The Andean World In Ancient Times

At the dawn of the 15th century the Andean world was united under the auspices of the Inca Kingdom. A theocratic empire centered in the valley of Cuzco under the noble inca families, these cities were organized along a communual system of agcriculture and connected by a tremendous infrastructure of roads and footpaths.

In under 300 hundred years incan warriors spread out in the four directions of their world conquering and subjugating the various tribes and kingdoms they came across. Using the very practical approach of incorporating these conqured peoples into their kingdoms by both kinship and military subversion, the result was one of the largest empires the ancient world had ever seen, and the largest unified kingdom in the ancient americas.

The incas carried away the idols of their subjects to their grand capitol Cuzco, where their holiest temple "the Coricancha" or temple of the sun, became the sacred storehouse of the various gods worshipped thruout their kingdom. In this way they managed to make their empire unified on a ideoligical if not religious foundation.

The Inca were just the last of a long series of kingdoms to spring up along the the andean valleys of western south america. Prior to them in the early part of the first millenium the Moche Culture flourished on the Chan Chan Valley, and later became part of the area conquered by the Huari and then Chimu Kingdoms.