All language subtitles for The Inca Masters Of The Clouds 1of2 Foundations

In 1911, young American explorer
Hiram Bingham

arrived in Peru's Sacred Valley.

Bingham was looking
for a fabled lost city,

the last redoubt of the Inca

in their doomed battle
against the Spanish.

He met a local farmer,

who said he knew of a place which
might interest the American...

..a place overgrown
and all but forgotten.

What Bingham saw astonished him.

Peeking through centuries
of vegetation

were dozens of granite buildings.

Vast terraces were cut
into the mountainside,

criss-crossed by hundreds
of steep, stone steps.

The effect on the
young explorer was dazzling...

like a dream.

When Bingham arrived here
at Machu Picchu,

he thought he had discovered
the Lost City of the Inca,

a place so secret, it had remained
hidden as Europeans overran

the entire continent
of South America.

For Bingham, this site
was the Holy Grail,

the key to unlocking
the mysteries of the Inca,

the largest pre-Columbian empire
in the Americas.

But Machu Picchu provides only
a glimpse of an incredible empire.

It's only one part
of a remarkable tale.

This is the story of a people who,
600 years ago, built an empire

that stretched from barren coastal
desert to lush tropical jungle,

from the edge of the Pacific Ocean

to the high plains
of Chile and Argentina.

It's a story of wealth, power,
innovation and bloodshed,

all happening in some of the
toughest landscapes on the planet.

Fundamentally, this is the story
of an empire unlike any other,

one with a completely different
worldview to the Europeans

who come to conquer it.

And it's that different
way of seeing the world,

of gaining and holding power
over so many people,

that make the Inca
absolutely fascinating.

The question I want to answer is,

how did they do it?

There are very good reasons why
the Inca have long fascinated us.

Their empire was the
biggest in the Americas

before the arrival of Europeans.

At its height in the 15th century,

over ten million people
were under their rule.

Their vast kingdom was connected
by a sophisticated road network,

stretching for thousands
of kilometres.

But most remarkable of all

is the apparent speed
of their rise to power.

In the 14th century, the Inca were
one of many independent peoples

who lived high in the Andes.

Yet they emerged from
their Cuzco stronghold and,

seemingly in the space
of just 150 years,

built a vast multiethnic empire
which spanned a continent,

from the Pacific to the Amazon,
incorporating huge swathes

of the modern=day countries of
Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia,

Chile and Argentina.

For many years, our understanding
of the Inca has been dominated

by the chronicles written
by the Spanish conquistadors.

But these chronicles are
written often with a very
specific agenda in mind...

to justify the Spanish Conquest.

The Spanish came across an empire

which they had no
frame of reference for...

effectively a Neolithic Empire
run without the pen or the sword.

No writing, no wheel,

no animal which could carry a human,

no markets, no currency.

So a whole, peculiar, complex
society in European eyes.

I think it's time to question
whether we need to re-evaluate

the Inca rise to power.

Perhaps early historical records
have been misleading.

Is there a different, far more
intriguing, story to be told

about the emergence
of the Inca Empire?

The most important thing to bear in
mind is that this wasn't an empire

like the British Empire
or the Roman Empire,

where histories were
carefully written down

and power came in the form
of a dozen legions

or the barrel of a gun.

This was a non-Western empire

and that's often made it difficult
for westerners to study.

In order to understand the Inca,

you need to get inside the Incan
mind, and think like they thought.

And that means getting
far away from Machu Picchu.

One of the major differences
between the Inca world and our own

is the concept of time.

The Inca thought
differently than we do

about the past, present, and future.

And this has significant
implications for understanding

all aspects of Inca history,

and not least how long it really
took them to build their empire.

The way that we think is so
ingrained that it's very hard

to try and change our
perspective on things,

but it's something we have to do

if we are to understand
the Inca Empire.

We have to get inside the Inca mind.

For us, we have life.

We are born and then we die.

And this is essentially
a linear path.

Everything that happens
before a moment of our lives

we would call "history"
and it happens behind us.

Everything that's going to happen
beyond this point in this line,

we would call "the future".

Crucially, therefore,

everything that we understand
about our ancestors

and the world that has gone before

creates and affects
our lives along this line.

And everything that we do in our
own life will affect the future

and this is a linear
concept of time.

That is completely different
to how the Inca understood time.

So for the Inca, start with the
first line,

which they might call Kay Pacha.

