Individuals could only be tried by persons of higher rank. Moreover, as their rank increased, so did the scope of the conduct granted to them; The penalties for the actions of commoners against nobles were much harsher than those of nobles against citizens. And yet, there is also legal protection for citizens, despite their unequal legal status. Soldiers who have stolen food face the death penalty, as do their captains. Abusive or negligent officials were also punished. The death sentence of an individual was the responsibility of the highest authorities: the provincial governors, the Apu of the four Suyu and the Inca Sapa himself. [31] The Incas had no prisons. Instead, the death penalty has been used for crimes such as murder, blasphemy, adultery, theft, laziness, repeat drunkenness, and rebellion. Petty crimes were punished for blinding and cutting off limbs. [32] [33] In Tahuantinsuyo, there was a moral code that governed human coexistence and allowed harmonious relations between the citizens of the empire in the cities as well as in Ayllus; These were based on mutual aid and cooperation. The rules also included severe penalties, violations and penalties, which were applied from flogging to the death penalty depending on the seriousness of the offence. In a chronicle by Garcilaso, we read the following: «The Incas never made laws to frighten or mock their vassals, but to execute them.» When the Incas conquered a new territory, local laws and rules continued to be enforced unless they conflicted with Inca law. If the leader of the newly conquered territory defied the new set of rules, he would be executed and a new loyal leader would oversee and ensure the loyalty of the people.
This new chief was usually transferred from another region with his family and entourage. The laws of the Inca Empire were designed primarily to inculcate the values of honesty, truth, and hard work; The attempt to create a harmonious, hard-working, disciplined and Empire-friendly society. The capital region of Cusco was probably not organized as a wamani. On the contrary, it probably resembled a modern federal district like Washington, D.C. or Mexico City. The city was located in the center of the four Suyu and served as an important center for politics and religion. While Cuzco was essentially ruled by the Incas of Sapa, his relatives and the Panaqa royal lineages, each Suyu was ruled by an Apu, a term of great esteem used for men of very high status and for the revered mountains. As with so many parts of Andean society and Inca administration, Cuzco as a district and the four Suyu regions as administrative regions were grouped into Upper Hanan and Lower Hurin divisions. As the Incas had no written records, it is impossible to list the Wamani constituent exhaustively. However, the archives made during the Spanish colonial period allow us to reconstruct an incomplete list. There were probably more than 86 wamani, with more than 48 in the highlands and more than 38 on the coast. [36] [37] [38] The Inca government promoted peace among its citizens, there were very few crimes, but when a crime was committed, the punishment was ruthless.
Inca laws were strict and any kind of violation of the law was considered an act against the deities. There was no prison system and the perpetrators were punished, so the punishment was exemplary for the rest of the population. Those who survived the punishment were forced to tell their stories for the rest of their lives, those who wanted to listen gave them food, so their survival essentially depended on how engaging and persuasive their stories were. According to the chronicler Garcilazo de la Vega, the Incas imposed three laws on their citizens: «Ama Sua. Ama Llulla. Ama Quella» or «Don`t steal. Don`t lie. Don`t be lazy. Inca law was based on a set of beliefs, customs and practices established by the Inca Sapa or its representatives. Regional leaders had the power to decide on legal matters, but they would lose their authority if the punishment was mutilation or death decided by a higher authority. Social stability in the Inca Empire was achieved through the application of laws to maintain a moral and disciplined society. The Incas kept lists of their hereditary kings (Sapa Inca, meaning unique Inca), so we know names like Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (reigned c.
1438-63 CE), Thupa Inca Yupanqui (reigned c. 1471-93 CE) and Wayna Qhapaq (the last pre-Hispanic ruler, reigned c. 1493-1525 CE). It is possible that two kings reigned at the same time and that the queens had significant powers, but the Spanish records are unclear on either point. The king had to marry on his accession to the throne, as his wife was sometimes his own sister. The queen (Qoya) was known as Mamancik or «Our Mother» and was able to exert some influence both over her husband and through her kinship group, especially in selecting the son who could become the official heir to the throne. The Qoya also possessed considerable wealth, which they could dispose of as they pleased. Colonial sources are not entirely clear or consistent about the nature of the Inca government structure. However, there are basic structures that can be talked about in general, even if the exact tasks and functions of government positions cannot be said. At the top of the management chain was the Sapa Inca.
