Inca+Military+Tactics

Military Tactics of the Inca >According to D'altroy, military service was required of certain male individuals because of the socialist style structure of Tawantinsuyu (The Inca name for their civilization). Apparently there was a rotating system of calling married men ages 25-30 and even up to 50 years old to serve in the military. Also groups conquered by the Inca would send soldiers to help in military campaigns as tribute to the Inca. These groups would fight with their own styles and weaponry and were similar to mercenaries.{4}

>One key feature in the Inca empire was their vast network of roads. According to D'altroy the Inca amassed a system of roads built with wood, stone, woven fiber, and bronze tools.The total length of the roads was 40,000km in size (roughly 24,854miles).{4} These roads provided a vast network for communication and transportation of people and goods.

{8} >According to Dennis Ogburn's article "Dynamic Display, Propaganda, and the Reinforcement of Provincial Power in the Inca Empire" the Inca state relied heavily on the cooperation of local chiefs and leaders as well as their constituency because the power of the Inca state came mainly from the threat of military force. If for some reason a rebellion broke out the army would have to be diverted from its primary mission to squelch the rebellion.{8} >A control tactic used by the Inca, as well as a number of other old world civilizations, was the use of terror. By scaring a target population with genocide, total destruction, and sacrifices the Inca could intimidate a population into being a subordinate of their state.{8}

>With the expansion of the Inca empire came more tributes and taxes from conquered peoples which in tern was then taken to state storehouses. A major portion of the tributes and taxes from newly conquered regions went directly back to the military to maintain control of already conquered groups as well as conquer new areas. The article "The Inka State in the Southern Highlands: State Administrative and Production Enclaves" brings up the very important idea. The Inca economy was a "Mobilization Economy" where goods and services were brought up from the lower classes to support the state agenda of expansion.{7} "The Inka state seems to have financed itself primarily through direct managerial command of land, labor, and storage systems, rather than through a market exchange system"{7}

{8} = Man Power = >In D'altroy's book "The Incas", D'altroy explains that in Inca and Spanish oral histories the Inca were able to amass armies of upwards of 100,000 people at a time. Although these estimates are from oral histories and might not be completely accurate they are similar to records kept with the Inca Khipu ( a system of knot tying that was a way of recording information). As an example D'altroy explains that in one case at the battle of Yanamarca Valley there were close to 140,000 soldiers on one side and 130,000 on the other.{4} With armies numbering in the hundreds of thousands these battles must have been epic similar to those seen in the old world.

Here is a link to a Wiki on the battle tactics of Central America Link It is an interesting comparison of two war prone New world Empires\ >By the Late 1500s Francisco Pizarro and the Spanish had made it to South America and began conquering the Inca while they were vulnerable in a a civil war. Even with greater numbers, weapon variety, military experience, and their knowledge of the environment they could not fight of the Spanish invaders. During this huge shift in power a great deal of information was either lost or destroyed by the Spanish in their efforts to convert their newly conquered people. Ironically the Inca were very similar to the Spanish because of their military conquest of South America prior to the arrival of the Spanish. The Inca conquered and incorporated numerous other indigenous tribes and groups and either discouraged or destroyed their cultural traditions and practices. It is because of events like these that Anthropologists have such a hard time deciphering cultures that have been culturally manipulated by outsiders.