﻿Vol.2] 
  INCA 
  CULTURE 
  — 
  ROWE 
  329 
  

  

  says 
  that 
  the 
  Chimu 
  counted 
  a 
  year 
  from 
  the 
  time 
  the 
  Pleiades 
  appear- 
  

   ed 
  until 
  they 
  appeared 
  again. 
  The 
  Pleiades 
  were 
  believed 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  

   patrons 
  of 
  agriculture 
  (Calancha, 
  1638, 
  bk. 
  3, 
  ch. 
  2; 
  cf. 
  Means, 
  1931, 
  

   p. 
  62). 
  

  

  THE 
  INCA 
  ACHIEVEMENT 
  

  

  The 
  90-odd 
  years 
  of 
  the 
  Inca 
  Empire 
  formed 
  the 
  most 
  significant 
  

   period 
  in 
  all 
  of 
  Andean 
  Indian 
  history. 
  In 
  it, 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  Andean 
  

   culture 
  was 
  given 
  a 
  new 
  orientation 
  aDd 
  turned 
  into 
  paths 
  of 
  develop- 
  

   ment 
  which 
  it 
  is 
  still 
  following 
  after 
  four 
  centuries 
  of 
  alien 
  domination. 
  

   In 
  a 
  very 
  real 
  sense, 
  modern 
  Indian 
  history 
  begins, 
  not 
  with 
  the 
  Wars 
  

   of 
  Independence 
  or 
  with 
  the 
  Spanish 
  Conquest, 
  but 
  with 
  the 
  organ- 
  

   izing 
  genius 
  of 
  Inca 
  Pachacuti 
  in 
  the 
  15 
  th 
  century. 
  

  

  At 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  Inca 
  conquest, 
  the 
  Andean 
  area 
  was 
  occupied 
  by 
  

   a 
  very 
  large 
  number 
  of 
  tribal 
  groups 
  and 
  small 
  states 
  differing 
  from 
  

   each 
  other 
  politically, 
  linguistically, 
  and 
  culturally. 
  They 
  shared 
  

   many 
  elements 
  of 
  culture, 
  such 
  as 
  common 
  food 
  plants 
  and 
  domestic 
  

   animals, 
  similar 
  basic 
  style 
  of 
  dress, 
  huaca-worship, 
  and 
  certain 
  re- 
  

   ligious 
  attitudes, 
  similar 
  weapons 
  and 
  tactics, 
  and 
  simple 
  techniques 
  

   of 
  weaving, 
  metallurgy, 
  and 
  other 
  handicrafts, 
  but 
  the 
  differences 
  

   between 
  them 
  were 
  at 
  least 
  as 
  numerous 
  as 
  the 
  similarities, 
  and 
  were 
  

   as 
  notable 
  in 
  degree 
  as 
  in 
  kind. 
  There 
  was 
  a 
  vast 
  gulf 
  between 
  the 
  

   simple 
  culture 
  of 
  poverty 
  stricken 
  and 
  disorganized 
  groups, 
  like 
  the 
  

   Indians 
  of 
  the 
  Huancapampa 
  region 
  in 
  northern 
  Peru, 
  and 
  the 
  rich 
  

   and 
  complex 
  life 
  of 
  Coastal 
  states, 
  like 
  the 
  Chimu 
  Kingdom. 
  It 
  

   was 
  the 
  Inca 
  mission 
  to 
  level 
  up 
  such 
  differences 
  by 
  efficient 
  adminis- 
  

   tration, 
  exchange 
  of 
  populations, 
  and 
  the 
  prestige 
  value 
  of 
  Inca 
  

   culture, 
  and 
  gradually 
  to 
  unify 
  the 
  life, 
  language, 
  and 
  institutions 
  of 
  

   the 
  whole 
  vast 
  Inca 
  Empire. 
  The 
  task 
  was 
  half 
  accomplished 
  at 
  the 
  

   time 
  of 
  the 
  Spanish 
  Conquest, 
  but 
  the 
  change 
  of 
  ruling 
  class 
  did 
  not 
  

   stop 
  the 
  program 
  of 
  unification. 
  A 
  comparison 
  of 
  modern 
  Indian 
  

   life 
  with 
  that 
  of 
  pre-TVica 
  days 
  shows 
  many 
  differences: 
  Instead 
  of 
  doz- 
  

   ens 
  of 
  independent 
  languages, 
  five-sixths 
  of 
  the 
  Indians 
  now 
  speak 
  

   Quechua, 
  the 
  language 
  of 
  the 
  Inca 
  administration, 
  and 
  the 
  other 
  sixth 
  

   speak 
  Aymara, 
  which 
  had 
  enjoyed 
  a 
  privileged 
  position 
  before 
  the 
  

   Spanish 
  Conquest. 
  The 
  ayllu 
  has 
  become 
  a 
  less 
  rigid 
  unit, 
  and 
  new 
  

   social 
  groups 
  based 
  on 
  the 
  village 
  have 
  grown 
  up; 
  religion 
  is 
  uniform. 
  

   All 
  these 
  changes 
  had 
  their 
  beginning 
  in 
  Inca 
  policy, 
  and 
  were 
  merely 
  

   continued 
  by 
  the 
  Spanish 
  Colonial 
  government. 
  The 
  continuity 
  of 
  

   policy, 
  of 
  course, 
  was 
  only 
  to 
  a 
  very 
  limited 
  extent 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  a 
  de- 
  

   liberate 
  Spanish 
  imitation 
  of 
  Inca 
  practice; 
  for 
  the 
  rest, 
  similar 
  adminis- 
  

   trative 
  problems 
  suggested 
  similar 
  solutions. 
  Nevertheless, 
  the 
  Inca 
  

   were 
  the 
  first 
  to 
  apply 
  these 
  solutions 
  in 
  the 
  Andean 
  area, 
  and 
  they 
  

   applied 
  them 
  very 
  successfully. 
  

  

  During 
  the 
  contact 
  between 
  Indian 
  and 
  Mestizo 
  since 
  the 
  coming 
  

  

  