The Incca Empire

When the Spanish arrived at the Incan borders in 1528, the Incan empire spanned a great distance, from Ancs Maya, Blue River, in Southern Columbia to the Maule River in Chile. The Inca Empire originated from a tribe based in Cuzco under the rule of Pachacuti, the Incan leader from 1438 to 1471/1472, Cuzco soon ended up being the capital of the Empire. Pachacuti’s would later rule the empire.

The Inca believed that harmony between the relationships of the human being, nature and gods was truly essential. They had multiple gods, but the main god was Viracocha, the Inca even considered their emperors as demi-gods. They had several sacred objects and locations. The Vilcanota or Wilcamayu, the “Sacred River” which is a section of the Urubamba River. The sacred valley of the Incas, the Inithuatana stone in Machu Picchu, the Golden Sun Disk, a disk shaped object which represented the Sun, it was one of the most important Inca treasures that many explorers have looked for, and still are.

The Spanish travelled to Peru for three main reasons, they travelled for the gold, the Incan empire was said to have vast riches and plenty of gold. They also travelled to spread the Catholic religion and to conquer new land. The Spanish were already stationed in Panama, from travelling from Spain and around Cape Horn, such that sailing to Peru with a small army was relatively easy for the conquistador Francisco Pizarro.

Francisco Pizarro and his brothers travelled from Spain to Peru, attracted by the news of a rich and great kingdom, and arrived there in 1528 and called the country Peru (also seen in early records as Biru, Pirú, and Berú). Between 1524 and 1526, smallpox, introduced from Panama and preceding Spanish conquerors, had spread througho...

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... their threats and managed to clear most of the Incas out of the way. The British took a slightly more peaceful approach and started to introduce the Indigenous children into British society to eliminate the Aboriginal blood. They did this by mating with the indigenous, against their will, and taking the children away from them to bring them up as British children. In turn, they too would have to mate again with the British and have their children taken away. This process was supposed to continue until the Aboriginal blood was diluted, a more peaceful alternative to eliminate the Aboriginal instead of killing them.

The Spanish set out to conquer and their method of slaying all the Incas was an effective method of conquering and gaining power. The British meant to settle and integrate with the Aboriginal people, far more complicated and taking far longer to achieve.