Society Inca Empire

1 society

1.1 population
1.2 language
1.3 marriage
1.4 gender

society

population

the number of people inhabiting tawantinsuyu @ peak uncertain, estimates ranging 4-37 million. population estimates in range of 6 14 million. in spite of fact inca kept excellent census records using quipus, knowledge of how read them lost of them destroyed spaniards.

language

since inca empire lacked written language, main form of communication , recording in empire quipus, ceramics , spoken quechua, language incas imposed upon peoples within empire. plethora of civilizations in andean region provided general disunity incas had subdue in order maintain control. while quechua had been spoken in andean region, including central peru, several centuries prior expansion of inca civilization, dialect of quechua incas imposed adaptation kingdom of cusco (an form of southern quechua named qhapaq runasimi, or great language of people ), or historians define cusco dialect.

the language imposed incas diverted original phonetics societies formed own regional varieties. diversity of quechua @ point , today not come directly incas, part of reason quechua s diversity. civilizations within empire had spoken quechua kept own variety distinct quechua incas spread. although these dialects of quechua had similar linguistic structure, differed according region in spoken.

although of societies within empire accepted quechua, incas allowed several societies keep original languages, such aymara, remains in use in contemporary bolivia, primary indigenous language , in various regions surrounding bolivia. linguistic body of inca empire varied. inca s impact outlasted empire, spanish continued use of quechua.

marriage

in incan empire, age of marriage differed men , women; men typically married @ age of 20, while women got married around 4 years earlier @ age of 16. men highly ranked in society have multiple wives, lower in ranks take single wife. marriages typically within classes , resembled more business-like agreement. once married, women expected cook, collect food , watch on children , livestock. girls , mothers work around house keep orderly please public inspectors. these duties remained same after wives became pregnant , added responsibility of praying , making offerings kanopa, god of pregnancy. typical marriages begin on trial basis both men , women having in longevity of marriage. if man felt wouldn’t work out or if woman wanted return parent’s home marriage end. once marriage final, way 2 divorced if did not have child together.

maiden of llullaillaco, mummy of 15-year old inca girl


gender

the inca called newborn infants wawa, term used newborn animals. term used newborn beings without regard biological sex. babies not given human social status until reached 2 or 3 years of age due high infant mortality rates. @ time ceremony held called rutuchikuy in infant given first haircut, name , introduced extended family. in ceremony, children advanced description of wawa warma, gender neutral term child has not developed language skill set. time children reached age of seven, had completed gender specific tasks , referred gender specific terms, thaski girls , maqt’a boys.