Kay Pacha is essentially a lifeline.

But there are two parallel lines,
Hanan Pacha and Uku Pacha,

which is the past and the future.

And these lines run in parallel

because they can happen
at the same time.

So at any particular moment
of life on this line,

they can transect between
the past and the future.

And this point here is a
particular moment of experience

in the present which is affected
directly by the past or the future.

We get a sense that there were
multiple histories,

there were multiple pasts

and there were multiple references

to different things that
different ancestors had done

depending on who was
telling the story.

So, because of this, it becomes very
difficult to determine exactly

what was the historical sequence of
the development of the Inca Empire

in a way that would make sense to us
as a nice European chronicle.

The Inca don't talk the same
language of time as we do

and so we need to think
about the chronology

of their history quite differently.

By understanding this, we can
begin to unravel the true story

of the rise of the Inca Empire.

If you contrast the
historical information

to the archaeological information,
we get a very different picture.

Studies of the emergence
of the Incas as a power

over neighbouring societies
surrounding Cuzco

show that they were probably
a pretty potent society,

perhaps even a state, as early
as almost 100 years before

their emergence as a ruling empire.

This means the origins of
the Inca date back much further

than we originally thought.

I think it also means that when
they started to build their empire,

the Inca built upon the achievements
of people who went before.

A few hours' drive south of Cuzco,

there are the remains
of a long-forgotten settlement...

..remnants of buildings and streets

which stretch over nearly
two square kilometres.

But these ruins aren't Inca.

They were built by a people
who rose and fell

long before the Inca
dominated this region.

These people were called the Wari

and this place was known
as Pikillacta

and I believe the Inca
learnt a great deal

from what the Wari built here.

Throughout this part
of South America,

you can find the remains of cultures
stretching back thousands of years.

These past societies had their own
world views, belief systems

and ways of living their lives.

And it's understanding the
inter-relationships between them

that is important.

No society suddenly appears
independently on its own.

But some societies
can be so successful

that their influence
spreads far and wide.

That was the case with the Wari.

The Wari were the first
to unite multiple areas,

from north to south, covering
most of modern-day Peru.

Pikillacta was one
of the Wari Empire's

most impressive settlements.

It's been estimated that,
cumulatively, it would have taken

six million days of back-breaking
labour to build it.

This is a vast and beautiful site

and a really important one
for the Wari.

But it's when you walk around

that you get a sense of
experience of the place,

because they had these
incredibly long corridors

with these dominating high walls.

It must have been quite
a disorienting experience.

Perhaps led through
one of these doorways,

you enter out into these
open spaces or patios

that would have covered in
white paint and perhaps murals.

Pikillacta dominated this region

towards the end of
the first millennium.

And walking through these ruins
today, it seems to me the Wari

laid the foundations of how
to build an empire in the Andes.

Many of the ideas of so-called Inca
statecraft which we think of

actually had their roots in the Wari.

Not least the road system.

You can't create a road system
in the time period

that the Incas were around in.

There was a great expansion of
people and ideas at a time

far deeper than the Inca Empire.

Critical to the success of the Wari

was their understanding of
this brutal environment

and the innovations
they developed to overcome it.

The Wari were masters of
landscape transformation.

Canals that brought the water
down from the mountain peaks,

where the rains fall,

into the rich agricultural regions
where they terraced the landscape

in order to turn the mountainsides
into productive agricultural lands.

The ingenious solutions we see
at work at Pikillacta are,

I believe, crucial in
helping us to understand

not only the success of the Wari,

but also the Inca
who came after them.

This aqueduct is part of a 48km-long
network of canal systems

taking water from the high mountains
right into the heart of the site

of Pikillacta and down to
the agricultural terraces below.

This region receives
barely enough water

to support large-scale
agriculture or settlement.

And in times of drought, this land
can become an incredibly difficult

place for humans to thrive.

90% of the rainfall in the Andes
falls on the jungle regions.

Only 10% makes it
to the western coasts.

Only through increased efficiency
in agricultural technologies

and production can humans respond
effectively to drought.

That's what the Wari introduced.

The lesson of the Wari is that

before you can build an empire
in this part of the world,

you first need to master
the landscape itself.

The Wari agrarian technology was
a drought adaptive technology.

It was much more efficient
in the use of water

than previous systems had been and
that gave the Wari an adaptive edge

in bringing their new system
to these local groups

that were living in
that region at the time.

