- Although Inca civilization shares general features that are common in the other great ancient American civilizations, there are peculiarities that set it apart.
- In their capital, at Cuzco in Peru, lived the emperor — called "The Inca" — who was regarded as a god on Earth. The nobles were a strong and gifted group.
- The Inca civilization was the largest in South America. It occupied part of the current countries of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile and Argentina.
- Before the arrival of any European power, up amongst the Andean clouds, a large imperial state developed in South America: the Inca Empire.
- The knowledge of these myths is due to oral tradition, since the Incas did not have writing. There probably did exist a Manco Capac who became the leader of his tribe.
- The Inca Indians created an empire high in the rugged Andes Mountains of South America. ... Yet, the Inca Indians never invented the wheel.
- The Incas successfully challenged and defeated the Ayarmaca people, in a region now known as the Sacred Valley of the Incas, found just north of Cusco.
- Pachacuti's son, Túpac Inca, conquered even more land, most importantly the Kingdom of Chimor, the Inca's only serious rival for the coast of Peru.
- Key Takeaways
- The Aztecs had a hierarchical social structure, while the Incas had a more egalitarian one.
- The Aztecs practised human sacrifice, while the Incas did not.
- Between 1150 and 1250BC the Incas, by then a small tribe, were searching for farmland which they found in the fertile mountain valleys of Cusco.