Next to the Inca Sapa in terms of power was perhaps the Willaq Umu, literally the «priest who tells», who was the high priest of the sun. [13] It was found, however, that under the Inca Sapa also sat the Incap, which was at least a confidant and assistant of the Sapa Inca. Perhaps following the example of a prime minister or viceroy. [14] Since the time of Topa Inca Yupanqui, there has been a «Council of the Empire» composed of sixteen nobles: two from Hanan Cuzco; two by Hurin Cuzco; four from Chinchaysuyu; two from Contisuyu; four from Collasuyu; and two from Antisuyu. This weighting of representation balances the Hanan and Hurin divisions, both within Cuzco and within the neighborhoods (Hanan Suyukuna and Hurin Suyukuna). [15] Tags: Inca civilization, Inca culture, Inca empire, Inca law, Inca punishment, Inca society, Incas, Peruvian The operational aspect of Inca ideology was based on the tools of assimilating nobility and maintaining narrow-minded differences. The formal education of the children of noble families of the territories recently acquired in Cuzco has spread widely Quechua, imperial law and bureaucratic practices. Families that previously held political positions were integrated into the Inca bureaucracy and traditional tribal settlements were integrated as provinces, with their borders generally intact before the conquest. The maintenance of provincial clothing was encouraged and served as a social marker. Forcibly displaced populations have also not been encouraged to assimilate with neighbouring indigenous populations. [11] Many of these administrative techniques appear to have been adopted from the Huari empire.
[12] The Inca state had no separate judicial power or codified laws. While traditional customs, expectations and local leaders did much to govern behaviour, the state also had legal force, as evidenced by tokoyrikoq (lit. «the one who sees all») or inspectors. The highest inspector of this type, usually a blood relative of the Incas of Sapa, acted independently of the conventional hierarchy and offered the Incas of Sapa a point of view free from bureaucratic influence. [30] The Inca Empire was founded and maintained by force, and so the ruling Incas were very often unpopular with their subjects (especially in the northern territories), a situation from which the Spanish conquerors, led by Francisco Pizarro, took full advantage of in the mid-decades of the 16th century AD. Rebellions were widespread and the Incas were actively involved in a war in Ecuador, where a second Inca capital had been established in Quito, just as the empire was facing its greatest threat. This combination of factors, also ravaged by devastating diseases brought by Europeans and spreading faster from Central America than their Old World carriers, would cause the collapse of the mighty Inca civilization before it even had a chance to fully mature. The Incas lived in authentic human values typical of civilized and highly organized societies. Among them, 3 were those that governed the coexistence of the Incas in the original way: while there were great differences in the form that the Inca bureaucracy and government took at the provincial level, the basic (perhaps ideal) form of the organization was decimal. In this organizational system, taxpayers—male heads of household of a certain age group—were organized into corvée units (often serving as military units) that formed the muscle of the state as part of the Mitz`a service. Each level of jurisdiction of more than a hundred taxpayers was headed by a kuraka, while those who ran smaller units were kamayuq, a lower, non-hereditary status.
While Kuraka`s status was hereditary, the actual position within the hierarchy (which was usually served for life) was subject to change due to the privileges of those above them in the hierarchy. A Pachaka Kuraka (see below) could be appointed to his post by a Waranqa Kuraka. In addition, it has been suggested that a kuraka at each decimal level also serves as the head of one of the nine groups at a lower level, so a kuraka pachaka could also be a kuraka waranqa who is actually directly responsible for a unit of 100 taxpayers and less directly responsible for nine other such entities. [24] Local administrators worked with more than 80 regional administrative officials (a Tokrikoq) who were responsible for issues such as justice, censuses, land redistribution, organizing the mobile workforce, and maintaining the extensive road and bridge network under their jurisdiction.
