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Theeconomy of theInca Empire, which lasted from 1438 to 1532, established an economic structure that allowed for substantial agricultural production as well as the exchange of products between communities. It was based on the institution ofreciprocity, considered the socioeconomic and political system of the Pre-Columbian Andes.[1] This model was similar to a form of feudalserfdom.[citation needed]
Inca society is considered to have had some of the most successfulcentrally organized economies in history.[2] Its effectiveness was achieved through the successful control of labor and the regulation of tribute resources. In Inca society, collective labor was the cornerstone foreconomic productivity and the achieving of common prosperity.[3] Members of anayllu (the basic unit of socio-territorial organisation) developed various traditions of solidarity to adapt to the Andean environment. The economic prosperity of the Inca State caused the Spanish conquerors to be impressed by the foreign forms of organisation.[4] According to eachayllu, labor was divided by region, with agriculture centralized in the most productive areas; ceramic production, road construction, textile production, and other skills were also tasks distributed among members of anayllu.[5] After local needs were satisfied, the state apparatus gathered all surplus that is gathered fromayllus and allocated it where it was needed. Populations of local chiefdoms in theInca Empire received clothes, food, health care, and schooling in exchange for their labour.[6]
The economic organisation was based on local traditions of "solidarity" and "mutualism", transported to an imperial scale.[7] TheSapa Inca governed by means of personal relations with the rulers of the local states,[8] adopting theethnological concept of "reciprocity" or "exchange".[9]
The custom ofreciprocity was the foundation of the socio-economic ties ofchiefdoms in large parts of theAmericas, in thePre-Columbian Andes,[10] the "intermediary zone" stretching from theColombian Andes to theCaribbean,[11]Mesoamerica,[12] andnorth-America, where thePotlach ceremony took place.[12] The custom of reciprocity is observable worldwide,[9] and other cases are notably found inOceania.[11]
Inanthropology, the term "chiefdom" describes a non-egalitarian society ofhunter-horticulturists, founded on rules of reciprocity (obligation to give, to receive, and to give back), and composed of multiple lineages in a hierarchy, at the top of which was a chief.[11] In the Andes, the system of reciprocity and redistribution was likely installed by theWari State, between 500 and 800, who based the system on the exploitation of several vertical eco-zones of the Andes by local communities to limit the activity of merchant networks and markets.[10] This system of exploitation of multiple eco-zones to access resources and avoid climate catastrophes has later been named "territorial discontinuity"[13] or "vertical archipelago".[14] While basic necessity products circulated through tribute, merchants, especially maritime ones, continued to sell luxury products for the chiefs and priesthood.[10] This model of reciprocity represented a network of economic exchange and commercial relations, that contradicts previous theories of socialist thinkers that there was no system of exchange of goods and services within the Inca Empire.[14] All institutions of labour and social classes were founded on relations of reciprocity, the idea that "each service […] lended called for a return". By giving something, an individual "proved his economic and moral capacity to separate from his possessions", and the act was seen as a sign of altruism.[14] According to rules of etiquette, the giver presented his demand as a request, however it was meant as an order.[9] Receiving a gift established trust, and implicitly obligated the receiver to engage himself to give a similar service back. In some circumstances, "asymmetrical reciprocity" was practiced, notably between individuals of different rank, where an individual gave a service to receive a service different from the original one back.[14] Due to this inequality, some modern ethnologists describe the phenomenon as "exchange" rather than "reciprocity".[9] The French anthropologist and sociologistMarcel Mauss was an important figure in studying reciprocity in the Americas,[11][14] as well as the Ukrainian-American anthropologistJohn V. Murra who coined the term "vertical archipelago".[14] Nathan Wachtel finds that an early form of reciprocity, practiced locally, that served ideological functions to justify new social relations, was later replaced under Inca rule by a reciprocity that served the growth of the state apparatus. The Inca state benefited from its subjects' services, and redistributed the accumulated surpluses.[1] Reciprocity, a horizontal form of interaction between local peoples and the central state, was combined with redistribution, a vertical form of interaction between central authority and local entities,[15] and the former was the ideological justification for the latter.[10] According to Nathan Wachtel inLa Vision des vaincus, the Inca state economy is defined as "the combination of two principles: those of reciprocity and redistribution", theoretically opposed but complementary, as "two movements, centripetal and centrifugal, define economic life: Gathering of products from the groups to the center, then distribution of the products from the center to the groups".[10]
The Inca state was not theutopia imagined by Europeans however, as most redistributed products were "consumed by the system of reciprocity, by which the state was under constant obligation to renew great “gifts” to the various ethnic lords, military chiefs, the huacas. [...] To meet these obligations, a system of state storehouses was built". According to the Peruvianethno-historianMaría Rostworowski, the Inca state depended on "enormous quantities of accumulated goods",[15] and without these, "it would not be able to meet either administrative requirements or the constant demand for “gifts” required by the institution of reciprocity".[16]
