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Inca economy: organization, bases and activities of the empire
The Inca economy refers to the production and trade systems developed by the Quechua civilization during the existence of the Inca Empire. This economy began its development from the year 1200 a. C, when the first towns and villages arose in the north coast region of present-day Peru.
Over the years, the religious centers of the Quechuas evolved into populated urban centers that house residences, markets, and administrative, political, and religious bodies.
The Inca economy of these centers was based mainly on the development and control of large areas of land dedicated to the agricultural economy and livestock. This development reached its peak during the reign of the Inca Pachacutec (1433-1471).
In this way, during the reign of Pachacútec, the Inca state was organized and the empire expanded, encompassing the current territories of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador and part of Colombia, Chile and Argentina.
Organization of the Inca economy
It is important to indicate that the Inca economy should not be analyzed and understood according to the economic concepts that are used today.
Therefore, to understand it, one must start from a framework of kinship relations, which united the members of an extended family by ritually established obligations. The bases and activities of the economy of the Inca Empire were:
The reciprocity system in the Inca economy
At the beginning of the expansion of the Inca settlements, the authority was not exercised directly, but was executed by reciprocity and minka (which translates as "implore someone to help me by promising something"). Reciprocity allowed an exchange based on the benefits of work, which was organized through kinship relationships. Therefore, wealth depended on the work available to a community and not on the amount of goods accumulated by a particular individual.
In this regard, the researchers describe two floors of reciprocity: the collectivity united by ties of kinship and the Inca state surrounded by a military and administrative apparatus favored by the services of its subjects, whose surpluses were redistributed.
How reciprocity was achieved
The Inca reciprocity system has been achieved by following the following steps: First, the Inca Pachacútec, in meetings with the lords of neighboring towns, offered quantities of food, drink and music, as well as a barter of women to establish kinship.
Second, the Inca formulated the "demand" which consisted of the demand for the construction of reservoirs. A second "petition" allowed other arrangements to fill the food stores. In the third and last place, the lords of the neighboring towns, verifying the "generosity" of Pachacútec, accepted the demands of the Incas.
As new conquests were made, the number of cities and noble lords that joined the empire through reciprocal ties increased, resulting in a large labor force.
Inca economy and the construction of administrative centers
As the growth of the Inca Empire increased, the rulers encountered certain difficulties of reciprocity, which delayed their economic plans.
To reduce the problem, administrative centers were built throughout the Empire, where the lords of the region met with important government figures; in this way, the rites and requirements of reciprocity could be fulfilled.
The most important of these centers, due to its large number of deposits, was Huánuco Pampa. In many conserved documents notable references have been found to the amount of crops and inputs destined for Huánuco Pampa.
Work systems in the Inca economy: the minca, the ayni and the mita
Coin
It was a work arrangement designed to satisfy a common need that involved reciprocal, committed and complementary relationships. An example of this system was raising the harvest of a family group with immediate return, which could be a hearty meal or a reciprocal commitment in the future.
Ayni
Aynis were the benefits that each member of the group could claim from the others and that later had to be returned. They were generally associated with the cultivation of the land and the care of livestock.
Mita
It is shift work performed for periods. The workers left their communities of origin and were transferred to other regions to fulfill the requested commitments, which were linked to the production of redistributable goods.
The three holders: the Inca, the Sun and the People
They had a very different concept of property than today, which implied a different way of dividing the land. The chronicles speak of the lands of the Incas, the sun and the people.
The lands of the Incas existed throughout the Empire. The works were carried out by the local population and the benefit of these lands was delivered to state deposits. Meanwhile, what was destined for the Sun was used to maintain the entire religious structure of the state, as well as cults, priests and temples.
Finally, what was produced by the city was distributed proportionally among all the inhabitants. The distribution of the product of the land was carried out according to the unit of measure called mole. It was a fixed amount of products. One mole provided an adult male, and when a pair was formed, the female received half.
inca agriculture
Agriculture was the main Inca economic activity, far surpassing other pre-Columbian civilizations in this task. Its impressive developments of stepped terraces for cultivation are famous, which could be tens of meters wide and up to 1500 meters long.
These terraces were built in places that were sometimes inaccessible, such as steep mountain slopes, to be later filled in with earth, thus gaining new land for cultivation.
livestock
Camelids played a very important role in the development of Andean cultures, especially in the highlands, where food resources were limited. There was no such useful animal in the Andean territory as the lama, because its uses were multiple.
The two domesticated varieties were the llama (Lama glama) and the alpaca (Lama paco). Two other wild species were the vicuña (Lama vicugna) and the guanaco (Lama guanicoe).
Together with the cotton planted on the coast, the llama wool formed the fibers to weave the cloth (abasca), which was used by the people. On the other hand, vicuña and alpaca wool was used to make finer and more luxurious textiles (cumbi).
In addition, dehydrated and sun-dried llama meat had the advantage of being easily preserved and stored in warehouses.
state deposits
Obtaining a significant surplus in agricultural production served for redistribution at the state level and covered the reciprocity requirements. These earnings were held in a large amount of government deposits.
The deposits were located in the springs of each province and in the city of Cusco. These gave the Inca government an accumulation of profitable assets that symbolized its power. Following the same rules set for crops and crops was critical to the success of these warehouses, meaning there were managers who stayed away from the warehouses they supervise.
