THE EMPIRE OF THE INCAS.
Not many years after the conquest of Mexico, a similar enterprise was undertaken, which resulted in the overthrow and subjugation of a people resembling the Mexicans, in their comparative advancement in civilization, and in the extent and riches of their empire. Peru is situated on the western coast of South America, and the empire of its sovereigns then extended, from north to south, above 1,500 miles on the Pacific Ocean. Its breadth was limited by the range of the mighty Andes, and therefore varied in different parts of its extent. This vast territory was originally peopled by independent tribes, characterized by different manners and forms of policy. According to the Peruvian traditions, their modes of life were not superior to those of the most uncivilized savages. They roamed naked through the forests, without any fixed habitations, living more like wild beasts than men.
For several ages, the tradition declares that they made little or no advances towards improvement, enduring hardships and privations of all kinds, till there suddenly appeared, on the banks of the Lake Titicaca, a man and woman of majestic form, and clothed in decent garments. These persons called themselves Children of the Sun, and asserted that they were sent by that benignant deity to instruct those who were the objects of his pity, and thus to improve their condition and render them happier. The names of these persons, as given, were Manco Capac and Mama Oello. The motives they addressed to the poor savages, to induce them to quit their barbarous mode of life, seem to have been effectual, and, by their persuasions, these scattered people were some of them united together, and obeying the supposed divine mandate, they followed the strangers to Cuzco, where they settled, and commenced the building of a city.
These extraordinary individuals thus laid the foundation of the great empire, over which their descendants afterwards reigned for several generations. Manco Capac taught the men how to till the ground, and various arts by which their comforts might be increased, while Mama Oello, at the same time, showed the women how to weave and spin. Having thus convinced them of their interest in their welfare, and provided them with food, clothing, and suitable abodes, Manco Capac enacted various laws, and introduced different institutions, by which the people might be cemented together as a nation of established character. He prescribed to them such regulations as might govern them both in public and private life; defined the relations of all, and constituted such offices, and appointed such persons to fill them, as comported with his design of founding a perpetual and well governed state.
This new kingdom was called the Empire of the Incas. At first, the territory of Manco Capac did not extend more than twenty or thirty miles round Cuzco. He exercised, however, absolute authority, to which the people rendered a willing obedience. His memory was not merely cherished in after ages as the founder of their nation, but as a true benefactor. If this tradition be admitted to be founded on the truth, it forms an interesting subject of inquiry, who these extraordinary personages were, and from what part of the world they probably came.[2]
The successors of Manco Capac followed his example, gradually extending their dominions, and, with this enlargement of territory, rendering their authority yet more and more absolute. In time, they were regarded, not only as sovereigns and descendants of the founder of the empire, but they were adored as divinities. Their blood was considered sacred, and by forbidding their posterity to intermarry with the people they continued to preserve their own race and rank pure from all others. This peculiar family, thus set apart as a royal or noble race, were also distinguished from all the rest of the nation by a certain garb and ornaments, which it was unlawful for any of the lower ranks to assume. The monarch himself appeared with the ensigns which he alone might wear, and was ever received by his subjects with a deferential homage scarcely short of adoration.
The character of the people was very different from that of the Mexicans, for while these latter, as we have seen, were warlike and ferocious, engaged almost constantly in bloody wars, and preserving cruel rites, the Peruvians or Quichuas, as they were also termed, were united in a peaceful subjection to a milder superstition. The Mexicans pushed forward their conquests by their valor, and, by force of arms, subdued those who opposed them; but the Peruvian Incas, in the capacity of legislators and benefactors, extended their sway, and induced numerous tribes to submit to them, and learn the arts and comforts of peace and good government. Not one, it is said, out of twelve monarchs, descendants of Manco Capac, varied from this character.
The empire, by degrees, became one of great extent, comprehending not only all that which is now called Peru, but also Ecuador, which is still covered with the monuments of the Incas. In this vast region, the most perfect order reigned; the fields were tilled; the rivers were employed in irrigating the soil; mountains were formed into terraces; canals were prepared, means being taken to preserve the water in its passage; and many large tracts, before mere deserts, were thus rendered productive, if not fertile. As a means of communication for the convenience of the people, a national road was constructed, with great labor, from Quito to Cuzco, 1,500 miles in length. This was a surprising work of art. It was not designed, indeed, for carriages, for no such vehicles were in use among the Peruvians, but for a great thoroughfare from one end of the empire to the other. Numerous flying bridges were thrown across the deep ravines, which often interposed obstacles to the progress of the work that required skill and patient industry to overcome.
