Inca Empire
Glossary and Terms
History >> Aztec, Maya, and Inca for Kids
Apu - One of four officials in charge of a quadrant, or suyu, of the Inca Empire. Each Apu was also part of the imperial council to the emperor.
Ayllu - The basic unit of the community, an ayllu was made up of a number of families. Land was allotted to an ayllu based on the number of people in the group.
Chaski - A runner who carried messages throughout the empire mostly for the emperor. The chaski ran between checkpoints on a vast network of roads passing on their message to the next runner. Messages were generally memorized and passed by mouth.
Chimu - A powerful tribe in Peru that came to power around 900 AD. The Inca conquered them around 1470 AD.
Conquistador - A Spanish military leader and explorer. The conquistadors were in search of new lands for Spain as well as treasure.
Coya - The queen of the Inca Empire and primary wife of the Sapa Inca.
Cuzco - The capital and birthplace of the Inca Empire. For the first several hundred years it was a city-state controlling just the immediate land around the city. It is still a major city in Peru today.
Huaca - The huaca was a sacred object to the Inca that was inhabited by a spirit. It could be manmade or natural. Examples of huaca include stones, mountains, amulets, statues, and mummies.
Huayna Capac - The eleventh emperor of the Inca, it was under his leadership that the Inca Empire reached its peak. He died from smallpox about the time the Spanish arrived.
Inca - Within the Inca Empire the Inca were the people descended from the original founders of Cuzco. They were the nobility of the empire and lived lives of luxury.
Inti - The Sun god and the most important god of the Inca.
Intihuatana - A ritual stone associated with the sun and the Inca calendar.
Manco Capac - The first Sapa Inca, Manco Capac founded the Kingdom of Cuzco.
Machu Picchu - The "lost city" of the Inca that was never discovered and destroyed by the Spanish.
Mit'a - A type of labor tax that each male citizen of the Inca Empire had to pay by doing labor for the government. This included such jobs as serving as a warrior in the army and working on temples or other government buildings.
Pachacuti - The ninth Inca emperor, Pachacuti started the expansion of the Kingdom of Cuzco into the Inca Empire. He established the Tawantinsuyu.
Peru - The modern country where Cuzco and the center of the Inca Empire was located.
Pizarro - Francisco Pizarro was the Spanish conquistador who conquered the Inca.
Quechua - The language spoken by the Inca.
Quipu - A series of strings that recorded numbers and codes by using various sizes of knots.
Sapa Inca - The leader and emperor of the Inca Empire.
Suyu - A major division of the Inca Empire. The empire was divided up into four suyu each ruled by an apu. At the center of the four suyu was Cuzco.
Tawantinsuyu - The Inca name for their empire. It mean the "Land of the Four Quarters".
Thatki - A unit of measurement for distance equaling "one pace".
Tokoyrikoq - The tokoyrikoq were inspectors who worked for the government. They made sure that all the rules were being followed by the people in the empire.
Vilcabamba -The last refuge of the Inca Empire. When it fell to the Spanish in 1572, the Inca Empire was gone forever.
Viracocha - The creator god of the Inca who made the Earth and was father to the Sun god Inti.
Willaq Umu - The high priest of the Inca. Typically the brother or a close relative of the Sapa Inca.
Works Cited
History >> Aztec, Maya, and Inca for Kids
