essay

Inca decimal administration in the Lake Titicaca region

Inca and Aztec states, 1400-1800 : anthropology and historyNew YorkPublished In 1982 • Pages: 119-151

By: Julien, Catherine J..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
Catherine Julien argues that the Inka curbed the power of local elites both by reducing their discretionary control over citizen's labor and by replacing possible dissidents. Since even decimal officials were obligated to participate in public works, albeit in inverse proportion to their rank, their relative status was symbolized in other ways. The hierarchical system, effaced heterogeneous regional variation in local leaders' claim to positions and paved the way for an imperial class system. Julien thus emphasizes how decimal administration would have rationalized state control, even in provinces from which populations were not removed by MITIMA assignments to other locations. Although Julien's evidentiary base differs little from that of Pease and Murra, …her analysis differs markedly. Whereas Murra discounts decimal administration because of its scant mention in the VISITAS, Julien stresses indirect evidence for decimal groupings. Whereas Murra emphasizes the ways in which provincial productive activities continued unchanged and whereas Pease sees only a limited surplus flowing to the Inkas, Julien points to the state's permanent expropriation of substantial proportions of provincial labor (p. 119).
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Ethnic stratification
Moieties
Community heads
Territorial hierarchy
Towns
Provinces
External relations
Taxation and public income
Miscellaneous government activities
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Inka
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2005
RegionThe area the document pertains to
South America
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Central Andes
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
essay
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle ; 2003
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
no date
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1532-1600
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Lapaca Province, Lake Titicaca region, Peru
NotesAdditional notes
Catherine J. Julien
Includes bibliographical references (p. 147-151)
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
82006760
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Incas