The structures, too, of stone, either temples or palaces, were composed of immense blocks, inclosing vast spaces, and divided into numerous apartments, one of which at Caxamalca is said to have been capable of containing 5,000 men. Instead of the hieroglyphics, by which the Mexicans preserved the records of their nation, and conveyed from one to another the knowledge of passing events, the Peruvians used the quipos, or strings, which, by their colors, knots, &c., represented different parts of the record they wished to preserve. Vast treasures were accumulated by the Incas, from the rich silver mines in their dominions, and when they died, many of their vessels and other portions of their wealth were buried in the grave with them.
When the Spaniards first visited Peru, in 1526, the twelfth monarch, named Huayna Capac, was on the throne. He is said to have been a great prince, as much distinguished by his wisdom and benevolence as for his martial talents. He subdued Quito, and thus added to his dominions a country nearly as large in extent and resources as his own. This city became another capital of his realm, and here he often resided. Contrary to the law, which forbade the intermarriage of the Incas with others than their own race, he wedded a daughter of the King of Quito. He died in the year 1529, leaving Atahualpa, his son by the princess of Quito, heir to that kingdom. The rest of his dominions he left to Huascar, his eldest son by another wife of the race of the Incas.
This procedure was so contrary to all the laws and usages of the empire, that the Peruvians, though they revered in the highest degree their deceased monarch, who had added such lustre to his reign, could not contentedly submit to the division of the empire. They urged on Huascar, therefore, to require his brother to renounce his claim to the government of Quito, and acknowledge him as his liege lord. Atahualpa, however, had already gained a large body of Peruvian troops, who had followed his father to Quito, and who were the best portion of the army. He therefore not only refused to comply with his brother’s demand, but marched against him with a chosen army. A civil war ensued. Atahualpa, being superior in force, triumphed over Huascar, the rightful monarch; and, conscious that he was only partially descended from the Incas, he sought to confirm himself by utterly exterminating all the children of the sun, or the descendants of Manco Capac. To establish yet further his own authority, he kept his brother alive, in whose name he issued his own orders to the various parts of the empire.
The effect of this civil war was most disastrous to this hitherto prosperous empire. It rent it asunder at the very time when a crafty foe was preparing its subjugation, and when the force of united counsels and efforts were needed for the safety of the nation. Had the Spaniards entered Peru under the reign of Huayna Capac, they would have found a far different state of things, and possibly Peru might, for many succeeding years, have enjoyed prosperity under the sway of her own beneficent monarchs, instead of being trampled under the foot of a foreign invader.
When Pizarro, with Almagro and De Luque, first established a colony at the mouth of the River Piura, in 1532, he had already acquired some knowledge of the unnatural contest in which the brothers had been engaged. He had been advancing gradually, for three or four years, from Panama, till he had gained the very heart of the empire, without the contending parties apparently being aware that the common enemy was on his march for their ruin. Huascar, having finally learned of this event, sent messengers to Pizarro to entreat his aid against his usurping brother. The wily Spaniard at once saw the advantage he might derive from the intestine divisions of the empire, and hastened forward without waiting for the reinforcements he was expecting from Panama. He began his march from his new colony, called St. Michael, where he left a garrison, with only sixty-two horsemen and one hundred and two foot soldiers, of whom twenty were armed with cross-bows, and three with muskets. He marched for Caxamalca, a small town at the distance of twelve days’ march from St. Michael. Here Atahualpa was encamped with a considerable number of troops. While Pizarro was on his way, a messenger met him from that prince, offering his alliance, and an assurance of his friendly reception at Caxamalca. Pizarro, seizing upon the occasion, returned answer that he came from a powerful monarch, with the design of offering his aid to Atahualpa to sustain him against those who disputed his right to the throne.
The Peruvians were utterly at a loss how to account for the sudden appearance of the Spaniards. They viewed them as superior beings, but, as was the case with the inhabitants of Cholula, in respect to Cortés, they could not decide whether they were to be regarded as possessed of beneficent or cruel intentions. The conduct of the Spaniards did not apparently agree with their professions; for while they declared that their object was to enlighten the natives in the truth, and render them more happy, they were often guilty of flagrant outrage and cruelty. The Inca, however, satisfied by the message of Pizarro, was prepared to repose unbounded confidence in his expected visiter. The Spaniards were allowed to cross the desert, where they might have been easily checked on their march, and to pass in safety through the defiles of the mountains, which were so narrow and difficult of entrance, that a few men might have maintained their ground against a large force. They also took possession of a fortress erected there for the defence of the country, and then advanced to Caxamalca.
