War and a Semblance of Peace in the Inca Heartland

achieving present and future victories. Indeed, it is the development of ritual
practices and institutions that is most notable when the Incas tell us
something about warfare.
We can learn something about the nature of disputes before the Inca
expansion but little about the conduct of war. There were disputes over minor
matters like gathering kindling on someone else’s land; raids for movable
property and women; serious attempts to remove people from their landsprompting
the residents to flee or face decimation -and there were campaigns
to force people into alliance with more powerful groups, perhaps for common
defense. There may have been rules of engagement -for example, fighting may
have only taken place during the daylight hours, given what Betanzos tells us
about Inca battles. We learn more about leadership. Perhaps the most
important thing we learn is that cinchecona status was not hereditary,
although there was some expectation of its transmission down the
generations. Cinchecona status was a practical matter that had to be
demonstrated in armed engagements.
Although the witnesses did not compare cinchecona and capac status, we
can. The Incas claimed capac status and tell us that there were others in the
Andes who made similar claims. Capac status appears to have been linked
with a solar supernatural and was calculated genealogically. Not only the
person who proved that they were capac by emerging victorious on the
battlefield, but a whole group of people had a vested interest in maintaining
and preserving this status. Warfare was a test of capac status, so a large
investment was made in obtaining victories. The Incas must have shown
prowess during engagements with those who decided to fight them -though
we can find very little in the written sources about skill or ferocity (except at
times when the ferocity of women is mentioned). What we learn about is the
invention of ritual displays. The Incas -like the Chancas before them- used a
certain marching formation that represented the march of the sun across the
sky. Presumably, this movement reflected the claim to some kind of
genealogical tie to this supernatural. A victory -and their army had to be
victorious- allowed them an opportunity to create a performance that would
again reflect their capac status. The Sangaguaci, or place where prisoners
were fed to wild animals, and the Llaxahuaci, or place where war trophies
were displayed, were reminders to the important elites who visited Cuzco of
the demonstrations of capac status. Other memorials were left at battle sites
for the same purpose. Like the Chanca lord who was delighted when
presented with the opportunity for an easy victory, the Incas needed to fight
and win, but an easy victory was a great gift, because a lot was lost if an army
suffered defeat. The Incas needed to fight and win -on occasion. Peaceful
submission and the subsequent enlargement of the Inca army, was also a
great gift. While we cannot say how frequent the choice between war and
peace was offered before the time of the Inca expansion, we can be more
certain that this choice was a fundamental part of the Inca conquest. Peace,
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