In modern warfare, medical teams accompany almost every fighting force. They set up field hospitals to handle the wounded. Hundreds of years ago, Inca doctors did exactly the same thing. Much like the military medicine of today, pain relief and stopping blood loss were primary concerns of Inca army medicine.
Some of the same medicines are still used in emergency medical care. Inca doctors used cocaine as a pain reliever. Contemporary medicine uses cocaine derivatives (Novocain and Xylocain) for the same purpose. Quinine continues to be an excellent fever reducer. Chilca, a natural plant substance, reduces swollen tissue around joints.
The Incas knew that skilled medical care, delivered quickly could save lives. Present-day emergency medical care and military field medicine operate the same way: stop the pain; stop the bleeding; save the patient.
As sapa inca and commander-in-chief of the military, Pachacuti declared that destruction in conquest was unacceptable. He forbade his soldiers from razing towns, massacring the enemy, or burning crops. Instead, as he annexed land, Pachacuti augmented the Inca labor force with farmers, soldiers, artisans, and experienced leaders. Defeated cultures that declared allegiance to Pachacuti were immediately integrated into the Inca civil system. Those who remained hostile met a brutal fate: Their skulls became drinking vessels, their skins were stretched over military drums, and their bones were honed into flutes.
The sapa inca approached every conquest extending a hand of friendship and offering a caravan laden with gifts. His open diplomacy encouraged acceptance of Inca rule while reducing the costs in lives and supplies consumed by major battles. Pachacuti offered gifts of gold and cloth, and guaranteed peace to those who swore their allegiance to the Inca Empire. Not surprisingly, less powerful cultures chose assimilation over annihilation.
In 1463, Pachacuti decided to forgo the rigors of constant military action and turn his hand to administering his now vast empire. He named his son Tupac Yupanqui as the new commander-in-chief of the military. Over four decades, father, son, and grandson Huayna Capac increased the Inca Empire to stretch roughly 3,400 miles north to south along the Andes. The Incas controlled all the land from the Pacific Ocean to the eastern piedmont of the Andes and the Amazon rainforest.
Pachacuti epitomized the benevolent dictator. He understood the need for defeated people to keep their dignity and heritage intact, lest they become rebellious. He appreciated certain basic needs of people-food, clothing, and shelter-and the civil administration of Pachacuti’s reign bore the responsibility of securing fundamental necessities for all citizens.
However, Pachacuti was no mere idealist. As the empire expanded, he needed to maintain control over a greater number of conquered people. One way to keep potential rebellion in check was by bringing a conquered culture’s principal idols to the Coricancha, the central temple in Cuzco, which had replaced the Intihuasi (see the box on page 31).
Ostensibly, Pachacuti honored these gods, and, in fact, the Incas occasionally accepted new gods into their own beliefs. However, moving idols to Cuzco symbolically held a defeated culture’s beliefs captive. In war, armies brought idols of their primary gods into battle as a safeguard against the enemy. These idols were not merely images, but were believed to be fully invested with the power of the god they represented. Thus,
An army automatically lost the battle when its idol was captured. Once Pachacuti held a culture’s idols in Cuzco, its people would not dare rebel, lest Pachacuti order their principal icons destroyed.
In the same way, Pachacuti ensured loyalty among the leaders of a vanquished culture by providing the leaders’ sons with an education. The former leaders continued to govern their people while their sons went to Cuzco to study and learn Inca customs. As an act of benevolence, education ensured an excellent (and Inca) future for the heirs. However, the sons were also hostages of Pachacuti, who would not have hesitated to execute them if their fathers rebelled.
World History
