Inca Empire Past Paper PDF

DRIVING QUESTIONS Through what process does one culture begin to absorb another? How did the Inca empire begin? Inti: How about if we talk about the Incas Artie: How did they grow from a small tribe now? into so...

DRIVING QUESTIONS Through what process does one culture begin to absorb another? How did the Inca empire begin? Inti: How about if we talk about the Incas Artie: How did they grow from a small tribe now? into something so big and important? Artie: OK! Inti: Well, they had great leadership. A remarkable man, Pachacuti, came Inti: The Inca empire started as a tribe who to power. He began to reach out to lived in the small village of Cuzco, high in neighboring tribes. He spread stories of the Andes Mountains of South America. his excellence and power to encourage other groups to join him. Even his Artie: Really? name meant "earth-shaker." Many groups were convinced by Pachacuti and that’s Inti: Yes. From that humble beginning, how the Inca empire began to grow. they went on to dominate the Andes. Who knows what they would have done, Artie: Wait, wait, wait.... So this great if it had not been for the arrival of the empire started with small groups of people Spanish in 1532! working together? Artie: So, they were around for about 200 Inti: That is one way to look at it. years? Artie: But it grew much larger, didn’t it? Inti: Very good, Artie. Yes. 34 SOCIAL STUDIES FOR ECUADOR 9 Inti: Absolutely! The Inca leaders after if only they put Inti first. The groups that Pachacuti, expanded the empire using would try to resist recieved the full force his same strategies. Pachacuti’s son, of the Inca armies! Tupac Inca Yupanqui, expanded all the way north to Quito! Part of what allowed Artie: So it was probably better to join the Inca to expand so widely were the peacefully than fight? road systems that had been developed by earlier civilizations. They improved Inti: That’s right. Lots of times the Inca would them to travel quickly and also to send offer local elites art and luxury goods to people and troops from Cuzco to newly convince them to join the empire. Their conquered areas. There, they would strategy of moving some of the most loyal share Inca culture and language to the Inca communities close to people who new members of the empire. resisted Inca rule so that those resistant groups would learn how to live peacefully Artie: Wow, so they conquered many within the empire was also efective. people without killing them? What an interesting process! Artie: Wow. It is still incredible they expanded so far so quickly! Inti: It was also effective! At its largest, the Inca empire stretched from Santiago, Inti: Well, I guess, you could say that Chile, up to southern Colombia. Many they improved systems that had already communities did not fight against the Inca existed in previous cultures, to their own because they saw benefits from joining benefit while adding in their own ideas. peacefully. The Inca would share food with them in times of need and also offer Artie: Oh. What a smart strategy! them protection from their enemies. They would allow them to keep their own gods SOCIAL STUDIES FOR ECUADOR 9 35  ACTIVITIES 1. What makes one society easier to conquer than another? Explain. (Intrapersonal, linguistic) Answers may vary. Have your students understand that societies like any other living organism, have their ups and downs and vulnerabilities. For example, when the Spanish arrived in Peru the huge Inca Empire was involved in a civil war that was causing confusion and with the unknown (to the Inca) factors of illnesses, guns and horses, the powerful Inca were conquered by a handful of Spaniards. 2. Look for images of Manco Capac and draw what he looked like here. What do his clothes tell you? (Visual, corporal) Answers will vary but I have included one artists interpretation below. Notice the distinctive use of feathers, the fine weavings of alpaca wool and dyed cotton and gold or wooden ear spools among other things. 36 SOCIAL STUDIES FOR ECUADOR 9 Artie: You said that the Incas were one of knot communication system, and their the largest civilizations in South American complex calendar, that not everyone history? farmed all day. Inti: Yes! At the time, they were the largest Artie: Wait a minute, what was that empire ever to exist in South America. communication system? Artie: How many people lived in their Inti: The Inca used strings with knots tied in empire? them called quipus, mainly to keep track of numbers. They might have even used it Inti: It is quite uncertain how many people as a written language, but that still hasn’t were a part of the Inca empire. Some been proven! It was quite a cool system! historians guess that in their greatest expansion they had a population of Artie: So they were one of the great between six and twelve million inhabitants. civilizations that didn’t have a written language? Artie: There is quite a difference between those two numbers, Artie. Why is that? Inti: So far, it seems that way. Another thing about the Incas is that they believed Inti: It is hard to determine what exactly in many gods and they practiced many of was part of the Tahuantinsuyo and how their religious activities around agriculture. many people lived there. We know Their main god of agriculture was the sun that they all spoke the same language, god, Inti. We both share the same name. Kichwa, which is why so many Andean countries still use it today. Artie: That makes your name very special, then! Artie: What types of food did they eat? Inti: It does. Inti was a very powerful god, Inti: The Inca ate a mostly vegetarian diet though not their main god. Their main god from a wide variety of crops, including was Viracocha, who created humanity potatoes, maiz, legumes, fruit and and walked the earth as a man doing quinoa. They also occasionally ate llama good deeds. It is said that he sailed west and cuy meat. Many families grew food out of present day Manta saying that he for themselves, though the road systems would come back and was never to be were used to send different food items all seen again! across the empire. Artie: Wow! They were very nature based Artie: It sounds like they were very in their beliefs, right? How does that relate productive in their different activities. to what you do now? Inti: They absolutely were. Some people Inti: Well, in many countries there are still look back on ancient civilizations