|
Pedro de Cieza de Léon |
|
Another view of the Incas, from a conquistador. It provides quite
a lot of information about the Incan economy--a redistributive typical
of all early civilizations. It is told for a fact of the rulers of this kingdom that in the days
of their rule they had their representatives in the capitals of all the
provinces, for in all these places there were larger and finer lodgings
than in most of the other cities of this great kingdom, and many storehouses.
They served as the head of the provinces or regions, and from every so
many leagues around the tributes were brought to one of these capitals,
and from so many others, to another. This was so well-organized that there
was not a village that did not know where it was to send its tribute.
In all these capitals the Incas had temples of the Sun, mints, and many
silversmiths who did nothing but work rich pieces of gold or fair vessels
of silver; large garrisons were stationed there, and a steward who was
in command of them all, to whom an accounting of everything that was brought
in was made, and who, in turn, had to give one of all that was issued.
...The tribute paid by each of these provinces, whether gold, silver,
clothing, arms and all else they gave, was entered in the accounts of
those who kept the quipus and did everything ordered by the governor
in the matter of finding the soldiers or supplying whomever the Inca ordered,
or making delivery to Cuzco; but when they came from the city of Cuzco
to go over the accounts, or they were ordered to go to Cuzco to give an
accounting, the accountants themselves gave it by the quipus, or
went to give it where there could be no fraud, but everything had to come
out right. Few years went by in which an accounting was not made.... At the beginning of the new year the rulers of each village came to Cuzco,
bringing their quipus, which told how many births there had been
during the year, and how many deaths. In this way the Inca and the governors
knew which of the Indians were poor, the women who had been widowed, whether
they were able to pay their taxes, and how many men they could count on
in the event of war, and many other things they considered highly important.
The Incas took care to see that justice was meted out, so much so that
nobody ventured to commit a felony or theft. This was to deal with thieves,
rapists, or conspirators against the Inca. As this kingdom was so vast, in each of the many provinces there were
many storehouses filled with supplies and other needful things; thus,
in times of war, wherever the armies went they drew upon the contents
of these storehouses, without ever touching the supplies of their confederates
or laying a finger on what they had in their settlements....Then the storehouses
were filled up once more with the tributes paid the Inca. If there came
a lean year, the storehouses were opened and the provinces were lent what
they needed in the way of supplies; then, in a year of abundance, they
paid back all they had received. No one who was lazy or tried to live
by the work of others was tolerated; everyone had to work. Thus on certain
days each lord went to his lands and took the plow in hand and cultivated
the earth, and did other things. Even the Incas themselves did this to
set an example. And under their system there was none such in all the
kingdom, for, if he had his health, he worked and lacked for nothing;
and if he was ill, he received what he needed from the storehouses. And
no rich man could deck himself out in more finery than the poor, or wear
different clothing, except the rulers and the headmen, who, to maintain
their dignity, were allowed great freedom and privilege. Source From: Pedro Cieza de Léon, The Second Part of the Chronicle
of Peru, Clements R. Markham, trans. & ed., (London: Hakluyt Society,
1883), pp. 36-50, passim. Scanned by: J. S. Arkenberg, Dept. of History, Cal. State Fullerton.
Prof. Arkenberg has modernized the text. |