The basis of the Andean socio-political organisation was theayllu, a group of families united by real or mythical kin ties, and separated into a male and a female line.[7] The ruler of anayllu was thekuraka, or chief, calledkamachikuq, and was part of the class of common people ("Hatunruna").[17]
Eachayllu owned amarka, or village. Thevertical archipelago, adopted by theLupaqa chiefdom, was occasionally used by the Inca Emperors. Depending on its geographical position, eachayllu was specialized in exploiting certaineco-regions. Agriculturalayllus were situated near fertile land and grew crops that were suited to the soil type. Their production would be taken by the state apparatus, who would then transfer it to other regions of the country where the resource was unavailable. Excess was kept in storage houses near urban centers, along roads and highways.[18] Otherayllus would specialize in pottery, clothes, or jewelry production; skills were passed on from generation to generation within the sameayllu.[19]
According to Valensi, cited byMaría Rostworowski, redistribution occurs in societies functioning around a political center, "that collects goods, stores and redistributes them to reward its supporters". Reciprocity, which "intervenes in the production, labor services, and periodic distribution of lands, as well as in the apportionment of goods produced, in the practice of gift-giving", can be combined with redistribution, as reciprocity is the horizontal and redistribution the vertical model of relations between local peoples and central authority.[15]
The socio-territorial structures were scaffoldings ofchiefdoms, organizedpyramidally andsegmentarilly, according tointerpersonal relations (individualized and institutionalized) and possession of land (owned collectively).[7]
Ayllus were federated into chiefdoms (also calledcuracazgos orhuarangas), governed bykurakas calledApu kurakas, and small chiefdoms were organized into larger chiefdoms, governed byapu kurakas calledHatun kurakas.[20][21] The grand chiefdoms, in adoptingredistributive systems ofreciprocal exchange (by exchanging liberalities, often in the form of feasts, forworkforce,allegiances, and a significant reduction ofsovereignty) with the local rulers, represented the highest level of integration reached in the pre-Hispanic Andes, while theInca Empire did not introduce an imperial-wide integration, instead governing on the basis of local hierarchies.[17][7][20][21] Inca expansion — possibly initiated by the acquisition ofChankawar booty following theChanka–Inca War, which gave an initial economic advantage to the inca chiefdom[1] — added a new sphere to the redistributive system established in the Andes, with the Inca ruler exchanging the newly acquired goods for the workforce and the allegiance of the neighbouring rulers, and therefore multiplying reciprocal relations and slowly dominating the local socio-economic system.[1][7][22]
The land of anayllu was owned collectively. As theayllu's delegate, the kuraka redistributed the property among families. The land's measurements were calculated intupus, a local measuring unit, and differed depending on the agricultural condition of the region.[23]
A married pair would get one and a halftupus, with onetupu for each male child and half atupu for each female child. When the children started their own family, the additionaltupu was transferred to the family of the son or daughter. The property was used by the families of theayllu, but they did notown it. The farm was used to supply the family with subsistence food.[23]
Under the Inca Empire, officials routinely conducted a census of the male population in order to determine if labor conscription was necessary. Individuals, including adolescents, were obligated to work in different labor capacities on a revolving basis, whether it was livestock, building, or at home. Inca officials received two-thirds of a farmer's crops (over 20 varieties of corn and 240 varieties of potatoes).[24]
This system of work was organized within the framework of institutionalized reciprocity, the Inca emperor was united by personal relations to the regional rulers.[8] The Inca emperor regularly provided the local rulers with goods, and those partially redistributed those goods to the local people, providing them with housing, food, and clothing. In return, the commoners found themselves obligated towards their lords, and the lords towards the Inca emperor.[8] The free allocation of ceremonial beer was one of the special incentives. For this institutionalized generosity, Inca bureaucracy used a specific open space in the city's center as a social gathering place for local lords to celebrate and drink ritual beer.[25][26] With the creation of the Inca Empire, exchanging goods for human energy became a fundamental aspect of unified Inca rule.[7]
Collective reciprocal labor may be structured in three ways: The first was theayni, which served to assist members and families of the society in need; the second was theminka, or collective effort for the good of the whole community, and included the construction ofpublic works; themita, or tribute charged to the Inca, was the third, and served as a state-wideminka rotational and temporary service, constructing important public structures, and being principally used by inca bureaucracy. This structure was a give-and-take system, based on the reciprocal exchange of "gifts" in an institutionalized exchange.[27] This scheme required the Inca Empire to be in possession of the goods necessary for sociopolitical and economic domination, and redistribution based on need and local interests.[28]
Despite the lack of a written language, the Incas invented a system of record-keeping simple and stereotyped information based on knotted string known asquipu.[22] To describe thedecimal system, these knot structures used complex knot arrangements and color-coded parts. These cords were used to keep track of their stored goods, available workforce, valuable things such asmaize, which was used to craft ceremonial beer,[25] and potentiallyhistorical information based on stereotyped "messages" related to oral "narrations".[22] Thequipu controlled every economic part of the large empire. Those in charge of keeping the documentation via thequipu were calledquipucamayocs.[29] There are 1,500 strings on the largestquipu. TheSacred City of Caral-Supe has the oldestquipu, which dates from about 2500 BC.[30]
