thatch in the hands of tasteful builders will make a sightly roof for
imposing edifices, and that the interior ornament of such a roof may
be exceedingly beautiful."
The Temple of Viracocha
The temple of Viracocha, at Cacha, in the valley of the Vilcamayu,
is built on a plan different from that of any other sacred building
in Peru. Its ruins consist of a wall of adobe or clay 40 feet high
and 330 long, built on stone foundations 8 feet in height. The roof
was supported on twenty-five columns, and the width of the structure
was 87 feet. It was a place of pilgrimage, and the caravanserais where
the Faithful were wont to be housed still stand around the ruined fane.
Titicaca
The most sacred of the Peruvian shrines, however, was Titicaca,
an island on the lake of that name. The island of Coati, hard
by, enjoyed an equal reverence. Terraced platforms on the former,
reached by flights of steps, support two buildings provided for the
use of pilgrims about to proceed to Coati. On Titicaca there are the
ruins of an extensive palace which commands a splendid view of the
surrounding barren country. A great bath or tank is situated half-way
down a long range of terraces supported by cut stone masonry, and
the pool, 40 feet long by 10, and 5 feet deep, has similar walls on
three sides. Below this tank the water is made to irrigate terrace
after terrace until it falls into the lake.
Coati
The island of Coati is about six miles distant. The principal building
is on one of the loftiest of seven terraces, once radiant with flowers
and shrubs, and filled with rich loam transported from a more fertile
region. It is placed on three sides of a square, 183 feet long by
80, and is of stone laid in clay and coated with plaster. "It has,"
says Markham, "thirty-five chambers, only one of which is faced with
hewn stones. The ornament on the façade consists of elaborate niches,
which agreeably break the monotony of the wall, and above them runs a
projecting cornice. The walls were painted yellow, and the niches red;
and there was a high-pitched roof, broken here and there by gables. The
two largest chambers are 20 long by 12, and loftier than the rest,
each with a great niche in the wall facing the entrance. These were
probably the holy places or shrines of the temple. The beautiful
series of terraces falls off from the esplanade of the temple to the
shores of the lake."
Mysterious Chimu
The coast folk, of a different race from the Incas, had their centre of
civilisation near the city of Truxillo, on the plain of Chimu. Here the
ruins of a great city litter the plain for many acres. Arising from the
mass of ruin, at intervals stand huacas, or artificial hills. The city
was supplied with water by means of small canals, which also served to
irrigate the gardens. The mounds alluded to were used for sepulture,
and the largest, at Moche, is 800 feet long by 470 feet in breadth,
and 200 feet in height. It is constructed of adobes. Besides serving
the purpose of a cemetery, this mound probably supported a large
temple on its summit.
The Palace
A vast palace occupied a commanding position. Its great hall was 100
feet long by 52 broad, and its walls were covered with a highly ornate
series of arabesques in relief done in stucco, like the fretwork on
the walls of Palenque. Another hall close at hand is ornamented in
coloured stucco, and from it branch off many small rooms, which were
evidently dormitories. From the first hall a long corridor leads to
secret storehouses, where many vessels of gold and silver have been
discovered hidden away, as if to secure them either from marauding
bands or the gaze of the vulgar. All of these structures are hollowed
out of a vast mound covering several acres, so that the entire building
may be said to be partially subterranean in character. "About a hundred
yards to the westward of this palace there was a sepulchral mound
where many relics were discovered. The bodies were wrapped in cloths,
woven in ornamental figures and patterns of different colours. On some
of the cloths were sewn plates of silver, and they were edged with
borders of feathers, the silver being occasionally cut in the shape
of fishes. Among the ruins of the city there are great rectangular
areas enclosed by massive walls, and containing courts, streets,
dwellings, and reservoirs for water. The largest is about a mile
south of the mound-palace, and is 550 yards long by 400. The outer
wall is about 30 feet high, 10 feet thick at the base, with sides
inclining toward each other. Some of the interior walls are highly
ornamented in stuccoed patterns; and in one part there is an edifice
containing forty-five chambers or cells, in five rows of nine each,
which is supposed to have been a prison. The enclosure also contained
a reservoir 450 feet long by 195 broad, and 60 feet deep."