In this way, everything was stored in the warehouses and, despite the Spanish conquest, the indigenous people continued to fill the warehouses as if the Inca government existed, since they assume that once peace is restored they will take into account the goods produced up to that time.
warehouse storage
In the warehouses, everything was stored in an orderly manner and the durability of the products was taken into account. These warehouses were usually built on the slopes of hills, especially in high, cool and airy places. They had the appearance of turrets built in rows and separated to prevent the spread of fire in case of fire.
How to store the products
The products were stored with great care, which allowed the accounts to be recorded in the quipu in charge of the quipucamayoc. The corn was kept without husks in large ceramic pots, with small covered bowls; Potatoes, like coca leaves, were kept in reed baskets, ensuring that the quantities stored were equivalent.
As for the garments, a certain number of them were bundled. Dried fruit and dried shrimp were lodged in small pockets of reeds.
Arithmetic Notation System
The Inca State, although it did not write, is distinguished by its high degree of efficiency in managing the economy. This was achieved through the development of quipu, which is an arithmetic notation system.
The quipu consists of a main rope and other secondary ropes that hang from it. In the latter, a series of knots was made that indicate the quantities, while the colors represented certain products or articles.
The official who kept the accounts through the quipu was called quipucamayoc. Few people knew the management of this system since its teaching was reserved for certain officials and members of the nobility.
All the information generated by the quipus was kept in special warehouses located in the city of Cuzco. These deposits functioned as a gigantic ministry of economy.
Economic Organization in the Inca Empire
Following the descriptions of the chroniclers of the sixteenth century, it was believed that the economic achievements of the Incas were the result of a fair distribution of resources and abundant agricultural and animal production.
In this way, the eradication of poverty and hunger would have been achieved. However, today we know that the Inca economy can only be understood in the context of kinship relations, which bound members of an extended family together through ritually established obligations.
The Inca economy was based on a system of multiple correlations. This allowed an exchange based on the advantages of labor organized through kinship relations.
In Tahuantinsuyo there was no currency, no market, no trade, no tribute, as we know them today. Therefore, wealth and poverty depend on the labor force that a community has and not on the amount of assets that an individual accumulates.
In Andean terms, a poor man or huaccha – which in the Quechua language means “orphan” – was someone who had no parents.
Agriculture
Agriculture was the main economic activity, which was intensified through the application and improvement of technology inherited from cultures prior to it.
One of the most impressive expressions was the construction of platforms that allowed the expansion of the agricultural area. On the other hand, the expansion of the Tahuantinsuyo Empire allowed them to have very varied resources; especially as corn and potato crops.
Land ownership
A concept of property very different from that of the West, which implied a different way of dividing the land. Although the chronicles speak of the lands of the Inca, the Sun and the people, today this division is discussed, since they were probably justified by the conquerors to proceed with the adjudication of the lands to the Spanish Crown.
The Incas received land from dominated ethnic groups, which then passed to their panaca. The production of the "land of the Incas" served to feed those who worked for the administration and also for redistribution.
The so-called "lands of the sun" were used to supply the temples and the personnel dedicated to the cult, and the surplus of their production was destined for redistribution.
The Mole
The distribution of the land was made according to the unit of measure called topo. It was not a plot, as some think, but a number of products. In this way, one mole provided an adult and mated the male, and when a pair was formed, the female received half.
Animal husbandry
The llama, the alpaca, the vicuña and the guanaco were used to the maximum by the Incas. In the case of the llama, its meat, leather, wool and even dried feces were used, which was an excellent fertilizer and fuel. Also, camels were beasts of burden.
The curacas and the rest of the ayllu may have a group of camels. Those that were used in the offerings and sacrifices that were raised in the huacas.
Chaqué
The chaqué or rodeo involves surrounding large areas with thousands of people and herding the vicuñas in stone pens where they are cut up and then released. The belief that the mountain gods own wild animals made the vicuña a sacred animal for the Incas. It is estimated that at the time of the Tahuantinsuyo there were around two million heads in the Peruvian Andes.
Its wool was used to make exclusive garments for the elites. To obtain the fiber, the Incas organized captures in each kingdom every three or five years. Archaeological records indicate that this technique of capturing wild animals was inherited from the ancient inhabitants of the Andes.
Economic Administration
The officials appointed by the Incas constituted the bureaucracy that collaborated with the organization and management of the state. In general, the nobles of Cuzco were the ones who held the most important positions. Among these, the following stand out:
El Tocricoc: regional governor
El Tucuyricuc: local inspector and mediator of minor conflicts.
The Quipucamayoc: Specialist in the handling of quipus.
Qhapac ñan tocricoc: Builder of imperial roads.
Le Collac camayoc: Deposit manager.
the quipu
The quipu was a complex system of arithmetic notation made up of a main chain and other side chains that hung from it. In the latter, a series of knots was made, which indicate the quantities, while the colors represented certain products or articles. The responsibility of interpreting the quipus rested with the quipucamayoc. This activity was a kind of family tradition, passed down from father to son.
Inca trails
The Capac Ñan or great trail of the Incas was a network of paths that crossed the entire Tahuantinsuyo. The roads allowed the transfer of goods produced in different regions thanks to the mita, which went to warehouses for later distribution. Likewise, they allowed the movement of groups that mobilized to carry out the mita. These routes were used by the chasquis, in charge of sending messages throughout the Tahuantinsuyo.
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