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the empire of the incas || 317 The Empire of the Incas An Account of His Rise to Prominence in Peruvian Archaeology john v. murra at the beginning of the sixteenth century, the Tawantin Suyo, or Empire of the Incas, was the most important nation of South America, not only because of its notable civilization but because of its vast territorial dominion. It embraced the greater part of the mountain system of the Andes, from 2° north of the Equator to 35 1/2° south, and from the Pacific Ocean to the margin of the jungle-covered Amazon basin. The information in the documentary sources concerning the geographic area of the empire is contradictory; however, the majority of writers name the Ancasmayo River—a small tributary of the Patía—as the northern boundary, and the Maule River as the southern boundary . Both of these limits, as well as the eastern, must have been unstable because of the territorial conflicts between the Incas and the various marginal groups. If one takes into account the mountainous character of this territory, the similarity of its physical and biological conditions, and the ethnic and cultural affinities of the peoples who inhabited it, the Tawantin Suyo may be considered a well-defined ethnographic area limited by natural frontiers. The northern boundary of the area seems to have been at the northern limits of the equatorial Andes, in Colombian territory at 2° 5', and was marked by the divide between the basin of the north-running Cauca and the basin of the south-running Almaguer. The southern limit of the area falls between 37° and 38° south latitude , more particularly between the Andes of the Cordillera Real and those of Patagonia. chapter fourteen 317 318 || selected writings The Andes, the trade winds, and the Humboldt and Niño ocean currents are the principal factors which define the physiography of this territory and determine the peculiarities of its four great natural regions— the region of the coastal plains; the cis-Andean region, or the western slopes and watershed of the Andes; the inter-Andean region, or the longitudinal valleys and high plateaus; and the trans-Andean region, or the eastern slopes and watershed of the Andes. These regions offer varieties and extremes of altitudes, climate, fauna, and flora. The empire was a confederation of nations of different cultures and languages, some of which had attained political power and territorial control before the Incas. Four great divisions, or Suyos, controlled by the central government at Cuzco, made up the empire, which was called in the Keshua language Tawantin Suyo. Those divisions were, namely: Konti Suyo, Kolla Suyo, Chinchay Suyo, and Anti Suyo. These names correspond to the territories situated in the four cardinal directions from Cuzco. They originally were applied to the districts adjacent to Cuzco, which were inhabited by groups having the totemic names: Konti (condor), Kolla (llama), Chinchay (puma), and Anti (jaguar). Subsequently, as the empire increased in territory, these designations became generalized and finally were assigned to the four great divisions of the country. Thus, in the sixteenth century, the Inca metropolis in reality occupied the center of Tawantin Suyo. The Konti Suyo, or the region of the kuntur (condor), must have been limited at one time to the area lying west of Cuzco, at the head of the Ocoña River, where, even today, the name Condesuyo, given to one of the Arequipa provinces, survives, and from where it was extended with the Inca conquest throughout the coastal region. The Kolla Suyo, or the region of the llama, must have been limited at one time to the area lying south of Cuzco, at the head of the Majes River, inhabited by the old group, the Kollawa, and from where it subsequently was extended southward along the cis-Andean region to the plateau of Titicaca, thence along the eastern borders of the empire. The Majes River is of special importance in the ethnography of this region, since it marks the boundary between the Konti Suyo and Kolla Suyo, which originally were inhabited by two different groups. These were the Kontisuyos, who had artificially flattened heads—termed in Indian language palta (avocado)—and who probably spoke the Pukina language, and the Kollawas or Kollasuyos, who had elongated heads—termed in Indian language saytu—and who spoke the Aymara language. The Chinchay Suyo, or region of the puma, must have been limited at one time to the area lying north of Cuzco only to the Urubamba [3...

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