The Civilisation of Chimu
The ruins of Chimu are undoubtedly the outcome of a superior standard
of civilisation. The buildings are elaborate, as are their internal
arrangements. The extent of the city is great, and the art displayed
in the manufacture of the utensils discovered within it and the taste
evinced in the numerous wall-patterns show that a people of advanced
culture inhabited it. The jeweller's work is in high relief, and the
pottery and plaques found exhibit much artistic excellence.
Pachacamac
The famous ruins of the temple and city of Pachacamac, near the
valley of Lurin, to the south of Lima, overlook the Pacific Ocean
from a height of 500 feet. Four vast terraces still bear mighty
perpendicular walls, at one time painted red. Here was found the only
perfect Peruvian arch, built of large adobe bricks--a proof that the
Peruvian mind did not stand still in matters architectural at least.
Irrigation Works
It was in works of irrigation, however, that the race exhibited its
greatest engineering genius. In the valley of Nasca the Incas cut
deep trenches to reinforce the irrigating power of a small river,
and carried the system high up into the mountains, in order that
the rainfall coming therefrom might be conducted into the needful
channel. Lower down the valley the main watercourse is deflected into
many branches, which irrigate each estate by feeding the small surface
streams. This system adequately serves the fifteen estates of Nasca
to-day! Another high-level canal for the irrigation of pasture-lands
was led for more than a hundred and fifty miles along the eastern
slope of the central cordillera.
A Singular Discovery
In Peru, as in Mexico, it is probable that the cross was employed as
a symbol of the four winds. An account of the expedition of Fuentes
to the valley of Chichas recounts the discovery of a wooden cross as
follows: [15]
"When the settlers who accompanied Fuentes in his glorious expedition
approached the valley they found a wooden cross, hidden, as if
purposely, in the most intricate part of the mountains. As there is
not anything more flattering to the vanity of a credulous man than
to be enabled to bring forward his testimony in the relation of a
prodigy, the devotion of these good conquerors was kindled to such a
degree by the discovery of this sacred memorial that they instantly
hailed it as miraculous and divine. They accordingly carried it in
procession to the town, and placed it in the church belonging to the
convent of San Francisco, where it is still worshipped. It appears
next to impossible that there should not, at that time, have been
any individual among them sufficiently enlightened to combat such a
persuasion, since, in reality, there was nothing miraculous in the
finding of this cross, there having been other Christian settlers,
before the arrival of Fuentes, in the same valley. The opinion,
notwithstanding, that the discovery was altogether miraculous, instead
of having been abandoned at the commencement, was confirmed still more
and more with the progress of time. The Jesuits Antonio Ruiz and Pedro
Lozano, in their respective histories of the missions of Paraguay,
&c., undertook to demonstrate that the Apostle St. Thomas had been in
America. This thesis, which was so novel, and so well calculated to
draw the public attention, required, more than any other, the aid of
the most powerful reasons, and of the most irrefragable documents,
to be able to maintain itself, even in an hypothetical sense; but
nothing of all this was brought forward. Certain miserable conjectures,
prepossession, and personal interest, supplied the place of truth
and criticism. The form of a human foot, which they fancied they saw
imprinted on the rock, and the different fables of this description
invented by ignorance at every step, were the sole foundations on
which all the relations on this subject were made to repose. The one
touching the peregrinations of St. Thomas from Brazil to Quito must
be deemed apocryphal, when it is considered that the above reverend
fathers describe the Apostle with the staff in the hand, the black
cassock girt about the waist, and all the other trappings which
distinguish the missionaries of the society. The credit which these
histories obtained at the commencement was equal to that bestowed on
the cross of Tarija, which remained in the predicament of being the
one St. Thomas had planted in person, in the continent of America."
The Chibchas
A people called the Chibchas dwelt at a very high point of the Andes
range. They were brave and industrious, and possessed a culture of
their own. They defended themselves against much stronger native
races, but after the Spanish conquest their country was included in
New Granada, and is now part of the United States of Colombia. Less
experienced than the Peruvians or Aztecs, they could, however, weave
and dye, carve and engrave, make roads, build temples, and work in
stone, wood, and metals. They also worked in pottery and jewellery,
making silver pendants and collars of shells and collars of precious
stones. They were a wealthy folk, and their Spanish conquerors obtained
much spoil. Little is known concerning them or their language, and
there is not much of interest in the traditions relating to them. Their
mythology was simple. They believed the moon was the wife of Bochica,
who represented the sun, and as she tried to destroy men Bochica only
allowed her to give light during the night. When the aborigines were
in a condition of barbarism Bochica taught them and civilised them. The
legends about Bochica resemble in many points those about Quetzalcoatl
or Manco Ccapac, as well as those relating to the founder of Buddhism
and the first Inca of Peru. The Chibchas offered human sacrifices to
their gods at certain intervals, and kept the wretched victim for
some years in preparation for his doom. They venerated greatly the
Lake of Quatavita, and are supposed to have flung their treasures
into it when they were conquered. Although many attempts have been
made to recover these, little of value has been found.
