Book

Information concerning the religion and government of the Incas

[s.n.]3 • Published In 1916 • Pages: HRAF MS: ii, 211 [Original: xxxvi, 212 ]

By: Polo de Ondegardo, d. 1575, Urteaga, Horacio H., b. 1877, Romero, Carlos Alberto, Hoyo, Juan Josef del., Brunel, Ariane, Murra, John, Muirden, Sidney.

Abstract
This document is concerned primarily with various forms of taxation and tribute in existence during pre-Spanish days in the Inka empire and the adaptation and reapplication of this basic system during the subsequent Soanish administration. The author, a member of the Spanish judicial administration, was requested by the king of Spain to undertake a study of the customs and traditions of the Inka people so as to form a basic matrix into which the new laws and regulations of the colonial government in addition to the religious doctrines of the Catholicism of the Spanish missionaries could be best fit with the least disruption to the existing religious, economic and political systems of the Inka empire. The results of his investigations appear as the content of this source, which in addition to the primary point of focus mentioned above also contains some limited information on precontact culture history and foreign relations of the Inka, religion and religious personnel, the calendar and associated ceremonials, sorcery, fortunetelling and soothsaying, and the special treatment afforded the dead Inka rulers. The political organization of the Inka empire, as presented in this work, is very difficult to understand, probably due in part to the stylistic difficulties in translating the rather archaic Spanish of the original book into modern English. The researcher is therefore referred to other sources in this file for a more concise picture of the political system. At the end of the source, pp. 196-211, there are two appendices (A and B) which are arranged to correspond to the chapters of the main body of the text. These chapters contain a wealth of information in the form of numbered notes amplifying various aspects of Inka ethnography mentioned in the text.
Subjects
Traditional history
Domesticated animals
Woven and other interworked fabrics
Real property
Highways and bridges
Chief executive
External relations
Taxation and public income
Spirits and gods
Prayers and sacrifices
Organized ceremonial
Ordering of time
Ethnometeorology
culture
Inka
HRAF PubDate
2005
Region
South America
Sub Region
Central Andes
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Creator Type
Judicial Personnel
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
John Beierle ; 1966
Field Date
ca. 1545
Coverage Date
1200-1600
Coverage Place
Peru
Notes
Juan Polo de Ondegardo
Translation of: [Informaciones accrea de la religión y gobierno de los Incas]
Translated for the HRAF files by A. Brunel, John Murra, and Sidney Muirden
LCCN
18009401
LCSH
Incas