Interestingly,

the challenges faced by the Wari
still affect people here today.

1,000 years later, Peru's climate
remains one of the most extreme

and vulnerable in the world.

Most of the rainfall
that falls on the Andes

comes from South Atlantic sources,

coming in as part of the monsoonal
system across the Amazon

and brought up into the Andes.

Whereas the western side of the
Andes and the coast is a desert,

effectively, because the winds that
come across the Pacific are dry.

Most of the population of Peru today
live on that desert strip.

I've come to the village of Maras,
high in the Andes,

where a dry spell has made life
tough for local farmers

like Felicitas Torres.

THEY SPEAK SPANISH

Authorities in Maras have
responded to the dry spell

by bussing in containers
of fresh water from Cuzco.

It has helped, but it's
in no way a sustainable solution.

What's happening in Maras today also
happened here many centuries ago.

But the Wari did not have the option

to bus in tanks of water
to sustain them.

At the end of the first millennium,
we know that conditions

were both dry and really quite
cold up in the mountains.

And that's the time
when the Wari disappeared

from the archaeological record.

The Wari understood
their environment,

but a prolonged drought may have
proved too much, even for them.

Climate change could have been
one of the factors

which put a lot
of pressure on the Wari.

Now, the societies knew how to deal
with short-term climate change.

They had in place
a lot of strategies

that enabled them to cope.

But climate at those altitudes
is one of the real pressure points.

However ingenious the Wari solutions
were to the challenges they faced,

their power waned.

But there can be little doubt that
the Inca built on the knowledge

of what the Wari left behind.

We have people continuing
to live in the Cuzco region,

continuing the oral traditions and
the historical traditions

of the Wari within the Cuzco region

that the Inca could have
picked up upon.

The Inca also had the benefit of the
monuments that the Wari had built,

and right in their back yard.

The Wari created
a large and powerful state.

They were able to harness
the harsh environments

using ingenious large-scale
construction projects like this,

technologies often associated
with the Inca.

But the reason I like this one
is that you can see the original

Wari construction behind, re-used
and restored by the Inca

with this lovely stonework
at the front.

The Inca are using Wari technology,
but the crucial difference is,

they're also up-scaling it.

To see exactly how they did this,
I'm heading north,

into the heart of the Cuzco Valley.

This mountainous land
is not naturally suited

to large-scale agricultural
production.

The challenges presented by the
harsh climate are considerable.

But here, the Incas' remarkable
ability to problem solve
revolutionised agriculture

and played a key role in
the expansion of their empire.

This is Moray.

It lies 3,500 metres above sea level

and is one of the most remarkable
human landscapes on earth.

Moray consists of three huge
limestone depressions,

into which terraces
have been carved.

This is the place where
Inca skills in engineering

and agriculture combined perfectly.

It's a place which synthesises
beauty and technology

and transformed the lives of the
Inca and those they would soon rule.

These terraces can be up to
three metres in height

and they have this
thick retaining wall

which is angled back to
hold back the soil behind.

And what's behind
is actually really clever.

At the bottom, you have a series
of broken stones for drainage.

Above that, a layer of coarse soil,
which acts as a bedding,

and then a metre of topsoil,
which they continually turn over

to aerate the soil.

And these stone walls absorb
the heat of the sun during the day

and that radiates through at night,
protecting the crops against frost.

The ingenuity of the terraces lies
not just in their ability

to increase the amount of land
the Inca could cultivate.

They were a mechanism
for manipulating the environment,

altering the ambient temperature
of the whole site...

..and making the production of
crops at high altitude possible.

Today, the temperature
at the top of the terraces

is 16 degrees centigrade.

Down here at the bottom,
you have this crucible effect

where the temperature is
much warmer, there's no airflow,

and these stone terraces circle
round, radiating the heat.

Here, you can see
it's over 22 degrees now.

The difference in temperature from
the top of this site to the bottom

means that each terrace at Moray
represents a different

ecological zone as you move up
the side of the Andes.

The implications of this
are profound.

It means this was a place
where Inca engineers

created their own micro-climates,
allowing them to experiment

in cultivating a variety
of different crops

which would not normally have
been grown at these altitudes.

Tomatoes, squashes, pumpkins,
types of tobacco.

