The fall of the Inca Empire began around 1526, when the Emperor, Huayna Capac, and his appointed heir died, probably from one of the European diseases that accompanied the arrival of the Spaniards. A struggle for power between two remaining sons, Huáscar and Atahualpa, led to a draining civil war that lasted until 1532. That same year, Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro arrived on the shores of Peru with a small-armed force known as the conquistadors. The Incas at first believed Pizarro to be their creator god Viracocha. Pizarro took advantage of this as well as the weakened state of the empire to take power. He accomplished this by ambushing and capturing the Inca ruler Atahualpa. Pizarro invited Atahualpa to a "peaceful gathering", but when Atahualpa arrived, he was captured, imprisoned and ransomed. Atahualpa's ransom was paid by the Inca empire with what would be equivalent to 50 million dollars worth of gold today, or, better stated by Pizarro, as "enough gold to fill a room". Unfortunately, this ransom was paid to no avail; in 1533 the Spaniards strangled and beheaded Atahualpa. The Spaniards extended their control over Inca territory in the following years. In 1572 they overwhelmed the last of the Inca forces and captured the last emperor, Túpac Amaru. In beheading him, they ended the Inca dynasty.
The conquerors introduced the encomienda system, which put Native Americans to work at forced labor on great agricultural estates. Thousands died of European diseases and many others fled the land of their ancestors, causing the population to drop rapidly. Today about 8 million descendants of the Incas inhabit the lands of the former empire, speaking the Quechuan language and following many of the ancient Inca beliefs and customs.
The Inca religious system was based on the worship of multiple deities. The supreme god was the creator god, Viracocha. The Incas also worshiped the sun god, Inti, from whom the royal family was believed to have descended. Additionally, a number of other nature gods were believed responsible for the success of crops. The Incas also held particular objects and places sacred, which they called huacas. Each family kept a personal huaca within its home; there offerings or sacrifices were made regularly to maintain balance in nature and society and to appease the gods. The Incas also believed fervently in an afterlife and worshipped the spirits of their ancestors. This is apparent in the treatment of the deceased rulers, whose tombs were kept within the palaces, tended to by servants, and who were often consulted for advice on affairs. Rural people practiced simpler rituals of ancestor worship. When a person died, the body was embalmed and placed in a beehive-shaped tomb with vessels of food and chicha, a liqueur made from ground corn and potatoes. The family of the deceased held funeral ceremonies for eight days and wore black clothes for as long as a year. Women in mourning cut their hair. The Incas also made above-ground tombs called chullpas. They would enter and reenter these tombs, providing more food and precious goods and offerings to their mummified ancestors.
The Inca State religion was highly formal, with a large number of priests to conduct its many rituals and ceremonies. Priests prophesied the future and treated the sick, since illness was thought to result from the ill will of a person or a god. In many rites, the gods. were offered live sacrifices. The sacrificial offerings were usually llamas or guinea pigs, but on the most sacred occasions or in times of disaster, human children or chosen women might be sacrificed. Certain women were chosen to serve the gods, especially the sun god, and a selected few of these women, called virgins of the sun, took vows of chastity for life.
As we have seen with some in the works of Latin American authors, there is often reference to indigenous populations, their beliefs and religions-- examples of this being Borges's The Circular Ruins, or Cortazar's The Night Face Up, to name two. I have written this summary in hopes of developing a better understanding of these references. While I have had the chance to research this topic in detail, the two pages that you read will not do this topic justice. If you would like to do some more readings on the Inca Empire, I've included some great web page links below. Materials discussed entail a spectrum of topics, ranging from language to the road systems, to the varying social structures within the Empire.
This first web site is the Britannica web site and it must be accessed through the school's subscription. If you are on a school computer it will work. But if you are not, give the other 3 pages a try.
http://members.eb.com/bol/topic?artcl=109431&seq_nbr=5&page=n&isctn=2
http://crystalinks.com/incan.html
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/4844/tupac_amaru.html