As they approached, Atahualpa sent them messengers with more costly presents than before. Pizarro entered the city with his troops, and took possession of a large court, having on one side of it the palace of the Inca, and on the other a temple of the sun. Around the whole was a strong rampart, or wall of earth. Atahualpa was in his camp about three miles from the city. Messengers, therefore, were despatched immediately to him by Pizarro, with the same declarations and assurances as before, to request an interview, that he might in person more fully inform him respecting his design in visiting his empire.
These messengers were astonished at the appearance of order and decency which reigned at the Peruvian court, and still more at the display of gold and silver which everywhere met their view. They were received with the utmost cordiality, and hospitably entertained. On their return to Pizarro, the account they gave of the splendor with which their eyes had been dazzled, led him to form the perfidious resolution of seizing the monarch, as Cortés had done Montezuma, in the very heart of his empire. He deliberately formed his plan, regardless of the character of ambassador which he had assumed, or of the confidence that Atahualpa reposed in his promises, and made all the requisite preparations for executing it at once. Dividing his horsemen into three small squadrons or companies, he selected from his infantry twenty men of the most tried courage, whom he retained as his body-guard and to aid him in his attempt, while he posted his artillery and cross-bowmen opposite the avenue by which Atahualpa was to make his approach.
Early on the morning of the 16th of November, Atahualpa made preparations for visiting the new comers. Desirous to impress on his visitors the strongest sense of his greatness and splendor, the day was far advanced before the procession began its march, and so slow was its progress, that Pizarro finally became apprehensive lest the monarch had penetrated his treacherous designs, and determined not to place himself within his reach. To quiet such fears, if any existed, the Spaniard sent him still another embassy to assure him of his friendship and kind intentions. Finally the Inca made his appearance with the pomp of a mighty monarch. He was preceded by 400 men in a uniform dress, to prepare his way, and sitting on a throne adorned with beautiful plumes, almost covered with plates of gold and silver, and enriched with precious stones, he was borne on the shoulders of a number of his principal attendants. After him followed his chief officers, carried in a similar manner; bands of singers and dancers also mingling in the procession, and troops to the number, it is said, of 30,000 men.
The Spanish priest, Valverde, met him, on his approach to Pizarro, with a crucifix in his hand, and, discoursing to him on various doctrines of the Catholic faith, demanded of him an acknowledgment of the Pope and the monarch of Castile as his spiritual and temporal liege lords, on penalty of war and vengeance. Atahualpa, even with the aid of interpretation, was unable to comprehend this harangue so entirely unexpected to himself, and when made acquainted with a portion of it, was most indignant at such an attack on his rights as an independent ruler of his realm. He calmly replied, however, that he was possessed of his dominions by hereditary succession; that no pope or priest could grant his realm to another without his consent; that he had no wish to renounce the worship of his country’s god, the sun, to embrace that of the Spaniards. As for what the priest had assured him of, he desired to know where these extraordinary matters were to be found.
“In this book,” replied Valverde, reaching out his breviary. The Inca, opening it, and turning over its leaves, applied it to his ear. “This,” said he, “is silent, it tells me nothing,” and threw it contemptuously to the ground. The monk, roused to the utmost pitch of indignation, ran towards the Spaniards, crying out, “To arms, to arms, Christians, the word of God is insulted; avenge the profanation of these impious heathen dogs.” Pizarro, who had hitherto restrained his soldiery, though inflamed with the desire of plundering the wealth which met their view, now gave the signal of assault. The sound of the martial music, the roar of the cannon and musketry, with the charge of horse, and the impetuosity of the attack, all combined at once, threw the Peruvians into confusion. They fled in dismay, without the slightest attempt at defence, while Pizarro, with his chosen band, at once pressed forward to the royal seat, and piercing the crowd of devoted nobles, who sacrificed themselves to protect him, seized on the Inca, dragged him to the ground, and led him off prisoner to the Spanish quarters. The flying troops were pursued with the most unrelenting fury, and they continued to fall victims to their merciless invaders till the day closed. More than 4,000 Peruvians are said to have perished; not a single Spaniard was killed, and but one was wounded.
