All language subtitles for Incas.The.Rise.and.Fall.S01E02.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH

[Narrator] The Incas,

an extraordinary civilization.

In just over 100 years,
from the 15th to 16th century,

three all-powerful emperors

built an astonishing empire,

the biggest the Americas
had ever seen.

[Historian 1, dubbed]
The Inca state had a population

of 9 to 12 million people.

[Historian 2, dubbed] They were
highly developed people.

[Narrator] The Incas left
behind monumental

and intricate traces
of their genius.

But the story
of these great people

remains shrouded in mystery.

[Historian 3, dubbed]
One of the big questions

is how such a huge empire
was built

in such a short space of time.

[Narrator] The Incas hand-built
tens of thousands of kilometers

of roads in a matter of years,
connecting new towns

and vast administrative centers
forming a colossal empire

that thrived across the rugged
Andes mountain range.

[Historian 4, dubbed]
To understand the Inca Empire

is to understand one of
the greatest ever empires,

which has almost no equivalent
in the world.

[Narrator] This investigation
brings the imperial capital

of Cusco to life,

the heart of Inca power.

♪ ♪

[Historian 5] Cusco was unique.

The belly button of the world.

[Historian 2] Thanks to all
these new technologies,

we can learn a lot more
about this great empire.

[Narrator] With the help
of archaeologists, historians,

and the Spanish chronicles,

we relive
the extraordinary expansion

of the Empire of the Sun.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Among the Inca Dynasty,

one emperor possessed
a skill set that would make him

into one of the greatest

conquerors in history.

Túpac Yupanqui was
an explorer, architect,

and born leader.

[Alexei Vranich] He was able
to conquer huge areas

in a relatively short
period of time.

[Narrator] In just 30 years, he
provided conquered territories

with all the necessary
infrastructure

to transform them
into an empire.

[César Itier, dubbed]
Túpac Yupanqui was the great

founder of the empire’s
administrative structures.

[Narrator] By the time Túpac

rose to power in 1471,

his father, King Pachacutec,

had already laid

the foundations of the empire.

Known as "the transformer
of the world,"

Pachacutec had shaped the Andes
into a powerful state,

erecting spectacular sites,
such as Machu Picchu.

He had begun to expand
his power beyond Cusco.

And his son had
even bigger ambitions.

[Itier] Under the reign
of Túpac Yupanqui,

the empire reached
a truly remarkable size,

almost as big as when
the Spanish first arrived.

[Narrator] To the north,
Yupanqui integrated people

from modern-day
Ecuador and Colombia.

To the south, where the empire
covered a large part

of modern-day Bolivia
and northern Chile,

he pushed into
northwest Argentina.

Under his reign, the empire

stretched 5,500 kilometers

along the coast
of South America.

How did this story
of Inca conquest unfold

under the reign
of Túpac Yupanqui?

[Itier] The Incas appear
at the gates of the new town

they want to conquer
and issue a kind of ultimatum.

[Narrator] Bow to Inca power,
or risk collapse.

[Itier] If these groups
didn't effectively accept

this immediate
and peaceful integration,

they would be fought, crushed,
possibly exiled,

and perhaps partially massacred.

[Narrator] The Incas' greatest
rivals faced violent defeat.

The Kingdom of Chan Chan,

on the Pacific coast
of northern Peru,

was conquered by the Incas.

Here lie the remains
of the city

founded in the 10th century.

[Feren Castillo Luján, dubbed]
Chan Chan was
a great metropolis,

the first of its kind
in the whole of northern Peru.

It covered more than
70 hectares.

[Narrator] The exceptional city
of Chan Chan

thrived for almost 500 years.

It was the capital
of the Chimú people,

the largest civilization
in the Andes at the time.

They were experts
in many disciplines,

including architecture,
evident in their construction

of the world’s largest
mud-built city.

The structures at Chan Chan

are made of several million
adobe bricks.

