Inca Empire

: For other meanings of Inca, see Inca (disambiguation).

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The Inca Empire (called Tawantinsuyu in modern spelling Aymara and Quechua, or Tahuantinsuyu in old spelling Quechua), was an empire located in South America from 1438 AD to 1533 AD. Over that period, the Inca used conquest and peaceful assimilation to incorporate in their empire a large portion of western South America, centred on the Andean mountain ranges. The Inca empire proved short-lived: by 1533 AD, Atahualpa, the last Sapa Inca, was killed on the orders of the Conquistador Francisco Pizarro, marking the beginning of Spanish rule.

Related Topics:
Modern spelling - Aymara - Quechua - South America - 1438 - AD - 1533 - Andean - Atahualpa - Sapa Inca - Conquistador - Francisco Pizarro

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The official language of Tahuantinsuyu was Quechua, although over seven hundred local languages were spoken. The Inca leadership encouraged the worship of their gods, the foremost of which was Inti, the sun god.

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The empire was divided into four provinces (suyu), whose corners met at the empire's capital, Cusco (Qosqo). Tawantin means "a group of four", so the Quechua name for the empire, Tawantinsuyu, means "the four provinces".

Related Topics:
Cusco - Quechua

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The English term Inca Empire is derived from the word Inca, which was the title of the emperor. Today the word Inca still refers to the emperor, but can also refer to the people or the civilization, and is used as an adjective when referring to the beliefs of the people or the artifacts they left behind.

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