Money was not used in most Inca territories, though currencies are documented on the northern and central Andean coast.[31] Rather, a person's labor was "rewarded with the guarantee of future mutual assistance and social standing",[32] which represented giving labor prestations rather than "taxes".[7] Over time, the Inca Empire could not be "a total stranger to systems of private exchange", and an "Andean pre-Hispanic Market developed, of which the state would have been the guarantor". For part of the scientific community though, the label "market" does not accurately describe the Inca economy, and has a different meaning to the one used in the economy of Western cultures.[31]
Land could be controlled by each seemingly large family. To plow, sow seeds, and later harvest the crops, individuals required additional labor prestations from the family members. A similar method known as "minka" was used for larger-scale cooperative work, such as the construction of houses or otherinfrastructure. Participants were compensated in kind. This system is still in use in someQuechua cultures of theAndes. The philosophical, metaphysical principle that underpinned the concepts of "ayllus" and "minka" was known as "ayni", an ancientAndean idea ofmutualism and reciprocity.[3] Because every entity in the society was seen as interconnected, each member voluntarily participated in their labor and production, expecting to be offered something in return later. In a world without monetary currencies, the concept ofayni may have been applied to all mutual transfers of energy and commodities between people and nature. In addition, the centralInca government instituted supply management and a taxation structure. As a levy, each resident was forced to give the Inca rulers a time of labor and a portion of their cultivated crops. As a result, surplus crops were taken by the government and distributed to villages in desperate need of food.[33] These local systems of mutual aid and solidarity created various obligations and rights, and were originally created in order to adapt to the harsh environment of the Andes mountains.[7]
In the absence of currency, foreign trade was rare and exceptional. The "mindalae" on theEcuadorian coast were merchant corporations in charge of trade. Another exception was the chiefdom ofChincha on the central Peruvian coast, where a social class of merchants had developed. Long-distance trade happened punctually with Polynesia and western Mexico.[26] In addition, there was a trading fair in Cusco, calledcatu, which happened annually.[31]
Inca administration constructed and renovated very complex ancient networks of roads and bridges, known asQhapaq Ñan, in order to improve the ability of the Inca to exert imperial authority. Inca engineers improved upon earlier cultures' highways, such as those built by theChimu,Wari, andTiwanaku, among others.[5] Since 1994,UNESCO World Heritage Sites have preserved these roads and the Inca and pre-Inca structures next to them. There were two major roads that ran from north to south, one along the coast and the other along the Andes, with smaller networks of roads linking the two. The royal road on the Andes began inQuito, Ecuador, and ended nearTucuman, Argentina, after passing throughCajamarca andCusco. The Andean Royal Road was more than 3,500 miles long, exceeding the length of the longest Roman path.[5]
As the Incas had no horses nor wheel technology, the majority of traveling was done by foot, withllamas transporting merchandise from one section of the empire to the other. Messengers orchasquis used roads to transport messages throughout the empire. The Incas devised strategies for navigating the Andes' rugged terrain: There were stone steps that looked like massive flights of stairs on steep slopes, and low walls were constructed in desert regions to prevent sand from drifting across the lane.[34]
In order to connect roads that crossed rivers and deep canyons in the Andes mountain range, various bridges were constructed in the Empire, with the help ofnatural fibers. The Inca empire's structure and economy necessitated the construction of these bridges.[35] The fibers were tied together to form a rope that was as long as the bridge's desired length. Three of these ropes were braided together to make one stronger and longer rope; the ropes were braided until they met the required distance, weight, and power. The cables were then bound together with tree branches, and timber was applied to the floor to create a cable floor that was at least four to five feet high. The completed cable floor was then connected to abutments on either side that supported the ends. Ropes that acted as handrails were often fixed on all sides of the bridge. NearCusco, in the town ofHuarochiri, is the only remaining Inca suspension bridge.[36]
The Inca Empire developed a network of messengers to deliver important messages. TheChasquis, or messengers, were selected from among capable young men. They relayed signals over long distances, staying in communities of four or six in cabins ortambos along the roads. Thechasqui covered certain distances, before reaching another messenger and handing them the message.[37] Messages could travel around 250 miles a day in this manner. An immediate alert was transmitted via a chain of bonfires in the event of an attack or revolt. Before the source of the fire was understood, the Inca ruler would send his army near the bonfire, where he would learn the essence of the message. Sometambos, or relay sites, were more elaborate than others, according to archeological finds. They were most often used as rest stops for officials or the emperor.[26]
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