The Foundation of the Inca Civilization: Religion

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Religion is the belief or worship of a higher power such as many or one god. Religion is the foundation of the world. Without religion, a person or group may not convey to others how he or she lives his or her life because religion helps people on the outside looking in understand the way an individual lives and how he or she believes in life. The Inca civilization is an example of how religion gave a group of people an identity. Inca culture evolved from the various Andean cultures that are traced back to twenty thousand years previously. The Valdivia and Chavín are known to provide the foundation of the Inca religious system, which was created under the authority of the Incan leader Túpac yupanqui, or under his predecessor Inca Pachacuti. The empire of the Inca expanded from its capital city Cusco to territory that had other cultures living under. The Inca took over those cultures and established the religious system (Littel 246-247). Temples to accommodate the sun god, Inti and temples parallel to the Great Temple in Cusco developed over time. The conquered kept the existent faith but had to accept the Inca religious system and give respect to the Inca and their gods.

In late 1528, the Inca Empire came under the authority of Huayna Capac. When he died, his two sons, Huáscar and Atahualpa fought over who had control over the empire. The civil war lasted until 1532 and Atahualpa won the war. As, the empire fell to ruins, Francisco Pizarro arrived and defeated the rest of weakened Inca military. Following the conquest, the Inca suffered from a population decline due to European diseases and war deaths. Those who remained alive where enslaved (Littel 463). Christianity evolved within the conquered Inca culture and various the...

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...0 years ago.” www.Express.co.uk. North and Shell Media Publications, 31 July 2013. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. . (Carpenter #)

Corrick, James A. Lost Civilizations: The Inca. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, Inc, 2001. Print. (Corrick #)

Littel, Mcdougal. World History: Patterns of Interaction. N.p.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006. Print. (Littel #)

“Modern Peru.” National Geographic. Ed. National Geographic Society. N.p., 1996. Web. 30

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“Rediscovering Machu Pichu.” National Geographic. Ed. National Geographic Society. National Geographic, 2014. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. . (Rediscovering #)

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