That's not so beneficial, perhaps,

but it underlines the point that,
although we marvel at

the Zen aesthetic of
Machu Picchu and so forth,

really what's much more important,
in my view,

is the legacy of their agriculture.

The Incas were essentially
reconfiguring the biotic landscape

by changing the terrain,
changing the heat

and water retention capacities
through their terracing systems,

which developed a series
of warm weather estates

in a cold weather climate.

These terraces show how
the Inca understood

the advantages of this
vertical landscape.

In effect, they farmed upwards.

They managed to turn
the harsh contours of the land

to their advantage.

And by growing different
crops at different elevations,

it gave them a huge diversity
in the crops that they grew.

This had two key advantages.

One, they had a healthier
and more diverse diet.

And two, it helped mitigate
against the impact in the past

that had created
hunger and unrest...

droughts and floods,
pests and frost.

This is what I mean when I say
the Inca scaled up Wari technology.

Inca agriculture wasn't just about
feeding a family, or even a city.

It was about scientifically
managing production,

so they could feed an empire.

By creating this food surplus,

it provided time to
devote to other things,

like expansion beyond their borders.

It was also a great calling card
as they approached other cultures,

because Moray shows that
the Inca were problem-solvers

and able to create these
very efficient and effective
managed landscapes.

And in a region where climate was
unpredictable and catastrophic,

where people could often face
starvation and hunger,

the ability to provide a reliable,
regular and good quality amount

of food was a source of
supreme power for the Inca.

But that's only part of the story.

For the Inca state to flourish, they
needed not only to grow enough food,

but also to distribute
it quickly and efficiently,

which could be a serious problem

when you live in such
a challenging landscape as this.

But a few miles north of Moray

is a place which I think
might hold the answer.

This is an amazing spot. Below me
is the town of Ollantaytambo.

And above it, clinging
to the side of the cliff,

is a series of tall buildings.

At first glance, they may not seem
like the most impressive thing,

but these structures are
critical to the foundations

of the entire Inca Empire.

These are qollqas, storehouses,

and they are iconic buildings
found all over the Inca empire.

Sometimes they are
by the side of roads,

sometimes near centres
of population,

like here, at Ollantaytambo.

These weren't just barns
for storing food.

They were sophisticated silos
that were critical

to the well-being of the people
and the maintenance of power.

In here would be stored everything
from maize to potatoes,

textiles to weapons,
and vast numbers of seeds

that could be used
for next year's planting.

They were often located in
strategic places, well ventilated

and not prone to flooding.

The combined storage space of
this network would have run

to hundreds of thousands
of cubic metres.

That means that people across
the Empire could be supplied

with everything they needed,
whenever circumstances demanded.

One of the ways that we can
understand the scale and order

of the Inca warehousing system

is by looking at the experience
of the Spaniards who came in

in 1548 into the upper
Mantaro Valley

in the central highlands of Peru.

There were 2,000 of them and they
stayed there for multiple weeks

and they said,
at the end of that period,

they couldn't recognise that they'd
made a dent in the warehouses

and in the contents
of the facilities.

These storehouses tell me that
the Inca understood the need

to provide food security
for the people they ruled.

It's actually quite a modern idea.

In the UK, during the
fuel protests of 2000,

supermarket bosses told the
government they only had enough fuel

to distribute food to the people
for another three days.

After that,
they'd start to go hungry.

This focuses the mind
on food security,

because it's not just about growing
food, it's about its storage

and distribution that is
perhaps the most important.

And the Inca understood this.

That's why they created this vast
system of storage facilities

and a distribution network that
got the food to the people.

And this was important
during times of drought

and environmental disaster.

The Inca storehouses, in times of
scarcity and in times of drought,

could be used to feed the populaces,
to feed the masses,

in order to save them from
certain death and destruction.

To the people who did the farming,
they were a source of security.

An insurance, if you will,
against the bad years,

knowing that the Inca state would be
able to provide for them.

But I suspect these storehouses
served more than a practical,

administrative function.

The storehouses provided a highly
visible symbol of the Inca state

to its people, demonstrating both
its reach and its benevolence.

There was a basic level of
understanding that the Inca

would care for the
poorest members of its society.

It was a basic social contract,
if you will.

These storehouses were
an important logistical element

of a growing empire.

But they also hint at the developing
nature of Inca power itself.

You get the sense of a
different type of empire

when you come to a place like this.

