Commanders and teams
All the highest military leaders belonged exclusively to the Incas. The Inca Supreme Son of the Sun was both the supreme commander in chief and often personally commanded an army on the battlefield. But since the empire was constantly expanding, he could no longer leave Cuzco for a long time, and the burden of command had to be delegated to his brothers or sons. The top commanders exercised command sitting on a stretcher carried by four porters at once. Orders were given through fast-footed messengers, or by sound signals, and they did not need to fight personally, as many commanders of the peoples of Europe had to do. So in case of failure, any Inca general had a lot of chances to save his life. In addition, they were surrounded by personal bodyguards. That is, the Incas not only appreciated the organization, order and discipline in the army, but also cared about preserving the life of their "generals", since it was a question of saving not just experienced commanders in military affairs, but people in whose veins the blood of the Incas flowed!
Inca headdresses made of gold. As you can see, the Incas did not spare gold for themselves, loved ones. (Larco Museum, Lima)
Weapons made of bronze and … gold
The battles between the warriors of the Incas and the hostile tribes were bloody and were a typical hand-to-hand combat. Yes, the weapons of warriors differed depending on the ethnic origin of individual units, but nevertheless, for many they were similar. First of all, weapons were spears with tips of obsidian or bronze, spear-throwing sticks for darts and arrows, slings and a special type of mace, called makana and usually had star-shaped warheads made of stone, copper or bronze. Apparently, the macana was the weapon of choice among the Incas. In any case, archaeologists find warheads from such maces in a multitude, and among them there are also cast from gold. It is unlikely, of course, that they fought with them, since gold is a soft metal, but they could well be used as chief wands, and in addition it is known that the personal bodyguards of the ruler of the Incas were armed with golden weapons. The bow - a seemingly common weapon in ancient America - was nevertheless used very rarely in the Inca army. The archery units were made up of the inhabitants of the eastern part of the empire, bordered by the vast jungle of the Amazon River, who had the bow as their traditional weapon. The length of their bows reached two and a half meters, and such bows were made from the very hard local wood "mitui" ("chunta"). That is, their penetrating power should have been very high!
These were the stones the Incas shot from a sling. Fired from close range, they are known to pierce Spanish metal helmets! (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
The same bullet and a sling next to it. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Wicker sling of the Incas. (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
Means of protection were rectangular or trapezoidal shields, the pattern on which, like on the shields of Roman legionnaires, was the same for all soldiers of the same unit. To protect the head, helmets were used, either made of wood or woven from reed and reinforced with metal plates on the crown and on the cheeks. Tunics made of quilted fabric were used as protection for the torso, similar to those of the Aztecs, which were comfortable and easy to wear.
Extravagant headdresses made of feathers, like those used by the Aztecs and Mayans, were not used by the Incas, but they nevertheless adorned themselves with feathers, just as they were in the habit of wearing polished silver or copper bibs. Warriors could also wear jewelry obtained for participating in past battles. For example, it could be fearsome necklaces made from the teeth of enemies, or copper or silver discs on the chest, which were given to them as a reward by their commanders.
Inca warriors. Rice. Angus McBride
In addition to weapons, the troops were centrally supplied with clothing, sandals, llama wool blankets and food such as corn, pepper and coca leaves, which the warriors of the Inca army were obliged to chew on long campaigns and before battle.
Strategy and tactics
The most interesting thing is that the Inca army, in principle, was not armed with any exceptional weapons, compared to the weapons of their neighbors. And they did not shine with any special military art either. Their main strength and main advantage lay not in technological superiority or in more sophisticated tactics than the enemy had, but in organizing their military campaigns. It was customary to send ambassadors to the enemy before the battle, who explained to the leaders of the enemy all the benefits of surrender without a fight, presented them with gifts and promised to give even more if they obey the power of the Incas. In return, it was required to promise devotion to the Supreme Inca, worship the sun god Inti and pay tribute both in the form of goods and in the form of a certain amount of labor. And having weighed all the pros and cons, the opponents of the Incas very often laid down their arms in front of them. And many territories of their vast empire were subordinated in this way, that is, without the slightest bloodshed.
But if it was not possible to persuade the enemy, the Incas tried to suppress him in numbers, destroyed the opposing army without the slightest mercy, and the population of the captured area was deported. That is, the residents of the communities inhabiting this or that area were simply driven hundreds, or even thousands of kilometers from their native places, to where they were surrounded by people who spoke completely different languages. It is clear that they could communicate with them only in the language of the Incas, therefore they very quickly forgot their native language, and being surrounded by "outsiders" they simply could not agree with them about an uprising.
