Phillip Bauserman
2/19/2012
History 365
Conrad and Demarest
Fall of the Inca
Conrad and Demarest do a
wonderful job in explaining the rapid rise and fall of the Inca’s in a short
amount of time. The rapid rise is due to
the cult of their royal mummies, and their need to expand and maintain their
kingdom through property inheritance.
This idea on property inheritance is something I hope we can elaborate a
little bit more on in class. Page 113
gives a good description on this process in which land, titles, and the
kingdoms of the dead kings remain and Panaqas continue to serve in the dead
kings court, maintain his mummy, and expand his lands, laborers, and
wealth. As a result, the empire had to
expand to maintain the new King’s constituents and themselves which would lead
to shortages.
This cult definitely is a reason
for the expansion of the Incan Empire, in order for new Kings to gain land and
become part of the cult after their deaths.
The rapid expansion also led to
its deterioration which Conrad and Demarest note. They also acknowledge that as a result, communication
in the empire declined causing a lack of cohesion. The diverse ethnic groups whom had be
conquered became the Inca’s greatest threat of unity. These groups rebelled at different points and
were the greatest allies the Spanish had.
The rapid decline however was
due to the sudden rift of Huascar’s belief in abandoning the cult of the Mummy
and going against the Panaqas and the nobles.
This resulted in a Incan civil war.
The arrival of the Spanish exploited the internal ethnic discontent, as
well as the discontent among the Incan nobles.
I think they Conrad and Demarest
do a good job at explaining this. BUT, I need more archaeological facts to
ensure that these are the reasons for rapid rise and decline. I hope we can review this further in class.
I agree with your post in that the fall of the Inca Empire, like the fall of other empires in history was due to excessive expansion of territory. The Inca Empire was unique, however, in that their resources were being diverted to often intangible beliefs. Inca emperors who had died were still treated as if they were alive. The social class of the panaqa existed to allow the cult of the emperor’s divinity and authority to persist. “The deceased emperor’s palaces in Cuzco and the countryside, servants, chattel, and other possessions continued to be treated as his property and were entrusted to his panaqa, a corporate social group containing all of his descendents in the male line except his successor” (Conrad and Demarest 113). I can see the resemblance of the Inca traditions and norms with the ancient Egyptian customs and mores. “A past Inca ruler was not considered ‘dead’ in our sense of the term at all, as we can see from the way his panaqa dealt with him. A king’s descendents maintained him in state, made costly offerings and sacrifices to him, brought him to all the major state ceremonies, talked to him, sought his help in times of stress, ate and drank with him, and even took him to visit his friends! In short, the panaqas continued to treat the deceased rulers as if they were still alive” (Conrad and Demarest 114). In addition to this cult which appeased deceased rulers the Inca Empire had much ethnic diversity due to the vastness of their territory of conquered tribes. “Ethnic diversity had always been a destabilizing force in Tawantinsuyu and it would now contribute to the empire’s downfall” (Conrad and Demarest 137). The cult of dead Inca rulers and imperial expansion lead to the rebellion of Huascar creating a division between the Inca peoples and although ultimately defeated by Atauhualpa, the Spaniards’ conquest became more likely. “By creating a unified cult of imperial expansion, the worship of royal mummies gave the Inca an advantage over their neighbors, fired the explosive growth of their empire, and drove them to their zenith” (Conrad and Demarest 138). The very components that had made the Inca Empire so successful in the Andean region were also the detriments that lead to its downfall.
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