You see how much effort they went
to, to provide for people's needs.

It's almost an attractive
type of empire

that people would want
to become part of.

Why wouldn't you want to join
an empire that provided for you

in times of need,
good times and bad?

The creation of these
storehouses tells us a lot

about the great Inca ability
to organise and plan

the use of their resources

They embody an empire which
could offer solutions

to the people of the Andes.

But in order to truly understand
the nature of Inca power,

I think we also have to look
at how they approach

these people in the first place.

How, in effect,
they pitched their empire

to the people they would rule.

To find out how they did it,

I'm taking the road west,
towards the ocean.

This is the Temple of Pachacamac,
on the Pacific Coast of Peru.

And you can see
the distinctive method

of Inca empire building
at work here.

For thousands of years
before the Inca,

this was one of the most important
and powerful religious sites

in South America.

Pachacamac's followers came from
as far away as Ecuador

and Bolivia to consult
the oracle housed here.

This massive complex was nothing
less than an American Mecca.

Which perhaps makes Incan
attitudes towards Pachacamac

even more surprising.

They didn't destroy
this religious centre,

stamp out its idolatry or even
forbid people from worshipping

the oracle here at Pachacamac.

Exactly the opposite, in fact.

They incorporated
the oracle of Pachacamac

within their own
pantheon of deities,

even building a shrine
to it in Cuzco.

This willingness to tolerate
and absorb other religions

tells us a great deal
about Inca power.

It tells me that, as they
expanded into new territory,

they wanted to avoid conflict.

The Incas were very effective at
expanding out of their homeland

because they practised
economy of force.

That is, they didn't conduct
military operations

except as a last resort.

They tried diplomacy, they tried
bribery, they tried all sorts

of accommodations to bring people
into their empire.

Fighting was inefficient.

It meant the loss of their own men

and of the people whose labour
they could use.

But the threat of force
needed to be visible and real.

It is a carrot and stick
approach, if you like,

of the threat of military violence,
but equally,

the promise of gaining
through the authority of the Inca

and their access to resources.

The Inca would often arrive in a
new province with a massive army,

putting on an overwhelming
display of force.

Emissaries would be sent
to local rulers,

bearing expensive gifts
of jewellery and livestock.

These same emissaries would
explain the benefits

of joining the Inca Empire.

If the answer was no,
the Incas spared no prisoners.

Losing generals could expect
to be flayed alive.

But if the answer was yes,

then the people would be showered
with gifts of food and drink.

Their lords would be instructed
in Quechua, the Inca language,

and their children
would be taken to Cuzco

to learn the ways of the Empire.

Above all,

they would be allowed to continue
to practise their own religion.

Pachacamac is an excellent
example of how the Inca

co-opted a powerful religious
shrine and incorporated it

into the Inca imperial period.

They probably persuaded the priests
of Pachacamac to participate,

those that would be willing.

But they also transformed,
then, Pachacamac

from its focus as a local shrine
into an Inca one.

And that kind of melding and that
kind of blending, if you will,

of Inca ideology with local ideology
was a really good example

of the way that
Inca imperialism worked.

The tolerance demonstrated
here at Pachacamac

happened all over the Inca realm.

And I think it goes to
the heart of explaining

how the Inca built
such a large empire.

If you submit to the rule
of the Inca Empire,

then you will be allowed
to keep most of your lands,

you'll be able to keep
your social order.

All you will have to do is to pay
certain taxes to the Incas

and we will allow you to
continue to live essentially

as you had done previously.

It appears that many peoples
in the Andes decided

that was probably the best bet.

There's a great intelligence
about Inca power.

Why destroy a kingdom when
that will mean a heavy cost

to you in terms of lives lost?

Why persecute its rulers when they
could help you run your empire?

Ultimately, the Inca understood
the more tightly you bound people

to you, the more control
over them you would have.

In order to develop
a larger-scale society,

they needed to cooperate.

And that's one of the
great Inca achievements,

is that level of cooperation.

Now, it wasn't all love and peace,
I think, but nonetheless,

it wasn't aggression that developed
into the defence of sites

and all-out warfare.

And I think that allowed them to
expand, as they created more and

more alliances and they could
draw people together.

In doing so, they are
creating an integration

that is different
to what has gone before.

By the late 1400s, the Inca Empire
was approaching its zenith.

