Political Power
Networks of political power in the Inca realm combined more horizontal elements of kinship with vertical aspects of bureaucratic hierarchies. Early Colonial Quechua dictionaries record a vernacular lexicon that distinguishes between these kinds of power.
The 1560 dictionary of Domingo de Santo Tomas uses terms for mother and father (yayanc and mama, respectively) for a lord or lady with servants or retainers, while listing the title kuraka for a lord ruling over vassals.[1790] The distinction between domestic power and political power reflects the Inca ideal of the household as an autonomous tributary entity that could be grouped with other households into standard administrative units. Many contemporary scholars emphasize the innovation and implementation of decimal administration under kurakas who oversaw regular units ofhouseholds ranging from 10 (chunka), up to a provincial unit (hunu) of 10,000.[1791] In this system, Inca lords occupying the highest administrative positions conveyed annual tribute levies to lower order kuraka officials, designating a proportion of households within a given administrative unit for specific tasks during the course of the year. Regular inspection by provincial governors checked conditions on the ground and verified khipu records of population and tribute, reconfiguring decimal units as local households changed over time. Decimal hierarchies appear to have been most successful in the central highlands, where centralized administration was absent prior to Inca conquest. While this form of administration is substantiated in many provincial contexts, it is important to note that the earliest detailed chronicles and dictionaries describe a more direct connection between the Inca ruler's envoys (kamachikuq) and local community leaders (llaqtakamayuq), mentioning decimal administration as a feature of military service rather than a standardized hierarchy.Spanish officials described the position of kuraka as an office created by the Inca ruler. New officials received their titles and emblems of office on visits to the capital, and their positions were not strictly hereditary. A kuraka was vested with only a small part of the Inca's power to carry out tasks appropriate to his place in the administrative hierarchy. Low order officials were expected to follow imperial commands, assemble required labor tribute, and punish minor offenses, while intermediate kurakas had somewhat more latitude in assigning tasks to subordinates. In some cases, local elites enjoyed more political power under Inca rule than they had before being conquered. Inca nobles oversaw the decimal hierarchy, serving in high offices with powers not granted to local kurakas. Titles such as apu (lord, or judge) are frequently used to describe Inca nobles serving in the provinces, and the chronicles are clear that these individuals comprised a stratum set apart from local elites in terms of wealth and privilege.[1792] Noble officials conducted regular inspections in the provinces, with an overseer (tukuyrikhuq) checking conditions on the ground and other officials serving as judges. The Inca ruler also conducted periodic inspections of provinces, a sort of Great Progress to remind commoners and nobles alike who was in charge. Even though direct contact between ruler and subject was minimal, a major element of statecraft involved the performance of duties owed to—and privileges granted by—the Inca ruler.
Along the Pacific coast, where local dynasties already controlled some valleys at the time of Inca conquest, Inca rule appears to have proceeded in a more parallel fashion. Inca informants described the most powerful local rulers using the term qhapaq, glossed as “king” in the early dictionaries. Local lords who accepted the Inca as their master were permitted to continue ruling over their people. For example, in the Chincha Valley on the Peruvian coast, the Inca presence was limited to a few ritual specialists and inspectors, while the local lord commanded the valley's population, which consisted of specialized farmers, fishers, and merchants.[1793] As discussed earlier, the power of coastal lords was largely restricted to the irrigated flood plains and nearby littoral, and the imposition of indirect rule over these kingdoms appears to have been accompanied by a more direct control over agriculture, herding, and caravan networks in the upper coastal valleys.
Ultimately, Inca political power was heterogeneous and tied to social networks rather than territory. Noble families dominated much of the region surrounding the imperial capital, using the power of their households and networks to build factions that blunted the power of the paramount ruler. Coastal lords continued to rule some of the most populous and wealthy parts of the empire; even in highland provinces where the Incas implemented decimal administration, they often worked within existing social hierarchies in a way that allowed some local elites to become more wealthy and powerful than they had been before the Inca conquest.