The Chibchas appear to have given allegiance to two leaders, one the
Zippa, who lived at Bogota, the other the Zoque, who lived at Hunsa,
now Tunja. These chiefs ruled supreme. Like the Incas, they could
only have one lawful wife, and their sons did not succeed them--their
power passed, as in some Central African tribes, to the eldest son
of the sister.
When the Zippa died, sweet-smelling resin took the place of his
internal parts, and the body was put in a wooden coffin, with sheets
of gold for ornamentation. The coffin was hidden in an unknown
sepulchre, and these tombs have never been discovered--at least,
so say the Spaniards. Their weapons, garments, objects of daily use,
even jars of chicha, were buried with these chiefs. It is very likely
that a cave where rows of mummies richly dressed were found, and many
jewels, was the secret burying-place of the Zippas and the Zoques. To
these folk death meant only a continuation of the life on earth.
A Severe Legal Code
The laws of the Chibchas were severe--death was meted out to the
murderer, and bodily punishment for stealing. A coward was made to
look like a woman and do her work, while to an unfaithful wife was
administered a dose of red pepper, which, if swallowed, released
the culprit from the penalty of death and entitled her to an apology
from her husband. The Chibchas made no use of cattle, and lived on
honey. Their houses were built of clay, and were set in the midst of an
enclosure guarded by watch-towers. The roofs were of a conical shape,
covered with reed mats, and skilfully interlaced rushes were used to
close the openings.
The Chibchas were skilful in working bronze, lead, copper, tin, gold,
and silver, but not iron. The Saint-Germain Museum has many specimens
of gold and silver articles made by these people. M. Uricaechea has
still more uncommon specimens in his collection, such as two golden
masks of the human face larger than life, and a great number of
statuettes of men, and images of monkeys and frogs.
The Chibchas traded with what they made, exporting the rock salt
they found in their own country and receiving in exchange cereals
with which to cultivate their own poor soil. They also made
curious little ornaments which might have passed for money, but
they are not supposed to have understood coinage. They had few stone
columns--only large granite rocks covered with huge figures of tigers
and crocodiles. Humboldt mentions these, and two very high columns,
covered with sculpture, at the junction of the Carare and Magdalena,
greatly revered by the natives, were raised probably by the Chibchas.
A Strange Mnemonic System
On the arrival of the Spaniards the Peruvians were unacquainted with
any system of writing or numeration. The only means of recording
events they possessed was that provided by quipos, knotted pieces of
string or hide of varying length and colour. According to the length
or colour of these cords the significance of the record varied; it
was sometimes historical and sometimes mathematical. Quipos relating
to the history of the Incas were carefully preserved by an officer
called Quipo Camayol--literally, "The Guardian of the Quipos." The
greater number were destroyed as monuments of idolatry by the fanatical
Spanish monks who came over with the Conquistadores, but their loss is
by no means important, as no study, however profound, could possibly
unriddle the system upon which they were based. The Peruvians, however,
long continued to use them in secret.
Practical Use of the Quipos
The Marquis de Nadaillac has placed on record a use to which the quipos
were put in more modern times. He says: "A great revolt against the
Spaniards was organised in 1792. As was found out later, the revolt
had been organised by means of messengers carrying a piece of wood
in which were enclosed threads the ends of which were formed of red,
black, blue, or white fringes. The black thread had four knots, which
signified that the messenger had started from Vladura, the residence
of the chief of the conspiracy, four days after full moon. The white
thread had ten knots, which signified that the revolt would break out
ten days after the arrival of the messenger. The person to whom the
keeper was sent had in his turn to make a knot in the red thread if
he agreed to join the confederates; in the red and blue threads, on
the contrary, if he refused." It was by means of these quipos that the
Incas transmitted their instructions. On all the roads starting from
the capital, at distances rarely exceeding five miles, rose tambos,
or stations for the chasquis or couriers, who went from one post to
another. The orders of the Inca thus became disseminated with great
rapidity. Orders which emanated directly from the sovereign were
marked with a red thread of the royal llantu (mantle), and nothing,
as historians assure us, could equal the respect with which these
messages were received.
