Clase del 4 y 6 de Mayo

Idioma Moderno Ingles I – Clases del 04 y 06 de mayo de 2010

Inca Empire

Kingdom of Cusco (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

A- Inca people began as a tribe in the Cusco area around the 12th century. Under the leadership of Manco Capac, they formed the small city-state of Cusco. In 1438 they began a far-reaching expansion under the command of Sapa Inca (paramount leader) Pachacuti, whose name literally meant "earth-shaker". During his reign, he and his son brought much of the Andes mountains (roughly modern Peru and Ecuador) under Inca control.

Reorganization and formation of the Empire

Inca expansion (1438–1527)

B- Pachacuti reorganized the kingdom of Cuzco into an empire, the Tahuantinsuyu, a federalist system which consisted of a central government with the Inca at its head and four provincial governments with strong leaders: Chinchasuyu (NW), Antisuyu (NE), Contisuyu (SW), and Collasuyu (SE).[7] Pachacuti built Machu Picchu, either as a family home or as a summer retreat.

C- Pachacuti sent spies to regions that he wanted in his empire; they brought reports on the political organization, military might and wealth. Then he sent messages to the leaders of these lands extolling the benefits of joining his empire, offering them presents of luxury goods such as high quality textiles, and promising that they would be materially richer as subject rulers of the Inca. Most accepted the rule of the Inca. The ruler's children would then be brought to Cuzco to be taught about Inca administration systems, then return to rule their native lands. This allowed the Inca to indoctrinate the former ruler's children into the Inca nobility, and, with luck, marry their daughters into families at various corners of the empire.

Expansion and consolidation of the Tawantinsuyu

D- It was traditional for the Inca's son to lead the army; Pachacuti's son Túpac Inca Yupanqui began conquests to the north in 1463, and continued them as Inca after Pachucuti's death in 1471. His most important conquest was the Kingdom of Chimor, the Inca's only serious rival for the coast of Peru. Túpac Inca's empire stretched north into modern day Ecuador and Colombia.

E- Túpac Inca's son Huayna Cápac added a small portion of land to the north in modern day Ecuador and in parts of Peru[8]. At its height, Tahuantinsuyu included Peru and Bolivia, most of what is now Ecuador, a large portion of what is today Chile north of Maule River, where they met massive resistance by the Mapuche tribes. The empire also extended into corners of Argentina and Colombia. However, most of the southern portion of the Inca Empire, the portion denominated as Collasuyu, was desert wasteland.

F- Tahuantinsuyu was a patchwork of languages, cultures and peoples. The components of the empire were not all uniformly loyal, nor were the local cultures all fully integrated. The Inca empire as a whole had an economy based on exchange and taxation of luxury goods and labour.

Language

G- Since the Tawantinsuyu lacked a written language, the empire's main form of communication and recording came from quipus and Quechua, the language the Incas imposed upon the peoples within the empire. The plethora of civilizations in the Andean region provided for a general disunity that the Incas needed to subdue in order to maintain control, peace, and order within all of the empire. Hence, by establishing a uniform language, the Incas were able to better achieve such a goal. Nonetheless, it should be noted that Quechua had been spoken in the Andean region, like central Peru, for several years prior to the expansion of the Inca civilization. Moreover, the type of Quechua the Incas imposed was an adaptation from the Kingdom of Cusco (an early form of "Southern Quechua") of what some historians define as "Proto-Quechua" (the original Quechua dialect).

Life, education and beliefs

H- Approximately 200 varieties of potatoes were cultivated by the Incas and their predecessors. The Inca diet consisted primarily of potatoes and grains, supplemented by fish, vegetables, nuts, and corn. In addition, they hunted various wild animals for meat, skins and feathers. Corn was malted and used to make chicha, a fermented alcoholic beverage. The Inca road system was key to farming success as it allowed distribution of foodstuffs over long distances. The Inca also constructed vast storehouses, which allowed them to live through El Niño years while neighboring civilizations suffered.

I- The Inca believed in reincarnation. Those who obeyed the Incan moral code — ama suwa, ama llulla, ama quella (do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy) — "went to live in the Sun's warmth while others spent their eternal days in the cold earth.

Mathematics and astronomy

J-The Inca made many discoveries in medicine. They performed successful skull surgery, which involved cutting holes in the skull to release pressure from head wounds. Coca leaves were used to lessen hunger and pain, as they still are in the Andes. The Chasqui (messengers) chewed coca leaves for extra energy to carry on their tasks as runners delivering messages throughout the empire.

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1. Traduzca el texto completo.

2. Marque en el margen las estructuras gramaticales que le hayan provocado dificultad.

3. Marque todos los verbos que encuentre en tiempo pasado y complete el siguiente cuadro como muestran los ejemplos:

4. Realice una cronología con los datos que brindan A, B, C y D.