A sun-dried mixture
of clay and water,

covered in a layer of mud.

The walls, still standing today
in earthquake-stricken Peru,

are a testament
to their clever design,

wider at the base than the top.

[speaking Spanish]

[Luján] The Chimú people
built trapezoidal walls.

They built with stones
and built the walls

with adobe bricks
and clay mortar.

They constructed
earthquake-proof walls

able to last for many years
without collapsing.

♪ ♪

[Narrator] Inside the buildings,

diamond-shaped cavities are
carved into the structures.

♪ ♪

[Luján] Here we can see a good
example of how the Chimú,

in addition to the being
architects, were great artists.

The way they carved the seabirds
in these walls

shows the great artistic advance
they made in order to capture

the most realistic thing they
could have seen in their time.

[Narrator] These motifs,
inspired by the daily lives

of fishing people,
are well-preserved

thanks to the arid climate
and absence of vegetation.

At its height, Chan Chan
is said to have housed

up to 50,000 inhabitants,

including several thousand
renowned craftspeople.

For 500 years, the Chimú people
made the most

of their agricultural
and maritime resources

thriving throughout their
1,000-kilometer kingdom.

[Luján] At the time, Chimú
society was the most advanced

in every respect--political,
economic and artistic.

But evidently,
this would be interrupted

by the arrival of the conquerors
from Cusco.

[Narrator] More precisely, by
the troops of Túpac Yupanqui.

Now a young Inca prince,

he was eager to demonstrate
his strategy in warfare.

He knew that
this great kingdom,

more developed than the Incas,

had mastered its
desert environment

using incredible
hydraulic engineering,

with reservoirs
still visible today.

[Luján] The Chimú managed
to build reservoirs,

take advantage
of underground water.

As a result, not only did they
have access to drinking water,

but a vital ingredient
to build the walls.

[Narrator] In the 13th century,
the Chimú dug three canals

which diverted part
of the Moche River

located eight kilometers
southeast.

An additional 70-kilometer
canal carried water

from the mountain valleys
in the north.

This sophisticated
hydraulic network allowed

agricultural land around
the town to flourish.

[Luján] The Chimú Kingdom
must be appreciated

as a military
and religious state

that is economically dependent
on its hydraulic engineering.

[Narrator] The young Yupanqui
exploited the weakness

of this desert civilization.

He cut off all the rivers
around Chan Chan.

Now a dried-up kingdom
with no more resources,

Túpac and his warriors
cut off its head,

by capturing the Chimú king.

[Luján] Túpac Yupanqui
kidnaps the Chimú king

and any other elites
in the Inca Empire.

With no more
powerful groups here,

the whole kingdom
automatically collapses.

[Narrator] The Incas
incorporated

this large and rich kingdom
into their empire.

A pivotal moment
in their history.

[Itier]
The capture of Chan Chan,

the capital of the Chinú Empire,
by the Incas

was a crucial moment in
the development of their state.

[Narrator] The Incas would go on
to absorb the knowledge

of this advanced civilization,

excelling in fields like
hydrology and handicraft.

[speaking Spanish]

[Luján] They absorb traditions
like goldsmithing,

which was of great importance.

But they also acquired a huge
amount of agricultural land.

The Chimú had already
built large canals

and large
agricultural frontiers,

which the Incas
took advantage of

to provide a sustainable economy
for their empire.

[Narrator]
With this huge victory,

Túpac Yupanqui inherited
the reins of power

and became the new ruler
of the Inca Empire.

[Narrator] In most cases,
Inca expansion took place

peacefully, without
the need for combat.

People willingly submitted
to the Empire of the Sun.

On the Peruvian coast,
south of Lima,

this sacred site dedicated to
the pre-Inca god Pachacámac

illustrates how the empire
conquered other kingdoms.

Despite its 1,200-year history

and strong religious
and cultural identity,

when Yupanqui arrived
around 1470,

this major site bowed to
Inca rule without resistance.

