It is important to note that one of the keys to the Incas’ success in forging an empire from conquered peoples was the way they manipulated social organization for political purposes. When a group was conquered, its ayllus were grouped into two administrative units of 10,000 households each; these were called sayas, and each had an official (a curaca) in charge of it. This division of a conquered people into two equal units corresponded to the Inca moiety system, and each saya was called by the Inca moiety terms, Hanansaya and Hurinsaya. The ayllus were then organized into the administrative units of 5,000, 1,000, 500, and 100 households. Even though most administrative ayllus organized by the Incas were essentially the same as the pre-Inca social ones, the Incas did manipulate the latter to conform to their decimal administrative ones. If there were too few ayllus to make two saya, additional ones from elsewhere would be included. If there were too many, they could be divided into additional units (Rowe 1946: 263). This policy had the effect of making the ayllu less kinship-based and more residence-based. It no doubt weakened the ties binding the members of the ayllus and made them easier to control.
The Incas assimilated the local leaders of conquered people into the Inca administrative bureaucracy by making them curacas. The Incas also made the curaca positions hereditary, to provide stability in the governance of the empire. Sons of curacas were taken to Cuzco and trained, then returned to rule when their fathers died.
At what level the conquered leaders were assigned posts depended on the size of the group they originally controlled. If an ethnic group made up of 100 households conquered by the Incas was ruled by a single leader, he would be made a curaca of 100 households. If the group had 500 households, the leader would become a curaca of 500 households.
It is not certain what happened if a group had, for example, 700 households. Presumably the conquered leader would become a curaca of 500 households, and the remaining 200 would be lumped with 300 others under another curaca of 500 households. The other curaca might be either another member of the conquered group or an outsider, the conquered leader of the group of 300 that was lumped together with the remaining 200 households. One way by which odd numbers of households could be rounded off was through the system of mitima.
In summary, the Incas organized local social units into administrative ones and thereby made control and taxation more efficient. If people were rebellious, they were moved to new areas and loyal subjects replaced them so food productivity would not drop. Quechua was made the official language of the empire. But a conquered group’s basic way
Of life was little changed: they continued to worship their own gods, be ruled by their own leaders, and live the same agricultural way of life they always had. However, much greater amounts of work were required of them.
World History
