Organization of the empire
Tawantinsuyu
The Inca envisioned their society, history and land as a unified whole, dividing the world as they knew it into four parts with the political and cosmic center at Cuzco. The name they gave their realm, Tawantinsuyu, means "The Four Parts Together". Each of these parts was ruled by an apu, or great lord, who advised the emperor in Cuzco and oversaw the day to day running of his division.
The most populous of the four parts, Chinchaysuyu, took its name from the Chincha of Peru's south-central coast. The lands and peoples of the Peruvian coast, its adjacent highlands, and the north Andes fell under this domain. Antisuyu encompassed the lands to the north and northeast of Cuzco, named after the warm forests of the montana (the hispanic name "Andes" is derived from Antisuyu). From Peru's southern highlands through the altiplano to central Chile and Argentina lay Kollasuyu, the largest part in terms of land area, and Cuntisuyu, the smallest, was composed of the stretch of land running southwest from Cuzco to the Pacific Ocean.
Political organization
The Inca government was essentially a monarchy, with the divine authority of the celestial Gods and hereditary rule passing from father to son. In addition the royalty maintained elaborate hierarchies of kinship, ancestor worship, ethnicity and a rigid class structure. The mummies of long dead kings and queens featured regularly in everyday life, being given food and drink as if they were still alive. More important mummies even participated in affairs of state, which the Spanish took as evidence of the devil's handiwork.
The king had many titles designed to advertise his lineage and power, including Sapa Inca "Unique Inca", Intip Churin "Son of the Sun", Qhapaq Apu "Powerful Lord", and Huaccha Khoyaq "Lover and Benefactor of the Poor". Blending political, military, social and sacred leadership into one person, the king occupied a keystone position in Inca society. Despite his prestige, however, the monarch still had to negotiate with the aristocracy of Cuzco, particularly during the tumultuous time when power was passed from father to son.
The High Priest of the Sun, Willaq Umu "Priest Who Recounts" was probably the second most powerful person in the Inca empire after the emperor himself. Part of his power arose from his duty in selecting the new emperor, though some high priests also acted as military leaders. Two of the Inca emperors - Wayna Qhapaq and Tita Cusi Yupanki - assumed the rule of both ruler and high priest, the former probably to control the succession.
Finally, the aristocrats of Cuzco were a strong political force, able to influence the succession and state policy. The panaqa, the empire's royal kin groups, were Cuzco's elite along with the non-royal ayllu, and formed matching halves in Upper and Lower Cuzco. One of the duties of the panaqa was the veneration and care of their revered ancestors and their estates, using cults that were founded around the mummy of the deceased.
The Mit'a Labor System
The Inca labor system revolved around taxation of the population in the form of labor, requiring peasants to work for the state for two to three months of the year. Levied on the male heads of households, the Incas did not however require that the mit'ayuq "laborer" work for the specified period himself necessarily, so large families with many children were more capable of fulfilling their obligation and were generally better off. Some ethnicities were also favoured for certain tasks, for example the Qolla of Lake Titicaca were often employed as stonemasons while the Chachapoyas, Kanari, Chuyes and Charka were seen as formidable warriors.
The Inca road network
Vitally important in the maintenance of a large empire was an extensive network of roads used for the transportation of imperial troops and communication between distant towns and outposts. Built using wood, stone and bronze tools, without the benefit of surveying equipment or draft animals, the Inca built around 40,000km of roads linking up the empire. Some of the roads passing through the highlands ran through passes approaching 5,000m in altitude. Along the roads, at least 2,000 tampu lodgings provided shelter and supplies for travelling companies.
Chaski relay messengers were vital in maintaining communications. Stationed every 10km or so along the road in small waystations (chaskiwasi), they carried anything from important messages to fresh fish for the emperor from the coast. Using this sytem of runners, messages could be carried up to 240km in a single day, though narratives indicate quipu were necessary in preventing the oral messages being garbled by being passed along so many times.
Next - Religion: Creation mythology