[speaking Spanish]

[Rommel Angeles Falcón, dubbed]
Towards the end of the empire,

the Incas arrived on pilgrimage
and asked the priests

for permission
to occupy the site.

The priests agreed because this
political project suited them.

[Denise Pozzi-Escot, dubbed]
Thanks to this alliance,

Pachacámac retains
its importance,

which is what the Incas wanted.

It's in their interest
to adopt this god

so that they can seize power
without conflict.

[Narrator] As the Incas
maintained the worship

of god Pachacámac
within their religion,

they used the site
to attract and persuade

more people to join the empire.

[Falcón] The other thing they
did to conquer this territory

was to offer gold, silver,
women, or labor.

They also improved
the buildings,

all to gain their trust.

[Vranich] You can’t form
an empire just by force.

You need ideology.

Combine that with festivals

where there's actual
tangible benefits

such as clothing, artifacts,
and corn beer,

and you have the recipe
for imperial expansion.

[Narrator] In 1471, after
the death of his father,

Yupanqui had to establish
his own legacy.

He continued
to transform Machu Picchu,

high in the Andes Mountains.

[speaking Spanish]

[Julio Córdova Valer, dubbed]
Machu Picchu was used to control

everything that entered
and left the area.

It was close to both
the mountains and the jungle,

so it was perfect
for controlling the food

coming in from the north
and the south.

[Narrator] But it wasn't
at Machu Picchu

that the new emperor
solidified his power.

It was 100 kilometers away,
in Cusco,

where he built his new palace.

[Vranich] Cusco is
the axis mundi,

or the belly button
of the world.

It was the center of political
power, administrative power.

All the resources flowed
in this direction,

and whoever controlled Cusco
controlled the empire.

[Narrator] At this time,
the Cusco valley had

around 100,000 inhabitants,

and a large network of stone
terraces dedicated to farming.

But the city plan follows the
contours of a sacred symbol.

Viewed from above,
the shape of a puma emerges,

representing
strength and wisdom.

The upper part of the city
belonged to the elite,

with the lower part housing the
spiritual center of the empire,

the Temple of the Sun.

The city also has
four quarters,

representing the four major
regions of the Inca Empire.

♪ ♪

Everything in the city
was built to inspire

power and might.

In Cusco,
the heart of power pulsed

from the large
rectangular plaza,

a hallmark
of the Sons of the Sun.

[Vranich] We have this
large plaza here

which would have been double
the size back in the day.

This was considered
the center of the universe.

This was a very dynamic place,

both when it comes
to administering

very basic logistics
of an empire,

but also all the political
theater that went along.

[Itier] It's also the place
where they celebrate festivals,

parties that consist of drinking
corn beer, banqueting,

dancing, and always singing.

[Vranich] We would've had
incredible rituals

with thousands of people coming
in from all over the empire.

[Narrator] Because the plaza,
and the center of Cusco,

was reserved for the elites.

[Vranich] This area,
which is relatively small,

this was the center
of the empire.

This is where all the important
people lived.

On the outside, we would have
had the villages of the people

that worked for the empire,
and they would have lived there.

During the daytime they would
have walked into the city

to do their work.

At nighttime, they weren’t
allowed to be there;

they would have returned
to their villages.

[Narrator] As only the rulers
of the empire and a few nobles

were permitted to live
in the heart of the city,

royal palaces dominate Cusco.

[Vranich] It's a little bit
different from what we consider

another normal European city,
for example.

A lot of Cusco was based
on the palaces of the Incas.

When a new emperor came,

he had to push aside
other dead emperors,

political party, to try
to make space for himself.

[Narrator] During
Túpac Yupanqui's reign,

his palace was the nerve center
of the empire.

But how could he rule over
such a large number of people

across the four corners
of his territory?

The imperial government relied
on a myriad of civil servants,

local chiefs called curacas.

[Itier] It's the Inca state
that allocates the people

plots of land to cultivate

and determines
that the population

will have to work their land
at certain times of the year.