The captive Inca was miserably dejected in spirit, though Pizarro affected to treat him with kindness and respect. Gradually becoming acquainted with the ruling passion of the invaders, he offered, on condition of his being liberated, to fill the room in which he was confined, which was twenty-two feet long and sixteen broad, with vessels of gold, as high as he could reach. Pizarro agreed to the proposal, and marked out the requisite height by a line on the walls. The Inca, accordingly, sent out orders for the ransom to be gathered from Quito and Cuzco, where the greatest quantities of gold and silver were amassed in the temples. The commands of the monarch were respected and obeyed, and persons were instantly employed in bringing together the needed treasure. While this was going on, Pizarro received information of the approach of a reinforcement. This was a new source of alarm to the captive sovereign, especially as he also learned that some Spaniards had visited his brother Huascar in his prison, who had promised them, if they would take his part, far greater wealth than Atahualpa had done. To prevent this, he determined to have his brother put to death, and his commands to that effect were executed accordingly.
The promised treasure was now collected, but Pizarro, with unexampled treachery, not only refused to release his prisoner, but determined to put him to death. To this he was instigated not only by the newly arrived Spaniards, but by an Indian, his interpreter, whom he had carried off some years before from beyond Panama, and who had conceived a passion for one of the wives of Atahualpa. He also alarmed the Spaniard with accounts of forces assembling in various parts of the empire, and imputed these preparations for war, to the commands of the captive monarch. Atahualpa himself, by his own imprudence, brought about the fatal result. Attaching himself especially to Ferdinand Pizarro and De Soto, persons superior, both in birth and education, to Pizarro himself, and who treated him with kindness and attention, he began gradually to regard Pizarro with contempt. He appears to have been a prince of no mean talents, and, observing the mode by which the Spaniards communicated their thoughts to each other by writing, he greatly admired the art, but was at a loss to determine whether it was a natural or an acquired one.
To satisfy himself on this point, he requested one of the soldiers to write the name of God on the nail of his thumb. This he showed to numbers of the Spaniards, asking its meaning, and, to his astonishment, they all told him the same thing. At length, when Pizarro came, he put the question to him, and the illiterate adventurer, blushing with shame, was compelled to acknowledge his ignorance. Ever after this, Atahualpa regarded the Spanish commander with a degree of contempt, and the consciousness of this fact, rankling in the breast of Pizarro, fixed his purpose of putting his royal captive to death.
To give some color to his injustice, a species of trial was instituted. The monarch was arraigned on the charges of usurping the throne, of putting his brother and sovereign to death, of having commanded human sacrifices, of maintaining many concubines or wives, and having wasted treasures since his captivity which belonged to the Spaniards. Beside all these charges, he was accused of having excited his subjects to rebellion against his conquerors. On such accusations as these, before the self-constituted tribunal who had already doomed their victim, the wretched Atahualpa was found guilty and condemned to be burned alive. He besought Pizarro to send him to Spain to be tried, and condemned, if he must be so, by a king. But this was not part of Pizarro’s plan, and he gave orders for his immediate execution. To save himself from the cruel death which was prepared for him, the miserable victim of perfidy and cruelty asked to be baptized; in consideration of which he was strangled at the stake, instead of being burned alive.
A son of the murdered Inca was then proclaimed by Pizarro as monarch of Peru, in the hope that he might thus control the empire as he pleased. But the people of Cuzco and the country in that vicinity chose Manco Capac, a brother of Huascar, as the Inca, and rightful successor to the supreme authority. Civil wars at once followed, and the government was rent in pieces. Usurpers and aspirants sprung up in various parts of the realm, claiming independent power; the general of the late sovereign at Quito, seized the brother and children of his master, put them to death, and claimed the throne for himself.
These intestine divisions, as they weakened the Peruvian power, prepared the way for Pizarro to advance to Cuzco. Several battles were fought, but the city was finally reached and taken without resistance. The son of Atahualpa died on the march, and the Peruvians seem generally to have admitted the claim of Manco Capac to the vacant throne. Quito also soon fell into the hands of another band of invaders, who were led on by the officer whom Pizarro had left as governor of St. Michael. The Spaniards, however, found to their disappointment, that the city was stripped of its treasures, the people having carried them away.