The Incas as Craftsmen
The Incan Peruvians had made some progress in the metallurgic, ceramic,
and textile arts. By washing the sands of the rivers of Caravaya they
obtained large quantities of gold, and they extracted silver from
the ore by means of blast-furnaces. Copper also was abundant, and was
employed to manufacture bronze, of which most of their implements were
made. Although it is difficult to know at what period their mining
operations were carried on, it is evident that they could only have
learned the art through long experience. Many proofs are to be found
of their skill in jewellery, and amongst these are wonderful statuettes
which they made from an amalgam of gold and mercury, afterwards exposed
to great heat. A number of curious little ornaments made of various
substances, with a little hole bored through them, were frequently
found under the huacas--probably talismans. The finest handiwork of
the Incas was undoubtedly in jewellery; but unfortunately most of the
examples of their work in this craft were melted down to assuage the
insatiable avarice of the Spanish conquerors, and are therefore for
ever lost to us. The spade and chisel employed in olden times by the
Peruvians are much the same as the people use now, but some of their
tools were clumsy. Their javelins, tomahawks, and other military
arms were very futile weapons. Some found near the mines of Pasco
were made of stone.
The spinning, weaving, and dyeing of the Peruvians were unequalled in
aboriginal America, their cloths and tapestries being both graceful
in design and strong in texture.
Stamps of bark or earthenware were employed to fix designs upon
their woollen stuffs, and feathers were added to the garments made
from these, the combination producing a gay effect much admired by
the Spaniards. The British Museum possesses some good specimens of
these manufactures.
Pottery
The Peruvians excelled in the potter's art. The pottery was baked
in a kiln, and was varied in colour, red, black, and grey being the
favourite shades. It was varnished outside, and the vases were moulded
in two pieces and joined before heating. Much of the work is of great
grace and elegance, and the shapes of animals were very skilfully
imitated. Many drinking-cups of elegant design have been discovered,
and some vases are of considerable size, measuring over three feet in
height. A simple geometric pattern is usually employed for decoration,
but sometimes rows of birds and insects figure in the ceramics. The
pottery of the coast people is more rich and varied than that of the
Inca race proper, and among its types we find vases moulded in the
form of human faces, many of them exhibiting so much character that
we are forced to conclude that they are veritable portraits. Fine
stone dishes are often found, as well as platters of wood, and
these frequently bear as ornament tasteful carvings representing
serpents. On several cups and vases are painted representations of
battles between the Inca forces and the savages of the eastern forests
using bows and arrows; below wander the animals of the forest region,
a brightly painted group.
The Archæological Museum of Madrid gives a representation of very
varied kinds of Peruvian pottery, including some specimens modelled
upon a series of plants, interesting to botanists. The Louvre
collections have one or two interesting examples of earthenware,
as well as the Ethnographical Museum of St. Petersburg, and in all
these collections there are types which are believed to be peculiar
to the Old World.
The Trocadero Museum has a very curious specimen with two necks
called the "Salvador." A drawing on the vase represents a man with
a tomahawk. The Peruvians, like the Mexicans, also made musical
instruments out of earthenware, and heavy ornaments, principally for
the ear.
Historical Sketch of the Incan Peruvians
The Inca dominion, as the Spaniards found it, was instituted only
about a century before the coming of the white man. Before that
time Inca sway held good over scattered portions of the country,
but had not extended over the entire territory which in later
times was connected with the Inca name. That it was founded on the
wreck of a more ancient power which once existed in the district
of Chinchay-suyu there can be little doubt. This power was wielded
over a space bounded by the lake of Chinchay-cocha on the north
and Abancay on the south, and extended to the Pacific at the valley
of Chincha. It was constituted by an alliance of tribes under the
leadership of the chief of Pucara, in the Huanca country. A branch of
this confederacy, the Chanca, pushing southward in a general movement,
encountered the Inca people of Colla-suyu, who, under their leader,
Pachacutic, a young but determined chieftain, defeated the invaders
in a decisive battle near Cuzco. In consequence of this defeat the
Chanca deserted their former allies and made common cause with their
victors. Together the armies made a determined attack on the Huanca
alliance, which they broke up, and conquered the northern districts
of the Chinchay-suyu. Thus Central Peru fell to the Inca arms.
