|
|
 |
 |
Ruling the Empire
The Sapa Inca, who was believed to be the son of the Sun God, was the supreme head of the Inca Empire. He had complete power over all of his subjects. The Sapa Inca was the head of the government, the military, and religion. He owned all of the land, llama and alpaca herds, mines, and precious metals.
Below the Sapa Inca were the four governors of the four quarters of the empire. They managed provincial governors who ruled in the provinces. Below the governors were hundreds of higher officials and thousands of lower officials, some of whom were inspectors, or tocoyricocs. Their role was to ensure that officials and common citizens were living according to the Sapa Inca's laws. They also checked the storehouses, roads, quipu records, and bridges, and punished crimes.
At the very bottom of the pyramid were millions of farmers, who were required to work part of each year for the government (called mit'a or work-tax) – mining, serving in the army, working as servants to the nobles, or building public buildings and roads. Every family was required to weave one piece of clothing each year for the government storehouses, which the women usually did. [more]
|
|
|
|
|
