Original subtitles

[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.

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♪ ♪

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.

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[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.

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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.

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[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.

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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.

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[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?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

A few kilometers from Cusco,

the Pikillacta site lifts the veil

on the Incas’ secret weapon.

♪ ♪

[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.

♪ ♪

[Narrator] With its rectangular plazas,

narrow streets,

stone walls,

and trapezoidal shapes,

Pikillacta has the hallmarks of an Inca city.

♪ ♪

[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.

♪ ♪

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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