Why was the mita system important to the Inca Empire

In the Inca economy there was no large scale trade within its borders. Barter was done among individuals.

The Incas had a centrally planned economy, perhaps the most successful ever seen. Its success was in the efficient management of labor and the administration of resources they collected as tribute. Collective labor was the base for economic productivity and for the creation of social wealth in the Inca society. By working together people in the ayllu (the center of economic productivity) created such wealth that the Spanish were astonished with what they encountered. Every citizen was required to contribute with his labor and refusal or laziness was punishable with the death penalty. Labor was divided according to region, agriculture would be centralized in the most productive regions, ceramic production, road building, textile and other skills according to ayllus. The government collected all the surplus after local needs were met and distributed it where it was needed. In exchange for their work citizens had free clothing, food, health care and education.

The Incas did not use money, in fact they did not need it. Their economy was so efficiently planned that every citizen had their basic needs met. Economic exchanges were made using the barter system by which people traded with each other for things they needed. Archaeologists believe that there was no trading class in the Inca society. However there was external trading in small scale with tribes outside the empire mostly from the Amazon.

Agriculture played an important role in the Inca economy.

The Incas created the most successful centrally planned economy that contributed to the creation of social wealth in Inca society. The ayllu was at the center of the Inca Empire economic success. Ayllus were composed of families that lived near each other in the same village or settlement. Ayllus also provided social cohesion as people who were born in one ayllu also married within the ayllu.  Each ayllu specialized in the production of certain products depending on its location. Agricultural ayllus were located close to fertile land and produced crops that would be optimized for the type of soil. Their output would be given to the state which in turn would redistribute it to other locations where the product was not available. Surplus would be kept in collcas, storage houses along the roads and near population centers.

Other ayllus would specialize in producing pottery, clothing or jewelry; skills were transferred from generation to generation within the same ayllu. Ayllus produced virtually anything necessary for everyday living which will be distributed by the state to other ayllus. The abundance and diversity of resources and its availability during bad crops and war made the population loyal to the local government and to the Sapa Inca..

Collective labor and taxes

Workers collecting potatoes as part of their tax labor or mita.

There were three ways in which collective labor was organized:

The first one was the ayni to help a member of the community who was in need. Helping build a house or help a sick member of the community are examples of ayni.

The second was the minka or team work for the benefit of the whole community. Examples of minka are building agricultural terraces and cleaning the irrigation canals.

The third one was the mita or the tax paid to the Inca. Since there was no currency taxes were paid with crops, cattle, textile and specially with work. Mita laborers served as soldiers, farmers, messengers, road builders, or whatever needed to be done. It was a rotational and temporary service that each member of the ayllu was required to meet. They built temples and palaces, canals for irrigation, agricultural terraces, roads, bridges and tunnels; and all without the technological assistance of the wheel. This system was a balanced system of give and take. In exchange the government would provide food, clothing and medication. This system allowed the empire to have all the necessary produce available for redistribution according to necessity and local interests..

Quipus

Quipu was used by Incas as an accounting system

The Incas and their predecessor did not develop a writing system, however they created the quipu to keep track of transactions. The Quipu or Khipu were fringes of color strings attached to a horizontal string and made of cotton or llama wool. The hanging strings would contain knots which carried a meaning. There were different types of knots such as the single, figure eight and the four turn long knot. The position in which the knots were tied, the sequence of the knots and the color of the string had a particular meaning.

The Incas used the quipu as an accounting system to record taxes, keep track of livestock, measure parcels of land, recording census, as a calendar, keep track of weather and many other uses.

The largest quipu has 1,500 strings. The oldest quipu found was in the Sacred Cit of Caral Supe and dates from around 2500 BC..

The tenure of land

Land was distributed according to family size.

The use of the land was a right that individuals had as members of the ayllu. The curaca, as the representative of the ayllu, redistributed the land to each member according to the size of their families. The dimensions of the land varied according to its agricultural quality and it was measured in tupus, a local measurement unit. A married couple would get one and a half tupus, for each male child the couple received one tupu and for each female half a tupu. When the son or daughter started their own family each additional tupu was taken away and given to the new family. Each family worked their land but they did not own it, the Inca estate was the rightful owner. The land was used to provide subsistence food for the family.