and people who celebrate the same festivities think that life was just survival and hard that the Incas did. Inti Raymi, for example, work. The way I look at it, is that ancient is the celebration of the summer solstice civilizations like the Inca certainly had to and giving gratitude for corn, the growth of work hard, but not all of it was for survival. crops and the harvest. I have participated We know, from the systems that the in many Inti Raymi celebrations. I love all Incas used, like the quipu, or string and the traditional games! SOCIAL STUDIES FOR ECUADOR 9 37 Artie: Games? Like what? prizes that you can try to get. Climbing is very dificult because it is so slippery. If you Inti: Well, for example, my favorite is the get lucky and reach the top, you get to greased pole. They have this huge pole keep the prizes. It is a lot of fun! that they grease up. At the top there are ACTIVITIES 1. Research the Inca diet. What do you think they had on their plate for lunch? Draw a typical Inca lunch plate. Do you eat some of the same foods? (Visual, corporal) Answers may vary. Please emphasize the many varieties of potatoes, corn and grains that they used. FOR EXAMPLE 38 SOCIAL STUDIES FOR ECUADOR 9  2. Organize an Inca game festival in your classroom. Explain the different games and how to play them to those that visit. (Intrapersonal, Corporal) This is a group effort. Break your students up into smaller groups and have them find games that can be traced back to the Inca, learn how to play them and then show and teach them to others. 3. Imagine a traditional game from Artie’s home world. Explain how it would work. (Linguistic). Good luck :-) SOCIAL STUDIES FOR ECUADOR 9 39 Artie: Wow. I would love to participate Inti: We could write out the rules for you in some traditional games. I might need Artie, but it would have to be in English. We some time to practice, though. They still haven’t figured out how to interpret would have to write out the rules for me the Quipu. to read a few days before the day of the contest! ACTIVITIES 1. Have you ever seen a sun clock? Build one and present it to your class. (Naturalistic, Corporal). Break your class up into small groups and research sun clocks. Remember that sun clocks are found in many different areas of the world so hopefully each group can build a different type of sun clock. 2. Look up the types of knots that were used for quipus and draw it below. Explain how you think using knots could help you communicate. Research quipus with the class and make sure you bring up the theory that maybe knots where not only used for numbers as commonly thought but also used to represent words or ideas also. 40 SOCIAL STUDIES FOR ECUADOR 9 Artie: Wow. Another great civilization full Artie: And below the council? of interesting stories and different ways of looking at the world! Inti: Below this they had governors, or curacas, that each lead many families. Inti: That’s true, and a lot of their sucess The Inca had inspectors that ran through was due to their centralized government. the entire land to supervise that work This meant that though the Sapa Inca was being done correctly. Besides this, was the main source of power, there they had a very strong army that helped were local governments defending his keep everything in order. It was pretty well interests. Everyone had a role to fulfll and organized. was therefore important to society. Artie: It sounds complex. How did Artie: Really? What was their social the inspectors manage to get all the pyramid like? information they needed? Inti: The Sapa Inca was the very highest Inti: The Incas had a great system of roads power. He was considered the direct that let them travel quickly. They also had descendent of the sun god, Inti, which also a mail system that took information from made him a god. He would usually give and to Cuzco, managed by runners that his relatives important jobs. There was a took turns in a relay system. They were council that helped him govern. Beneath known as chasquis. This system could that council there were 4 viceroys who cover 200 - 400 kilometers per day! each managed one of the four suyos, or regions, of the empire. ACTIVITIES 1. Research gods of the Inca. Find five and explain their role. (Intrapersonal, interpersonal, visual) Answers will vary. I have listed a few gods below. "Viracocha" was the creator god. "Inti" was the sun god and the assistant of Viracocha, "Illapa" was the weather god and one of the most popular gods. "Mama Quilla" was the mother and wife of the god Inti. "Pachamama" was the earth's mother goddess. SOCIAL STUDIES FOR ECUADOR 9 41  2. How does mail work now? Find out and explain here. Answers will vary. Compare the "chasquis" with the post office of today. Artie: How were they able to maintain was very class orientated as to subject control of such a large empire? matter. Upper class men studied history, map reading, astronomy, religion, poetry, Inti: They had a great army that sports, and statistics. overwhelmed their enemies by their numbers and knowledge in hand to hand Lower class men were taught by their combat. They were feared for that. They fathers or uncles and didn’t recieve formal also had slaves that came from people schooling. Upperclass women studied to who tried to rebel against the government be priestesses and learned other womanly and were reduced to yanakunas. subjects while lowerclass women had little formal training. Formal Kichwa training Artie: The Incas had slaves also? was obligatory for all non-native speakers male or female. Inti: Yes, they did. Another important factor was that they had a very good Artie: Oh I see! So everybody who wasn’t educational system for administrators. born an Inca would have to learn the Inca They believed that it was important for language. everyone to have collective communal responsibility and knowledge of values Inti: Yes! And it was a good way to make that were central to their community, people become Inca! such as work and obediance. Education ACTIVITIES 1. Think about your education. If you were a great ruler, what would you teach your citizens? Explain. (Linguistic, intrapersonal) Answers will vary. Have your students think about their education, Incan rules and current rules before they answer. 42 SOCIAL STUDIES FOR ECUADOR 9  2. Draw what you think the perfect place to study would look like if you were an Inca. (Visual) SOCIAL STUDIES FOR ECUADOR 9 43