The Inca Monarchs
Inca history, or rather tradition, as we must call it in the light
of an unparalleled lack of original documentary evidence, spoke
of a series of eleven monarchs from Manco Ccapac to Huaina Ccapac,
who died shortly before the Spanish conquest. These had reigned for a
collective period of nearly 350 years. The evidence that these chiefs
had reigned was of the best, for their mummified bodies were preserved
in the great Temple of the Sun at Cuzco, already described. There they
received the same daily service as when in the flesh. Their private
herds of llamas and slaves were still understood to belong to them,
and food and drink were placed before them at stated intervals. Clothes
were made for them, and they were carried about in palanquins as if for
daily exercise. The descendants of each at periodical intervals feasted
on the produce of their ancestor's private estate, and his mummy was
set in the centre of the diners and treated as the principal guest.
The First Incas
After Manco Ccapac and his immediate successor, Sinchi Roca (Wise
Chief), Lloque Yupanqui comes third in the series. He died while
his son was still a child. Concerning Mayta Ccapac, who commenced
his reign while yet a minor, but little is known. He was followed by
Ccapac Yupanqui, who defeated the Conti-suyu, who had grown alarmed at
the great power recently attained by Cuzco. The Inca and his men were
attacked whilst about to offer sacrifice. A second attempt to sack
Cuzco and divide its spoil and the women attached to the great Temple
of the Sun likewise ended in the total discomfiture of the jealous
invaders. With Inca Roca, the next Inca, a new dynasty commences,
but it is well-nigh impossible to trace the connection between it and
the preceding one. Of the origin of Inca Roca nothing is related save
that he claimed descent from Manco Ccapac. Roca, instead of waiting
to be attacked in his own dominions, boldly confronted the Conti-suyu
in their own territory, defeated them decisively at Pumatampu, and
compelled them to yield him tribute. His successor, Yahuarhuaccac,
initiated a similar campaign against the Colla-suyu people, against
whom he had the assistance of the conquered Conti-suyu. But at a
feast which he held in Cuzco before setting out he was attacked by
his allies, and fled to the Coricancha, or Golden Temple of the Sun,
for refuge, along with his wives. Resistance was unavailing, and the
Inca and many of his favourites were slaughtered. The allied tribes
which had overrun Central Peru now threatened Cuzco, and had they
advanced with promptitude the Inca dynasty would have been wiped out
and the city reduced to ruins. A strong man was at hand, however,
who was capable of dealing with the extremely dangerous situation
which had arisen. This was Viracocha, a chieftain chosen by the vote
of the assembled warriors of Cuzco. By a prudent conciliation of
the Conti-suyu and Colla-suyu he established a confederation which
not only put an end to all threats of invasion, but so menaced the
invaders that they were glad to return to their own territory and
place it in a suitable state of defence.
Viracocha the Great
With Viracocha the Great, or "Godlike," the period of true Inca
ascendancy commences. He was the real founder of the enlarged Inca
dominion. He was elected Inca on his personal merits, and during a
vigorous reign succeeded in making the influence of Cuzco felt in
the contiguous southern regions. In his old age he retired to his
country seats at Yucay and Xaquixahuana, and left the conduct of the
realm to his son and successor, Urco-Inca, a weak-minded voluptuary,
who neglected his royal duties, and was superseded by his younger
brother, Pachacutic, a famous character in Inca history.
The Plain of Blood
The commencement of Pachacutic's reign witnessed one of the
most sanguinary battles in the history of Peru. Hastu-huaraca,
chief of the Antahuayllas, in the Chanca country, invaded the Inca
territory, and encamped on the hills of Carmenca, which overlooks
Cuzco. Pachacutic held a parley with him, but all to no purpose,
for the powerful invader was determined to humble the Inca dynasty
to the dust. Battle was speedily joined. The first day's fight was
indecisive, but on the succeeding day Pachacutic won a great victory,
the larger part of the invading force being left dead on the field
of battle, and Hastu-huaraca retreating with five hundred followers
only. The battle of Yahuar-pampa (Plain of Blood) was the turning-point
in Peruvian history. The young Inca, formerly known as Yupanqui, was
now called Pachacutic (He who changes the World). The warriors of the
south made full submission to him, and came in crowds to offer him
their services and seek his alliance and friendship, and he shortly
found himself supreme in the territories over which his predecessors
had exercised merely a nominal control.
