The Tawantinsuyu, the “the four united regions” in Quechua language, as the Inca Empire was called, stretched along the Andes Mountains from southern Colombia to central Chile and Argentina.
During the period in which the Incas ruled this part of South America (approximately 1200 AD to 1572 AD), they built an empire that expanded rapidly and developed a complex social, military, religious, and productive system, capable of maintaining and assimilating the customs and knowledge of the conquered peoples; becoming the largest pre-Hispanic empire in the Americas.
The construction of Machu Picchu, the Qhapaq Ñan (Inca Road), their astronomy, and a communal social system, without the need for a writing system, demonstrate that the Inca Empire was capable of developing a civilization with great scientific and social potential.
This is a guide to the contributions and inventions of the Inca Empire, a part of the Inca legacy to South America and the rest of the world.
