Introduction - Adventure Guide to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands - page 7

Inca-Ecuadorian Society
Though short-lived in Ecuador, the Inca Empire - particu-
larly duringHuayna-Capac's rule - had a profound effect on
the Andean community and structure of life. The two cul-
tures were relatively compatible, as Huayna Capac, who
was fond of Quito, ruled with strength and reported wis-
dom. Traditional subsistence farming was complemented
by agricultural advances from farther south near the capi-
tal of Cuzco, including new crops, expanded irrigation and
the use of domesticated llamas. The people continued to use
the land communally, with private allotments for family
consumption. Under the Incas, however, the emperor
“owned” the land by divine right and took homage and a
portion of proceeds, mainly to support the largest army in
the Americas and to provide personal comforts. Any resis-
tance resulted in entire community displacement, and local
inhabitants were sometimes relocated to far away lands in
the empire and replaced primarily by Quichua-speaking
groups from near Cuzco. This culture became the founda-
tion for modern Ecuador's largest indigenous language
group, the Quichua , who range from the Andes to the up-
per Amazon.
The Incas eventually subdued the resistant Quitucara and sacked
Quito in 1492, although a peaceful alliance did not occur until
Huayna-Capac married the daughter of the captured Quitu leader.
Their son in Quito was Atahualpa . Huayna-Capac had another son,
named Huascar , previously born of an Inca princess in the capital of
Cuzco (and “rightful” heir to the empire). By now the Inca Empire in-
cluded the Andean portion of Ecuador in what was known as
Tawantinsuyu. Time was running out, though, even for the powerful
Incas. According to the first Spanish historian, Father Bernabe Cobo,
Huayna-Capac knew ahead of time that the ferocious Spaniards had
“traveled across the sea in large wooden houses” and that they were
on their way. But the Spanish sent messengers of death ahead of
them in the formof smallpox andmeasles, andwiped out a significant
number of native and Inca peoples, including Huayna-Capac. When
he died around 1526, he left the empire to his sons, Huascar in the
south and Atahualpa in the north. This division became a catalyst for
the fall of the Inca Empire.