It’s the Inca state that
assigns them servants.

There are caracas leaders who
govern groups of 10 households,

100 households,
1,000 households,

and even some who oversee
10,000 households.

[Narrator] Emperor Yupanqui
set up an immense network

of administrative centers
across his territory.

[speaking Spanish]

[Falcón] The idea is to create
a new Cusco

in each conquered territory.

The Inca Empire transformed
existing sites

or created new cities.

[Narrator] Pachacámac is one
of the pre-Inca sites

that was transformed into
a new city after its conquest.

[Pozzi-Escot]
It's a strategic location,

because we're by the sea,
which means we have access

to all the maritime products,

the fishing and the islands
are here.

[Narrator] The city was
remodeled to possess

all the dominant features
of an Inca city.

In total, around 50
economic, administrative

and religious structures
typical of the Sons of the Sun

were erected here,

including
the Palace of the Curaca,

the chief who ruled
the district of Pachacámac.

As well as managing offerings,
the curaca recorded the flow

of the people and goods
to the empire.

[speaking Spanish]

[Falcón] This tank was used to
store cereals, perhaps textiles,

espadrilles, or shoes, blankets,

lots of different equipment.

[Narrator] The ability to store
equipment and food

was a major priority
for the Incas.

It was vital in
protecting themselves

against periods of drought
or other disasters.

In total, the Incas ruled
over around 80 districts.

These secondary urban centers
were ancient cities

such as Pachacámac,

but also brand new cities,

like Huanuco Pampa,
in the heart of Peru.

Huanuco Pampa was
a typical Inca city,

copied and pasted from Cusco.

Buildings were arranged

following the same model
as the capital.

A royal zone dedicated
to the emperor,

a district grouping together

craftspeople
and their products,

and around the central plaza
and its sacred platform,

lay the city’s administrative
structures, the kallankas.

[Alex Usca Baca] The kallanka
are very large rooms

that used to house
a lot of people.

[Narrator] These are the largest
Inca stone buildings,

ranging in length
from 40 to 105 meters.

To cover the kallankas,

Inca builders fixed a wooden
framework and thatched roof.

[Nino Del Solare Velarde,
dubbed] The construction of

cities that replicated Cusco
wasn’t improvised.

They were planned using models.

We're talking about architects,
engineers and other specialists

who standardized
and made it possible

to develop these new towns.

[Narrator] How were the empire's
cities, temples,

and administrative centers
linked across an expanse

of over 5,000 kilometers,

five times the length
of the United Kingdom?

The answer lies in overcoming
the Incas' greatest challenge:

transport.

[Narrator] In a land of towering
peaks, endless deserts,

and rugged terrain,

the development of
a new infrastructure

made such travel possible.

[Itier] The first connective
infrastructure developed

by the Incas was the roads.

This Inca road network
was so important,

because there were no animals
that could pull carts.

Without the wheel, all
the transportation was on foot.

[Narrator] The Inca Empire
constructed an immense network

of 40,000 kilometers of roads,

all radiating from
the sacred city of Cusco.

Two primary routes

span the empire,

one through the Andes

and the other along
the Pacific coast.

These two main routes
are connected

by a series of smaller roads.

This network expanded with
each new conquered territory.

[Marcela Sepulveda, dubbed]
Parts of the roads

on the Inca Trail are still
visible in some places.

[Narrator] This giant network
is known as Qhapak Nan,

the Inca Trail.

Winding through the Andes,
sections of ancient path

and cobbled steps emerge
from the mountainside.

[Sepulveda] This enormous
network of Inca roads

is the backbone of the conquest.

It symbolizes the power
of the Inca

throughout their immense empire.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[Narrator]
In addition to the roads

that dominate the landscape,

the People of the Sun
created an elaborate system

to circulate information:

royal messengers.

[Itier] In an extremely short
space of time,

information traveled
from Cusco to Quito,

which is several thousand
kilometers away.

