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Expansion and control
In Inca eyes the known world was their empire, and expansion
therefore limitless. They divided their territories into four basic regions, or
suyos , each radiating from the central plaza in Cusco: Chincha Suyo
(northwest), Anit Suyo (northeast), Cunti Suyo (southwest) and Colla Suyo
(southeast). Each suyo naturally had its own particular problems and
characteristics but all were approached in the same way - initially being
demoralized or forced into submission by the Inca army, later absorbed as allies
for further conquests. In this way the Incas never seemed to overextend their
lines to the fighting front.
The most impressive feature of an Inca army must in fact have been its sheer
numbers - a relatively minor force would have included five thousand men. Their
armour usually consisted of quilted cotton shirts and a small shield painted
with designs or decorated with magnificent plumes. The common warriors - using
slingshots, spears, axes and maces - were often supported by archers drafted
from the "savages" living in the eastern forests. When the Spanish arrived on
horseback the Incas were quick to invent new weapons: large two-handed hardwood
swords and bolas (wooden balls connected by a string), good for tangling up the
horses' legs. The only prisoners of war traditionally taken by a conquering Inca
army were chieftains, who lived comfortably in Cusco as hostages against the
good behaviour of their respective tribes. Along with the chiefs, the most
important portable idols and huacas of conquered peoples were held in Cusco as
sacred hostages. Often the children of the ruling chieftains were also taken to
Cusco to be indoctrinated in Inca ways.
This pragmatic approach toward their subjects is exemplified again in the Inca
policy of forced resettlement . Whole villages were sometimes sent into entirely
new regions, ostensibly to increase the crop yield of plants like coca or corn
and to vary their diet by importing manioc and chillis - though it was often
criminals and rebellious citizens who ended up in the hottest, most humid
regions. Large groups of people might also be sent from relatively suspect
tribes into areas where mostly loyal subjects lived, or into the newly colonized
outer fringes of the empire; many trustworthy subjects were also moved into
zones where restlessness might have been expected. It seems likely that the
whole colonization project was as much a political manoeuvre as a device to
diversify the Inca economic or dietary base. As new regions came under imperial
influence, the threat from rebellious elements was minimized by their
geographical dispersion.
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