The Inca were no longer one among
many societies in the Andes,

they were the dominant, highly
organised culture whose influence

stretched well beyond
their Cuzco stronghold.

But in economic terms, how did
such a sprawling empire work?

To find out, I'm heading to
the remote island of Taquile,

4,000 metres above sea level
on Lake Titicaca.

The people on Taquile live
by an old code,

which they say
dates back to the Inca,

"Ama sua, ama llulla, ama qhilla."

"Do not steal, do not lie,
do not be lazy."

These lands were among the first
the Inca conquered

as they moved out
of the Cuzco Valley.

It's a region of vast
llama and alpaca herds,

which were a bountiful source of
food, clothing and transport

for the Inca.

And the Incan way of life is still
very much in evidence

here on Taquile.

An attitude of collective endeavour
and mutual support.

Ola.

'Alejandro Flores Huatta
is a community leader.'

Alejandro's way of life
may seem anachronistic,

but at the time of the Inca,
this was the norm.

Communities were expected
to give a proportion

of their agricultural production,
crafts and labour

for the benefit of the state,

weaving cloth for the court or
working on a building project,

just as they still do
on Taquile today.

One of the clearest examples
of a difference between

the Inca way of life and the
modern one is in the economy.

Because the Inca didn't use money,

they didn't have an arbitrary system
against which value was set.

Instead, everything was done
through exchange.

So things like agricultural produce
and craftsmanship,

even hours of labour,
could be exchanged.

The Inca managed to persuade
large numbers of people

that they should contribute
their labour to projects

such as construction,
such as agricultural work,

such as the road system.

And they managed to do that through
a reciprocal relationship,

one where you didn't doubt
that the Inca were in control,

but that you believed that you were
getting also something out of it.

It strikes me that, in stark
contrast to many civilisations

that had gone before them, the Inca
wielded a very subtle form of power.

They offered solutions to the harsh
realities of life in the Andes

and, in turn, asked the peoples
they governed to have faith

in the benefits of Inca rule.

It some ways, it was quite
a benevolent empire.

Yet there was never any question
about who was ultimately in charge.

How the Inca managed to integrate
so many different peoples

into their empire whilst maintaining
their dominant position

was central to their success.

Just a few miles from Pachacamac is
a place which was built specifically

to bring an entire people
into the Inca fold

and it brilliantly demonstrates
how a society

that didn't have any written culture

still had ways to ensure
that everyone knew their place.

This is the site of Tambo Colorado.

It's one of the first settlements
the Inca build

as they push westwards,
down towards the Pacific Coast.

The people who lived in this
region were the Chincha.

And the purpose of this place was
to co-opt them into the empire.

The Chincha were one of the
Incas' most important allies,

controlling large swathes
of the coastal desert.

And it's obvious that this was
an important place for both

the Chincha and the Inca,

dominating a flat plain as the
mountains give way to the coast.

'Sofia Chacaltana Cortez
is an archaeologist

'who has studied this site
extensively.'

So this entrance, like,
the whole wall comes along

and then you've just got one
small entrance into the site?

Yeah, that's typical of
Inca architecture, right?

Like, it's an entrance
that is a palace first

and it has just one entrance
and also has the Inca shape,

the trapezoid, so...

Wow, and then you immediately come
into this sort of main plaza.

Yeah, you have the main plaza.

This one is the rear plaza and
then you have three other plazas.

So what sort of activities
would be going on

in this sort of main plaza,
do you think?

If people walked through
those gates,

what sort of things would they see?

Well, probably ritual activities
and also a lot of drinking.

The Inca did a lot of drinking
and displaying of power.

But probably also that was the
place where the elite could come,

could enter the site.

Tambo Colorado has
the feel of a stage,

a place of performance,

where important officials would
meet, where religious rituals

would take place, against the
backdrop of feasting and drinking.

Adding to this theatrical feel
are these brightly painted walls,

whose colours have survived over
five centuries of desert sun.

It's absolutely extraordinary that
you get this level of preservation

of these pigments and paints
right up to the modern day.

I really like the idea
that you sort of walk in

from this quite barren
desert landscape

and then when you walk
into this plaza,

suddenly you're, like,
overwhelmed by the colour.

Like, brilliant colours around you

and then you can think about that
dancing and music which is going on.

Much of what we see
at Tambo Colorado

is typical of Inca architecture.