But the battle itself was somewhat reminiscent of the battles of the Aztecs and Mayans, when, before entering the battle, the soldiers of both armies sang war songs and shouted insults to each other, and this "action" could even take several days, because they had nowhere to rush. Only after that did the battle begin. In this case, the attacks, as a rule, were frontal. The Incas always had reserves at hand and, in advance through spies, knowing the number of the enemy, they put them into action at the moment when his forces were running out.
In the attack, the Incas primarily acted with throwing weapons: they threw stones at the enemy from slings and darts with the help of spear throwers. If this did not lead to success, then the infantry in helmets and with shields, armed with spiked clubs, went into the attack, and completed the defeat of the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. If the place of battle was covered with dry grass, and the wind blew towards the enemy, the Incas set it on fire and attacked him under cover of fire. That is, they tried to take advantage of any, even the most insignificant tactical advantage.
Roads and fortresses
As you know, the Incas lived high in the mountains, where it is very difficult to move. How, under these conditions, to tie together the lands of the empire, separated by mountains and gorges? And here's how - to connect it with roads, and in order to control them, build powerful fortresses along the roads. And so the Incas did just that: they built a network of fortresses, connected by an even more extensive road network. Along the roads, post stations were set up, where there were groups of runners, with the help of which the Incas transmitted messages, and warehouses located at such a distance from each other that the troops, without replenishing supplies, needed to walk no more than 20 kilometers. The stocks were regularly replenished by carriers who transported goods on llamas.
Tobacco pipe (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)
To ease the burden on local communities, the Incas, preparing for the campaign, warned them in advance about where their army would move, and the troops moved so that a large number of them would not gather in the same place at the same time. The looting of warriors was punishable by death, so the passage of the Inca troops was not a disaster for the population and did not cause him a negative attitude towards the supreme power.
However, this does not mean that the warriors in the campaigns did not experience any hardships, not to mention the fact that any war in itself is death and suffering. The Inca warriors had to make long marches on mountain roads in any weather, which is not always cloudless in the Andes. To this we must add the lack of oxygen, which, despite the habit, is still felt at high altitudes, especially when moving with a large load. And the Inca warriors had to carry on themselves not only their weapons, but also a supply of food, because sooner or later, but the roads built by the Incas ended, and being in the enemy's territory, they no longer had to rely on warehouses and timely delivery of products. The Incas themselves, considering themselves God's chosen people, did not always pay attention to the warriors from the conquered peoples. It would be more correct to say that they did not pay attention to them at all, considering them only as a tool in achieving their goals and nothing more.
Inca warriors. Rice. Angus McBride.
The Inca fortresses built on the conquered territories were at the same time a guarantee of loyalty, and … a warehouse of food for their troops, if they suddenly needed to suppress an uprising here. Since the Indians did not know explosives and did not use large and heavy projectiles, Inca fortresses were usually simple houses that stood on top of a mountain or hill and surrounded by walls. Sometimes, instead of walls, terraces were erected, and they were also used for agriculture. Special barracks were not provided, as the soldiers spent the night in tents wrapped in woolen blankets. The walls were made of smoothly hewn stones and fitted together very carefully, but no bonding solutions were used. Therefore, the structures of the Incas had excellent earthquake resistance. The walls had steep bends, which made it possible to increase the attacking zones of fire. There could be several gates, and they could have openings offset relative to each other.
Victories and defeats
Naturally, in addition to land increments, the Inca empire also received military booty. Those warriors who showed greater valor in battles than everyone else received awards, which, however, depended not only on their courage, but also on the status they had previously received. The reward could be a piece of land, the right to sit in the presence of the Inca High, positions in the Inca administration, as well as gold and silver jewelry for wearing in the nose and badges, beautiful clothes, captured women, expensive weapons and livestock. The defeated enemies were brought to Cuzco and exposed to the people, sometimes, as during the Roman triumph, they were led with tied hands behind the stretcher of the ruler of the Incas. In general, the Incas did not practice human sacrifice, but this rule was not observed with respect to rebellious enemy leaders. They were publicly killed by sacrifice to the Sun, ornate drinking bowls were made from their skulls, and drums were covered with the skin removed from them. However, the Incas did not destroy alien idols, and also brought them to Cusco, where they kept them in the interests of the conquered population - they say, look, we honor your deities, it's just that our Sun God turned out to be stronger than them!
The battle of the Incas with the Spaniards. Rice. Adam Hook.
The Incas usually did not record their defeats, which, even if they happened, then, given their excellent discipline and the size of the army, were temporary. Another thing is when they met the Spaniards, their cavalry and firearms. However, after their first defeats, the Incas found the strength to resist their invaders for another 50 years. The Spaniards won, of course, but in the end they faced the same problem as the Incas: it was difficult for them to maintain control over the huge empire they had conquered, including hundreds of different cultures and covering many thousands of square kilometers.