The Conquest of Middle Peru
Hastu-huaraca, who had been commissioned by the allied tribesmen of
Chinchay-suyu to reduce the Incas, now threw in his lot with them,
and together conqueror and conquered proceeded to the liberation of the
district of Chinchay-suyu from the tyranny of the Huanca alliance. The
reduction of the southern portion of that territory was speedily
accomplished. In the valley of Xauxa the invaders came upon the army
of the Huanca, on which they inflicted a final defeat. The Inca spared
and liberated the prisoners of war, who were numerous. Once more,
at Tarma, were the Huanca beaten, after which all resistance appears
to have been overcome. The city-state of Cuzco was now the dominant
power throughout the whole of Central Peru, a territory 300 miles in
length, whilst it exercised a kind of suzerainty over a district of
equal extent toward the south-east, which it shortly converted into
actual dominion.
Fusion of Races
This conquest of Central Peru led to the fusing of the Quichua-speaking
tribes on the left bank of the Apurimac with the Aymara-speaking
folk on the right bank, with the result that the more numerous
Quichua speedily gained linguistic ascendancy over their brethren the
Aymara. Subsequently to this the peoples of Southern and Central Peru,
led by Inca headmen, swept in a great wave of migration over Cerro de
Pasco, where they met with little or no resistance, and Pachacutic
lived to be lord over a dominion extending for a thousand miles to
the northward, and founder of a great Inca colony south of the equator
almost identical in outline with the republic of Ecuador.
Two Branches of the Incas
These conquests, or rather race-movements, split up the Inca
people into two separate portions, the respective centres of
which were well-nigh a thousand miles apart. The centre of the
northern district was at Tumipampa, Riopampa, and Quito at different
periods. The political separation of these areas was only a question of
time. Geographical conditions almost totally divided the two portions
of the empire, a sparsely populated stretch of country 400 miles in
extent lying between them (see map, p. 333.)
The Laws of Pachacutic
Pachacutic united to his fame as a warrior the reputation of a wise
and liberal ruler. He built the great Temple of the Sun at Cuzco,
probably on the site of a still older building, and established in
its walls the convent in which five hundred maidens were set apart
for the service of the god. He also, it is said, instituted the great
rite of the Ccapac-cocha, at which maize, cloth, llamas, and children
were sacrificed in honour of the sun-god. He devised a kind of census,
by which governors were compelled periodically to render an account
of the population under their rule. This statement was made by means
of quipos. Agriculture was his peculiar care, and he was stringent
in the enforcement of laws regarding the tilling of the soil, the
foundation and upkeep of stores and granaries, and the regulation
of labour in general. As an architect he took upon himself the task
of personally designing the principal buildings of the city of Cuzco,
which were rebuilt under his instructions and in accordance with models
moulded from clay by his own hands. He appears to have had a passion
for order, and to him we may be justified in tracing the rigorous and
almost grandmotherly system under which the Peruvians were living at
the time of the arrival of their Spanish conquerors. To Pachacutic,
too, is assigned the raising of the immense fortress of Sacsahuaman,
already described. He further instituted the order of knighthood known
as Auqui, or "Warrior," entrance to which was granted to suitable
applicants at the great feast of Ccapac Raymi, or Festival of the
Sun. He also named the succession of moons, and erected the pillars
on the hill of Carmenca by which the season of solstice was found. In
short, all law and order which had a place in the Peruvian social
economy were attributed to him, and we may designate him the Alfred
of his race.
Tupac-Yupanqui
Pachacutic's son, Tupac-Yupanqui, for some time before his father's
death acted as his lieutenant. His name signifies "Bright" or
"Shining." His activity extended to every portion of the Inca dominion,
the borders of which he enlarged, suppressing revolts, subjugating
tribes not wholly brought within the pale of Inca influence, and
generally completing the work so ably begun by his father.