Yet there are striking differences
in the craftsmanship here, too,

which Sofia believes come from
the influence of the Chincha.

Something to notice, too,
is the lattice work

and the ending of the Inca spaces
are not always Inca, are Chincha.

The architect probably was Inca
but the work was local

and also probably the people
that were living here

were the Inca elite
and the Chincha elite.

It's a really difficult
thing to assess,

but do you think there's
any evidence that

the Chincha and Inca
are working cooperatively,

rather than sort of like a
dominating workforce, forcing them,

do you see any evidence
of collaboration?

Well, we are seeing here
is like, I think,

the synthesis of the government.

Like, after they have, like,
worked together.

I think this is like a...

probably like a Chincha...
an Inca-Chincha palace, right?

It's not only Inca,
it's not Chincha,

it's saying, like,
"We are cooperating."

The merging of architectural styles

signals the joining of
two kingdoms, Inca and Chincha.

Tambo Colorado was the place which
marked an important alliance

in material form, but not
an alliance of equals...

..because there are subtle
levers of control here.

Away from the plazas,

Tambo Colorado is a maze of
complex and confusing corridors.

Hidden rooms and secret spaces.

The architecture dictates
how you travel around the site.

Even the beautiful, brightly
coloured walls

had a controlling purpose,

marking out areas of access
according to rank.

The yellow colour is
representing the higher status.

The lower status will be the white,

that will represent
the intermediate elite

and the red will
represent the locals.

The colour scheme was
designed to mark places

where only the Inca were allowed.

A lot of Tambo Colorado
would have been off limits

to the Chincha population.

So these corridors are fantastic.

They have this sort of real sense
of restricted space. Yes.

And they go to imperial spaces.

We will see these Inca spaces,
like the font, the Inca font,

and there is an Inca way
of purifying your body.

To what extent do you think
these architectural forms,

these spaces, are a mechanism for
the Inca Empire to sort of control

people's behaviour and
influence their experience

of coming into them?

Well, I think this is to
control people's behaviour

and also to show how
to behave as an Inca, right?

Because we are far away from the...

from the capital.

So I think also is showing
what is the Inca behaviour, right?

To behave as an Inca,
I think, was an important part

of the Inca government.

I think it's cooperation also,

but with the foot on top,
kind of like that.

It's great chatting to Sofia

about how Inca architecture
controls people's behaviour here.

And more than that,

communicates it to all the people
moving up and down this valley.

Inca architecture is so much more

than the construction
of imposing buildings.

Architecture, like
religion or agriculture,

is a source of Inca power.

All the elements that made Inca
power so dominating and seductive

came together in one city...

Cuzco, high in the Andes.

Cuzco was the most important city
in the entirety of the Americas.

It was the Inca homeland

and the political and spiritual
heart of their empire.

And in the heart of Cuzco
sat one person...

the Sapa Inca.

The ruler of the Inca Empire

was a person called
the Sapa Inca or Unique Lord.

He embodied all the dimensions of
leadership within the Inca society.

He was the political ruler, in part
because he was the descendant

of the previous Sapa Inca.

He was also the military leader

and he was the person who made
decisions about everything

that was of significance in society,

whether economic, ritual,
or whatever.

It was all focused
on a single individual.

The Sapa Inca was the most
powerful man in the empire

and was treated with
immense reverence.

He communicated via intermediaries.

No-one dared look him
directly in the eye.

Disobedience was
punishable by death.

I guess you could probably call him
a benevolent dictator in some ways.

The Sapa Inca was not
a very accessible personage,

but he was also expected
to be a charismatic leader,

a figure who could change
the world when necessary.

The greatest of all
Inca emperors was Pachacuti,

whose name literally means "he who
overturns space and time".

Pachacuti is a mythical hero
to many modern day Peruvians.

The story goes that he was a prince,

living here in Cuzco in
the early to mid-15th century,

when the city was attacked
by the Chanka,

a people who came from
150km to the west.

Pachakuti's father, the ruler, took
his entire court and fled the city,

but Pachacuti defiantly remained and
led a divinely inspired resistance

to the Chanka, crushing them.

He then led a series of Inca
expansions away from the homeland,

laying the foundations
of the Inca Empire.

But the root of Pachacuti's rule and
the authority of all the Sapa Incas

lay in their position
as semi-divine figures.

To understand how
the Sapa Inca operated,

we have to think of him
in several dimensions.

