13 Facts About Incas

From 1438 to 1533, the Incas incorporated a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean Mountains, using conquest and peaceful assimilation, among other methods.

Anthropologist Gordon McEwan wrote that the Incas were able to construct "one of the greatest imperial states in human history" without the use of the wheel, draft animals, knowledge of iron or steel, or even a system of writing.

The Incas considered their king, the Sapa Inca, to be the "son of the sun".

Incas's siblings tricked him into returning to the cave to get a sacred llama.

Incas then sent messages to their leaders extolling the benefits of joining his empire, offering them presents of luxury goods such as high quality textiles and promising that they would be materially richer as his subjects.

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Silva does accept that the battle of the Maule was a stalemate, but argues the Incas lacked incentives for conquest they had had when fighting more complex societies such as the Chimu Empire.

The Incas had their own ethnic language, referred to as Qhapaq simi, which is thought to have been closely related to or a dialect of Puquina.

However, the Incas left an impressive linguistic legacy, in that they introduced Quechua to many areas where it is still widely spoken today, including Ecuador, southern Bolivia, southern Colombia, and parts of the Amazon basin.

Incas were not known to develop a written form of language; however, they visually recorded narratives through paintings on vases and cups .

The Incas performed child sacrifices around important events, such as the death of the Sapa Inca or during a famine.

Incas was "son of the sun", and his people the intip churin, or "children of the sun", and both his right to rule and mission to conquer derived from his holy ancestor.

Incas had no iron or steel and their weapons were not much more effective than those of their opponents so they often defeated opponents by sheer force of numbers, or else by persuading them to surrender beforehand by offering generous terms.

People of the Andes, including the Incas, were able to adapt to high-altitude living through successful acclimatization, which is characterized by increasing oxygen supply to the blood tissues.