And I think that speed
of circulation of information

in an ancient state is
quite unique and exceptional.

[Narrator] The messengers of the
empire, known as the chasquis,

took turns to travel

over the 40,000-kilometer
network of roads.

Messages were relayed
in small stone buildings,

positioned
throughout the empire.

And as well as news, the system
was also used to send goods.

[Pozzi-Escot] For example,
the Inca would receive

a fresh fish in Cusco.

The chasquis would collect
the fish from the coast

and bring it back to Cusco

via these relayed posts
located at strategic points.

Thanks to this, goods flowed
smoothly throughout the empire.

[Narrator] To make this royal
messaging system viable,

the People of the Sun had
to overcome harsh terrain,

including great rivers and deep
gorges that cross Latin America

from the Andes
to the Pacific coast.

How did the Incas
overcome this?

A few hours' drive from Cusco,
3,700 meters above sea level,

flows the breathtaking
Apurimac River.

A carefully constructed Inca
bridge crosses the precipice.

At 500 years old,
it is a surviving relic

of Inca knowledge
and engineering.

This 35-meter-long bridge,
which overlooks

the canyon below, is made
from dried grasses.

For the past five centuries,
local communities

have rebuilt it using
the exact same methods.

[Baca] Before the second
Sunday in June,

four communities start
collecting plant fibers,

known as icchu.

Then at home, they weave them.

Almost every family in the four
communities has to weave them

to complete the renovation
of the Q'eswachaka Bridge.

[Narrator] The dried strands
of this hardy grass,

abundant in the Andes,

are crushed and softened

before being assembled;

the same skillful technique
used by the Incas.

To make the rope bridge,

the dried grass fibers are
woven together into fine cords.

Cords are tightly wound
to form thick ropes.

♪ ♪

And ropes are braided
to form a solid, thick cable.

♪ ♪

The cables are then stretched
over stone structures

on either side
of the river banks,

with each cable supporting
over two tons of weight.

Today, only one bridge remains,

but 500 years ago, they would
have been commonplace

across the Inca road network,

with tens of thousands
of craftspeople

required to construct them.

[Baca] Let's not forget
that the power of the empire

was made possible by the immense
labor used by the Incas

to build administrative centers,

build complexes,
and build roads.

In fact, here in Q'eswachaka,
a huge number of people

were involved in
building this bridge.

[Narrator] So how was the empire
able to mobilize

thousands of workers needed
for these large-scale projects?

They introduced a clever system
that required

the entire population
to contribute to work,

called the mita.

[Baca] The mita was a system
of compulsory labor

set up to develop
the Inca state.

[Falcón] That means,
for example, building a road,

building a bridge, building
an administrative center,

building a large plaza.

[Narrator] But how was this
compulsory work

imposed on the population?

[Itier] What fundamentally
legitimizes unpaid labor

is the peace that
the state brings,

which didn't exist
in the previous era

when villages were in constant
conflict with each other.

And it’s this peace that the
Inca state constantly advocates.

We pacify the world,
we've enabled people

to corporate and be productive,

and in exchange for that,
you have to work for us.

[Baca] There are two
fundamental principles

in the economic organization
of the state--

reciprocity and redistribution.

I help you, you help me.

You give to me, I give to you.

[Narrator] So it was thanks
to compulsory labor

that Túpac Yupanqui
was able to mobilize

a huge workforce
throughout his empire.

[Itier] In Andean societies,
work has always been

highly valued,
and laziness is regarded

as a terrible flaw,
even up until today.

The great wealth of
the Inca Empire was labor,

the state’s remarkable ability
to mobilize workers.

[Sepulveda] In essence, the Inca
conquest was a masterful system

designed to acquire
and control everything

that could be valuable
and useful to the empire.

[Narrator] In such a large
and sophisticated labor system,

how did the Incas accurately
track the work

of each individual?

How was land measured
and shared out?

