What Role Did The Kurakas Play In The Inca Empire

Early civilizations such as the Inca Empire played an immense role in shaping the world with its ingenious survival techniques and most importantly its people. One of the most important and crucial group of the Inca’s were the kurakas. Before the Spanish conquest, the kurakas played a vital role in their communities. They were in charge of their lineages, or ayllus. In andean society, these ayllus were viewed as the basic political and productive unit (Spalding, 28). Thus, being the leader of each lineage meant having great power and respect. The kuraka's position entailed supervising the lands, receiving the tribute from his ayllu and passing it on to the king, and paying tribute to the wak'as or deities. The general consensus was that these

This latter group had lost much of the respect from its people due to their new relations with the Spaniards. In fact, the reason many rebellions were defeated was due to the infidelity of the kurakas whom would disclose of any information to the Spaniards. These kurakas would go on to retain their offices after Tupac Amaru’s rebellion as long as they continued to follow the Spanish rule. As for the kurakas who were involved in the rebellion, their fate would be much

His goal was to not only end exorbitant taxation by the Spaniards, but to drive out the Europeans and restore an Inca monarchy (rebellion 97). Kurakas from several regions saw a chance for liberation from their conflicting way of life. They were also the most suited to lead these rebellions since war parties, both before the rise of the Inca state and under its authority, were organized and led by the kurakas (Spalding, 35). But after the rebellion was over and the movement was defeated, the kurakas positions were revoked, power was lost, and many were severely punished for their crimes. The most notorious example is the execution of kuraka Tupac Amaru. Jose Antonio de Areche, the Spanish magistrate in charge of punishing the rebels, condemned Tupac Amaru to be executed in the main public square (all must die 102