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Tags: agricultural terraces, andenes, Andes, archeology peru, ayni, canals, collective labor, curaca, Cusco, economy, Inca civilization, inca culture, Inca empire, Inca society, incas, minka, mita, peru inca, quipu

Learning Objective

• Understand the importance of the governing bodies, road system, recording tools, and social hierarchy of the Inca Empire

Key Points

• The Inca Empire utilized a complex road system with about 25,000 miles of roads that relayed messages and goods throughout the society.
• Inca administrators used brightly colored knotted strings called quipus to keep precise records of labor, taxes, and goods.
• The Inca had no written legal code, but relied on magistrates and inspectors to keep people in line with established social customs.

Brightly colored knotted strings that recorded numerical information, such as taxes, goods, and labor, using the base number of 10 to record data in knots.

suyus

Distinct districts of the Inca Empire that all reported back to the capital of Cusco. There were four major districts during the height of the empire.

ayllu

A clan-like family unit based upon a common ancestor.

The Inca Empire was a hierarchical system with the emperor, or Inca Sapa, ruling over the rest of society. A number of religious officials and magistrates oversaw the administration of the empire directly below the emperor. Kurakas were magistrates that served as the head of an ayllu, or clan-like family unit based on a common ancestor. These leaders mitigated between the spiritual and physical worlds. They also collected taxes, oversaw the day-to-day administration of the empire in their regions, and even chose brides for men in their communities. Some of the privileges kurakas enjoyed included exemption from taxation, the right to ride in a litter, and the freedom to practice polygamy.

Society was broken into two distinct parts. One segment was comprised of the common people, including those cultures that had been subsumed by the Inca Empire. The second group was made up of the elite of the empire, including the emperor and the kurakas, along with various other dignitaries and blood relations. Education was vocationally based for commoners, while the elite received a formal spiritual education.

There was no codified legal system for people that broke with the cultural and social norms. Local inspectors called okoyrikoq, or “he who sees all,” reported back to the capital and the emperor and made immediate decisions regarding punishment in cases where customs were not honored. Many times these local inspectors were blood relatives of the emperor.

Road System

The Inca civilization was able to keep populations in line, collect taxes efficiently, and move goods, messages, and military resources across such a varied landscape because of the complex road system. Measuring about 24,800 miles long, this road system connected the the regions of the empire and was the most complex and lengthy road system in South America at the time. Two main routes connected the north and the south of the empire, with many smaller branches extending to outposts to the east and west. The roads varied in width and style because often the Inca leaders utilized roads that already existed to create this powerful network. Common people could not use these official roads unless they were given permission by the government.

These roads were used for relaying messages by way of chasqui, or human runners, who could run up to 150 miles a day with messages for officials. Llamas and alpacas were also used to distribute goods throughout the empire and ease trade relations. The roads also had a ritual purpose because they allowed the highest leaders of the Inca Empire to ascend into the Andes to perform religious rituals in sacred spaces, such as Machu Picchu.

Chasqui carrying a quipu on official state business. Chasquis were highly agile long-distance runners who used the complex road systems to relay messages and goods between cities. 

Record Keeping

The Inca utilized a complex recording system to keep track of the administration of the empire. Quipus (also spelled khipus) were colorful bunches of knotted strings that recorded census data, taxes, calendrical information, military organization, and accounting information. These “talking knots” could contain anything from a few threads to around 2,000, and used the base number of 10 to record information in complex variations of knots and spaces.

Inca quipu. These complex recording devices allowed officials to keep track of taxes, labor, and goods in a precise fashion.

The Spanish burned the vast majority of existing quipus when they arrived in South America. However, there is some evidence to suggest that these tools were also used to record stories and language for posterity, and were not only numerical recording devices.

Trade and Economics

Trade and the movement of goods fed into what is called the vertical archipelago. This system meant that all goods produced within the empire were immediately property of the ruling elites. These elites, such as the emperor and governors, then redistributed resources across the empire as they saw fit.

Taxes and goods were collected from four distinct suyus, or districts, and sent directly to the ruling emperor in Cusco. This highly organized system was most likely perfected under the emperor Pachacuti around 1460.

The Four suyus of the Inca Empire. The economic system linked together four large suyus, or districts, that all reported back to the capital of Cusco.  

This system also required a minimum quota of manual labor from the general population. This form of labor taxation was called mita. The populations of each district were expected to contribute to the wealth of the empire by mining, farming, or doing other manual labor that would benefit the entire empire. Precious metals, textiles, and crops were collected and redistributed using the the road system that snaked across the land, from the ocean to the Andes.