What Became of the Inca Empire?

The Inca Empire is often remembered as a somewhat primitive society that rose to prominence before the Conquistadors arrived. But that is only part of the story. Yes, certain aspects of Inca culture could be described as primitive. For example, they did not have a written language. But they also completed intricate architectural projects that were on a par with the work of the Europeans.

In fact, history tells us that the Spanish Conquistadors marvelled at the sights of the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu. That was in the sixteenth century. And contrary to popular belief, the Inca people did exist long before the Europeans arrived. The Inca people can trace their history back to the thirteenth century.

The first Incas came from modern-day Peru. They lived on the highlands and for some strange, unexplained reason they suddenly became obsessed with the idea of building an empire. For almost a century, the Inca people successfully conquered most of the lands and tribes in western South America. They did not even need an UK 0800 number to accomplish this.

Most of the time, the Incas relied on peaceful assimilation, but occasionally they attacked and pillaged entire towns and villages. The number of people that considered themselves Incas is difficult to calculate. In fact, modern estimates range from 10 to 30 million. But we do know that they were the largest empire in pre-Columbian America.

When the Spanish Conquistadors arrived in 1526, the Inca Empire was quite wealthy. Of particular interest to the Europeans were the copious quantities of gold that were used in buildings, art and jewellery. But the Spanish did not require thousands of troops to conquer the Inca and steal their gold. In the end, the Europeans brought Small Pox with them, which was responsible for killing between 65 and 90 percent of the Inca population.