"The Gibbet"
A spirit of cruelty and excess such as was unknown to Pachacutic
marked the military exploits of Tupac. In the valley of Huarco, near
the Pacific coast, for example, he was repulsed by the natives, who
were well supplied with food and stores of all sorts, and whose town
was well fortified and very strongly situated. Tupac constructed an
immense camp, or rather town, the outlines of which recalled those of
his capital of Cuzco, on a hill opposite the city, and here he calmly
sat down to watch the gradual starvation of the enemy. This siege
continued for three years, until the wretched defenders, driven to
despair through want of food, capitulated, relying on the assurance
of their conqueror that they should become a part of the Inca nation
and that their daughters should become the wives of Inca youths. The
submission of their chiefs having been made, Tupac ordered a general
massacre of the warriors and principal civilians. At the conquest the
Spaniards could still see the immense heaps of bones which littered
the spot where this heartless holocaust took place, and the name Huarco
(The Gibbet) became indissolubly associated with the district.
Huaina Ccapac
Tupac died in 1493, and was succeeded by his son Huaina Ccapac
(The Young Chief). Huaina was about twenty-two years of age at the
time of his father's death, and although the late Inca had named
Ccapac-Huari, his son by another wife, as his successor, the claims of
Huaina were recognised. His reign was peaceful, and was marked by wise
administrative improvements and engineering effort. At the same time
he was busily employed in holding the savage peoples who surrounded
his empire in check. He favoured the northern colony, and rebuilt
Tumipampa, but resided at Quito. Here he dwelt for some years with a
favourite son by a wife of the lower class, named Tupac-atau-huallpa
(The Sun makes Good Fortune). Huaina was the victim of an epidemic
raging in Peru at the time. He was greatly feared by his subjects,
and was the last Inca who held undisputed sway over the entire
dominion. Like Nezahualcoyotl in Mexico, he attempted to set up the
worship of one god in Peru, to the detriment of all other huacas,
or sacred beings.
The Inca Civil War
On the death of Huaina his two sons, Huascar and Atauhuallpa, [16]
strove for the crown. Before his demise Huaina had divided his dominion
between his two sons, but it was said that he had wrested Quito from
a certain chieftain whose daughter he had married, and by whom he had
Atauhuallpa, who was therefore rightful heir to that province. The
other son, Huascar, or Tupac-cusi-huallpa (The Sun makes Joy), was
born to his principal sister-wife--for, according to Inca custom,
the monarchs of Peru, like those of certain Egyptian dynasties,
filled with pride of race, and unwilling to mingle their blood with
that of plebeians, took spouses from among their sisters. This is the
story as given by many Spanish chroniclers, but it has no foundation
in fact. Atauhuallpa was in reality the son of a woman of the people,
and Huascar was not the son of Huaina's sister-wife, but of a wife of
less intimate relationship. Therefore both sons were on an equality as
regards descent. Huascar, however, was nearer the throne by virtue of
his mother's status, which was that of a royal princess, whereas the
mother of Atauhuallpa was not officially recognised. Huascar by his
excesses and his outrages on religion and public decency aroused the
people to revolt against his power, and Atauhuallpa, discerning his
opportunity in this émeute, made a determined attack on the royal
forces, and succeeded in driving them slowly back, until at last
Tumipampa was razed to the ground, and shortly afterwards the important
southerly fortress of Caxamarca fell into the hands of the rebels.
A Dramatic Situation
Atauhuallpa remained at Caxamarca, and despatched the bulk of his
forces into the enemy's country. These drove the warriors of Huascar
back until the upper courses of the Apurimac were reached. Huascar fled
from Cuzco, but was captured, and carried a prisoner with his mother,
wife, and children to Atauhuallpa. Not many days afterwards news
of the landing of the Spaniards was received by the rebel Inca. The
downfall of the Peruvian Empire was at hand.
A Worthless Despotism
If the blessings of a well-regulated government were dispensed
by the Incas, these benefits were assuredly counterbalanced by the
degrading despotism which accompanied them. The political organisation
of the Peruvian Empire was in every sense more complete than that
of Mexico. But in a state where individual effort and liberty are
entirely crushed even such an effective organisation as the Peruvian
can avail the people little, and is merely a device for the support
of a calculated tyranny.