The Social and Geographical Landscape of the Inca Empire

A Study of Bernabe Cobo

"Although it was very extensive and composed of many and very different nations, the entire empire of the Incas was a single republic, governed by the same laws, privileges, and customs, and it was observant of the same religion, rites, and ceremonies; however, before being brought under Inca rule, the several nations had their own common law and a different way of living and governing themselves. This union and uniformity was maintained everywhere; and it must be understood that what we say here that the Incas introduced into the nations that they subjugated was the same type of government that they maintained at the Inca court and where they ruled before." - Father Bernabe Cobo, (p 189)

The Incas defined the social, religious, and physical landscape encompassed by their empire. They laid an inherent claim to all the lands within their domain and claimed the physical geography within the cosmological belief in their own superiority. According to Bernabe Cobo's depiction, the Incas divided the land and resources of communities into three parts, one each for the state, religious service, and the community itself. The empire itself was divided into four parts, and villages into upper and lower moieties. The Incas also constructed and appropriated a vast system of roads, along which they built storehouses, regional administrative centers, and military forts in particularly problematic areas. The purpose of this new Inca geography was achieving unified political and economic control while perpetuating their cosmology.