And how were buildings
standardized?

[Narrator] To uncover the
mystery of Inca measurement,

you have to travel
eight kilometers

from Machu Picchu,
to the peaks of the Andes.

[Dominika Sieczkowska]
Chachabamba is
very special place,

because it was a stopping point

between the Cusco
and Machu Picchu.

[Narrator] Photogrammetric
analysis of this

sacred bathing site
has revealed clues

of the Incas’
calibration methods.

♪ ♪

[Sieczkowska] We found out that

the certain architectural
elements like niches

were erected using the same
unit of measurement,

both here and
in Machu Picchu, too.

During the Inca times, all
the measurements that we know

are made on the human body.

So, the basic one here
in Chachabamba would be

this distance,
but at the same time,

the quarter part of this
would be the distance

between these two fingers,
so it would be like this.

So we can measure that there
are like four parts the same.

So basically using
the elbow, hand,

Incas measure the distance

when they were erecting
archeological sites.

It's a very natural
and normal way,

and basically utmost obvious to
apply this kind of measurement,

because everyone here
during the Inca societies

had similar hand, foot,
et cetera.

We can say that the Incas had
standardized system of metrics.

We can assume that
there were certain people

that were very, very specialized

in doing
the architectural elements,

ceremonial sectors that
were pretty well equipped.

[Narrator] The Inca architects'
mastery of measurement

is reflected in the geometry
of their buildings,

whether at Machu Picchu

or on the streets of Cusco.

[Sieczkowska] Basically
with all the studies,

we found out that the Inca
measured everything,

both architecture,
but also the land,

the distance between
one element or another.

And they were very precise
in organizing the space

and the place where they lived.

[Narrator] This skill enabled
them to reproduce

the same type of building

in an almost industrialized way
throughout the empire.

Because the Incas had
invented a building

that could be
infinitely replicated.

A construction block
that could be deployed

in new territories easily,
and above all, quickly.

[Vranich] For the Inca,
the basic block of construction

is the kancha.

[Narrator] The kancha serves
as a framework for houses,

palaces and even temples.

♪ ♪

A large rectangular enclosure
with several courtyards

and thatch-roofed
buildings inside.

[Vranich] So this
really demonstrates

an idea of urban planning
that doesn't exist

in other parts of the continent.

[Pozzi-Escot] The Inca sites
follow a pattern

that is repeated everywhere,

which clearly
demonstrates control.

They imposed a whole system of
control throughout the empire.

[Narrator] To control more than
just structures in the empire,

the Incas kept detailed records
of livestock, harvests,

and workforce with an
incredible accounting system.

Knotted cords, found across
multiple archaeological sites,

form the secret code
of the Incas.

[Giannina Bardales Aranibar,
dubbed] We are looking at

an Inca khipu.

Although it looks like
an ornament or even a necklace,

it is in fact an object that
was used to record information.

[Narrator] Khipus are
a sophisticated

management system.

They are woolen or cotton
threads with several knots

at different levels,
in different sizes and colors.

[Aranibar] In this case,
the knots represent quantities.

They use a decimal system that
goes from units, tens, hundreds,

and can reach thousands,
even tens of thousands.

They use knots from one to nine.

If there are only
six knots in a rope,

it means that six units
have been recorded.

But in some rope, we can see
that there are knots

at different level.

We know that the lowest knot
always represents the units.

If we have three knots here,
two knots further up,

and one knot at the top,

this means that
the number 123 is involved.

[Narrator] Specialists, like
Giannina, are able to decipher

this counting system,

but they don’t yet understand
the full picture.

[Aranibar] We aren't yet
in a position to know

exactly what is being recorded.

We only understand
the quantities.

We can count the knots and know
that, for example, here

there are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,

there are 17 of them.

The number recorded is 17, but
of what exactly, we don’t know.

[Narrator] The only certainty
is that the khipus were key

to the management
of the empire.

