Inca Empire - Inca Empire (English spelling)

Japanese: インカ帝国 - インカていこく（英語表記）Inca empire

An empire that arose in the Andean highlands of northwestern South America. Along with the Mayan and Aztec empires of Mesoamerica, it is one of the most representative ancient American civilizations. It was founded around 1200 and conquered by the Spanish in 1532. Since the Inca had no written language, the history and life of the empire have been reconstructed based on the records of Spanish chroniclers and archaeological and ethnological research. The Inca Empire was originally a small tribal society centered in Cusco, and the emperors from Manco Capac, the founder of the empire, to the seventh were legendary figures. The Inca Empire expanded rapidly over a 30-year period under the reigns of the ninth emperor, Pachacuti (reigned 1438-71), and the tenth emperor, Tupac Inca (reigned 71-93). The empire reached its peak when it defeated the neighboring Lupaca and Chanca tribes and conquered the Chimu Kingdom. Its territory stretched from present-day Ecuador to central Chile, covering an area of 1 million ^km2 (about three times the size of Japan), and it had a population of about 6 million. The foundation of the empire was an agricultural society centered on closed village communities (ayyus), and most of the land and livestock were state-owned. Its unique agricultural policy played a kind of social security role. The empire was divided into four provinces (suyus), and four governors were in charge of the politics of the empire under the emperor. The imperial expansion policy was skillful, and a system of resettling conquered peoples (mitimas) was adopted to develop undeveloped areas and suppress rebellions. The centralized hierarchical society, with the emperor at the top and the nobility, priests, and commoners in a pyramid shape, had little fluidity, and everything from production and consumption to individual life was under the control of the state. The emperor (called Inca) was the incarnation of the sun and had absolute power, and his relatives, along with the chiefs (curakas) of the conquered peoples, formed the aristocratic class. Priests were also divided into various classes, and commoners were mobilized for farming, military service, civil engineering, and corvée labor (mita) in the mines, and some worked in crafts. However, the empire, which was highly organized and boasted of its order, fell into internal conflict in 1532, and was conquered the following year by F. Pizarro and a mere 200 Spaniards who took advantage of the internal conflict. The Inca Empire came to an end with the execution of the 13th emperor, Atahualpa (reigned 1532-33), but the empire's well-organized administrative and social organization was preserved within the Spanish colonial system.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

南アメリカ北西部のアンデス高原に興った帝国。メソアメリカのマヤ，アステカの両帝国とともに古代アメリカ文明を代表する。 1200年頃に興り，1532年スペイン人に征服された。文字をもたなかったため，帝国の歴史と生活の実態はスペイン人年代記作者 (クロニスタ) の記録および考古学，民族学の研究により再編成されている。インカ帝国は当初クスコを中心とする一小部族社会にすぎず，帝国の始祖マンコ・カパックから第7代までの皇帝は伝説的存在だった。インカ帝国の急速な拡大は第9代のパチャクティ皇帝 (在位 1438～71) および第 10代トゥパク・インカ (在位 71～93) 時代の 30年間に行われた。近隣のルパカ族，チャンカ族を討ち，チムー王国を征服して最盛期を迎え，その版図は現在のエクアドルからチリの中央部に及ぶ 100万 km² (日本の約3倍) ，人口約 600万を擁する大帝国となった。帝国の基盤は閉鎖的村落共同体 (アイユー) を中心とする農耕社会にあり，土地と家畜はほとんど国有とされ，その独特な農地政策は一種の社会保障の役割を果した。帝国は4つの県 (スーユ) に分れ，4人の県知事が皇帝の下で帝国の政治を担当した。帝国拡張政策は巧みで，被征服民族を移住させる制度 (ミティマ) が採用されて，未開拓地の開発と反乱抑制がはかられた。皇帝を頂点に貴族，神官，平民というピラミッド形をなす中央集権的な階層社会は流動性に乏しく，生産，消費から個人の生活にいたるまですべてが国家の統制下にあった。皇帝 (インカと呼ばれた) は太陽の化身で絶対的権力をもち，その血縁者は被征服民の首長 (クラカ) とともに貴族階級を構成した。神官も諸階級に分れ，平民は農耕のほか軍務や土木事業，鉱山の賦役労働 (ミタ) に動員され，一部は工芸に従事した。しかしながら高度に組織化され，その秩序を誇った帝国も，1532年内紛を起し，その内紛に乗じた F.ピサロとわずか 200人のスペイン人の手で翌年あえなく征服された。第 13代皇帝アタワルパ (在位 1532～33) の処刑でインカ帝国はついえたが，帝国の整った行政・社会組織はスペイン植民地体制内に温存されることになった。

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