Once in possession of Peru, Pizarro devoted himself to the arranging of its districts, to the appointment of officers, the establishing of regulations for the administration of justice, the collection of revenue, and the working of the mines. Here the Peruvians, the former masters, were driven as slaves to toil for their oppressors. Multitudes of adventurers from Spain now flocked to the conquered country, and forming themselves into various small bands, each led by some adventurous officer, they set forth for the invasion of different provinces of the empire, which were yet unsubdued.
Manco Capac was not a listless observer of these proceedings. Perceiving that but a few troops remained in Cuzco, where he resided, jealously watched by the Spaniards, he secretly issued his commands for his subjects to assemble at a short distance from the capital, where he obtained leave to go to attend a solemn festival. As soon as he appeared, the banner was unfurled, and the war began. All the warriors were gathered, and the whole country from Quito to Chili was soon in arms. Many of the Spaniards, scattered over the country, and not expecting such an attack, were cut off. An army, according to the Spanish writers, of 200,000 men assaulted Cuzco, which was defended by only 170 Spaniards. At the same time, Pizarro’s new city of Lima was besieged, while he was obliged to remain within. All communication between the two cities was cut off; and the besieged in either place were in utter ignorance of the fate of each other.
The Inca commanded in person at Cuzco, and here it was that the Peruvians made their greatest efforts. For nine whole months, they carried on the siege, displaying great skill, and profiting by their observations on the discipline of their enemies. To render their efforts yet more successful, they armed some of their most valiant men with the swords, spears, and bucklers which they had taken from the Spaniards whom they had put to death throughout the country. Some even made trial of the Spanish muskets, and charged their foe, mounted on horses, and led by the Inca in person. In spite of the most active defence, Manco Capac gained possession of one half of his capital, and probably nothing but the sudden appearance of Almagro’s troops saved the dispirited Spaniards from quitting Cuzco, or perishing in battle.
The force of Almagro was regarded by both parties as the umpire of the contest, and both sought his aid. He and the Pizarros had been at variance, as the Peruvians knew, and Manco Capac at first sought his friendship; but at length, despairing of success in this way, he attacked him by surprise. This decided the question. The Peruvians unable to effect their purpose, were defeated with great slaughter, and their army was mostly dispersed.
Soon after this, Pizarro, having dispersed the Peruvians, who had held him shut up in Lima, and having received also reinforcements from Spain, advanced towards Cuzco. After fruitless negotiations, a terrible battle was fought between himself and his brothers, and Almagro, in which the latter was defeated and put to death. The Peruvians who seem at first to have resolved to profit by the divisions of the Spaniards, instead of falling on the exhausted troops of the victors, as they should have done, retired quietly after the battle, perhaps more than ever impressed with a sense of the superiority of their discipline. This bloody engagement took place on the 26th of April, 1538.
In the following ten or twelve years, there were a succession of contests for power between different parties of the Spaniards, during which time we lose sight of Manco Capac and the Peruvians, except that we know that these people, pressed by hard service, were rapidly wasting away. The representations of the benevolent Las Casas at length reached the Spanish monarch, and influenced him to avert some of the evils with which the natives were threatened, by the establishment of a more firm and equitable government. This was finally accomplished by the wisdom of the viceroy, Pedro de la Gasca, after the entire defeat and death of the last of the Pizarros, who had rebelled against the king’s appointment, in 1549. This officer made regulations concerning the treatment of the Indians, by which they might be protected from oppression, and be instructed in the principles of religion. Still they were obliged to labor for the Spaniards, being attached to the land itself, and apportioned out to the various persons who owned the estates.
Like almost all conquered and enslaved people, their numbers have lessened, while they have been subjected to the fluctuations of ages. They are now said to be feeble and depressed beyond any people of America, seeming scarcely capable of bold and manly exertion. Some whole districts, especially in the ancient kingdom of Quito, have continued to be occupied almost entirely by the Indians. In some places they exercise the mechanic arts, and belong to the lower class of the population. Some of them have become converts to the Roman Catholic priests; while some still remember and reverence the institutions of their fathers, and sometimes secretly assemble and engage in ancient idolatrous rites.
Robertson computed the number of native Indians in Peru at the time he wrote to be 2,449,120. They are said to have “small features, little feet, sleek, coarse, black hair, and scarcely any beard.” They have been represented as sunk in apathy and insensibility, but the shy, reserved, and gloomy, though tame aspect which they present, is the fruit of long oppression, and accumulated wrongs. They still retain the deepest and most mournful recollections of the Inca, and celebrate his death by a sort of rude drama, accompanied by the most melting strains of music.