[Aranibar] We are faced
with a complex system

for recording information,

but can be compared to what
we do today via spreadsheet.

The khipus record
all this information,

which is essential
for maintaining

the political and economic
organization of the empire.

[Falcón] There are
accounting khipu,

but there are also
narrative khipu.

[Narrator] Incredible
as it may sound,

these cords were also used
to record stories.

[speaking Spanish]

[Falcón] Narrative khipu provide
information on genealogies

to tell stories,
myths or traditions.

But this type of khipu
was rarer.

It was mainly used
by the elites.

[Narrator] In particular,
to record the lives

of the emperors.

[Narrator] For a long time,
archaeologists and historians

have wondered
about the creation

of the roads, canals
and districts.

How did the Incas
achieve this feat,

designing monumental
infrastructure across the Andes

and Pacific coast
in such a short space of time?

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A few kilometers from Cusco,

the Pikillacta site
lifts the veil

on the Incas’ secret weapon.

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[Velarde] The architecture
is monumental.

We have over 700 structures.

So we have a set
of characteristics

that make us think of
a fairly complex society.

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[Narrator]
With its rectangular plazas,

narrow streets,

stone walls,

and trapezoidal shapes,

Pikillacta has the hallmarks
of an Inca city.

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[Velarde] You get the impression
you're on an Inca site,

but it’s not.

The archaeological excavations
of the early 1950s identified

that although the architecture
was quite similar

because of these right angles,

the orthogonality, the presence
of roads, there was a problem.

It’s not an Inca city.
It's a much older city.

It’s a Wari city
from the Wari Empire.

[Narrator] Without
the Wari people,

the Inca civilization might
never have existed.

From infrastructure and
agricultural techniques,

to political organization,
the Wari's vast influence

on the Sons of the Sun
is evident.

Between the 6th
and 11th century,

the Wari people's empire
stretched across northern Peru

and the Andres all the way
to the Pacific coast.

[Itier] The Wari Empire's
main city was 30 kilometers

from Cusco in the ancestral
land of the Incas.

The Wari people and
the Incas' ancestors

were close collaborators,

incorporated in building
and producing.

We can assume that
some Wari politics

were passed on to the Incas,

even if it wasn't until
200 years after the collapse

of the Wari that the Incas
began to forge their state.

There is a transfer of
knowledge between the two.

[Velarde] The Wari laid
the foundations

of what would become
the Inca Empire.

The creation of the Inca road
network called the Qhapaq Nan

had its origins in Wari.

Inca engineering also comes
from the Wari period.

[Narrator] Many engineering
feats attributed to the Incas

were in fact invented
by the Wari,

including some
of the most iconic.

[Itier] The khipus that were
so important and indispensable

in the administration
of the Inca Empire

were originally an invention
of the Wari state.

[Pozzi-Escot] The Inca Empire
is the product

of a series of past knowledge.

For example, we know that
at the time of the Wari,

there were already
administrative centers

and important cities.

[Narrator]
Administration, roads,

technology, tools.

The Incas did not
write their history

from a blank sheet of paper.

They harvested this knowledge
from seeds planted and grown

centuries before them.

[Velarde] The genius
of the Incas was to know

how to utilize their ancestors.

The Incas are in fact
the culmination

of a long and great history
in Andean Peru.

[Narrator] Many civilizations
predating the Incas

have remained hidden
in their shadow.

At the end of the 15th century,
Túpac Yupanqui died.

But he would remain remembered
as the greatest Inca conqueror.

His empire extended
thousands of kilometers,

his administration
was powerful,

and he amassed
considerable wealth.

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Yupanqui elevated his
vast empire to its peak.

But his descendants
would be left vulnerable.

By the early 16th century,

the Sons of the Sun ruled over
almost 10 million people.

Despite different cultures and
languages in their territory,

the Incas administered
and fed their people,

extracted wealth

and enriched the empire.

After a meteoric expansion,

the golden age of the Empire
of the Sun would begin.

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