He was, in some senses,
very much a human being,

but the Incas considered him
to be the descendant of Inti,

the Sun God, so in Inca ideology,
he was a deity on Earth.

While the Inca allowed their
subjects to worship their own gods,

they would always be subservient
to their own Sun God, Inti.

The Inca built temples of the sun
wherever they conquered.

This emphasised the
emperor's connection

to the most powerful god in the sky.

It also connected Inca power
with the cosmos itself.

In this way, the Inca
used religious reverence

as a powerful political tool.

Inca religion is probably
best thought of as part

of an over-arching
imperial ideology.

It had its political elements,
it had its religious elements,

it had its practice, it had its
military and cosmological elements.

So the idea of religion, per se,

probably would not have
made sense to the Incas.

They would have thought of it
as an integrated part

of the sanctity of the ruler, of his
legitimacy to civilise the Andes,

of his role as a political
and military figure.

Here, at the temple of Qorikancha,
the holiest spot in the empire,

the Sapa Inca would hold court.

This entire complex would once
have been encased in gold.

All that remains today is this
beautiful curved stone wall.

But despite its destruction

and the construction of a
Christian church on top of it,

the Qorikancha still feels
very much like

the spiritual heart of Inca Cuzco.

The Qorikancha was at the
centre of the Inca world.

It was thought that, from here,
dozens of ceques, or ley lines,

spread across the empire, upon which
shrines and temples would be built.

So this religious complex
was connected physically

and psychologically with
every corner of the empire.

The Inca used religion to project
the idea of their empire

over the lands they controlled
and to the people they ruled.

These ley lines radiated
across the landscape,

creating a spiritual map
of the empire

which would have been understood by
people from the forests of Ecuador

to the high plateaux
and peaks of the Andes,

and from Cuzco to the coast.

You have to picture this as
a countryside which is animated,

it's alive with
different special places,

places which are associated
with supernatural powers.

And so an unusual rock, a pass,

a curve in a road, a waterfall...

..any noteworthy landmark on the
landscape could be considered

what the Incas called a huaca,
or a shrine.

And on very specific days of the
year, pilgrimages would be made.

Different kin groups would
line up along different lines

and march out to each of the
shrines, making offerings to them.

For the Inca,

this was an empire of the mind
as much as a physical empire,

held together by thousands of
shrines and invisible ley lines

as much as by garrisons
or military power.

But an empire still needs
physical bonds.

By the end of the 15th century,

the Inca Empire was approaching
its greatest extent,

reaching from southern Ecuador
eastwards to Bolivia

and into northern Argentina.

It was criss-crossed by
40,000km of roads.

There were two main roads,

one running from Cuzco to Quito,

the other running parallel
along the coast.

Between these were dozens
of connecting roads and spurs,

heading south and east.

This road system is one of the most
famous elements of the Inca Empire.

But much of this network almost
certainly predates the Inca.

Once again, they took what
they found and up-scaled it.

Some parts of that road system

existed at least since
the Wari Empire,

but the Inca develop it.

They reconstruct large parts of it.

They construct bridges
and causeways to integrate it

and they redirect some roads.

This is a huge investment for them.

The Inca road system was a triumph
of architecture and planning.

The roads had to pass through
a variety of landscapes,

from arid desert, to snowy
mountains, to vertical cliffs.

They could be anything from
one to ten metres wide.

In the desert, they were protected
from dusty winds by raised stones.

In the mountains, they were designed
to allow for run-off and drainage.

And when the terrain made
conventional roads impossible,

the Inca once again came up
with an ingenious solution.

This is the stunning
Keshwa Chaca bridge.

It's made out of only this, straw.

And it's been in use
for hundreds of years,

dating right back
to the Inca period.

This bridge still serves as a major
crossing of the Apurimac River.

It is carefully maintained by the
four communities who live here.

Ola.

'Among the workers is
Dante Quispe Locuber.'

The roads allowed the Inca to travel
swiftly and communicate efficiently

throughout their vast empire.

It's estimated a message could
be carried from Cuzco to Quito,

a distance of 1,500km,
in just five days.

But seeing Dante and his comrades at
work, it strikes me that the roads

were about much more than
just communication,

more than just getting from A to B.

This network was
a psychological tool,

as well as a physical one.

These roads and bridges were a
constant reminder to communities

all over the Andes that they were
part of something bigger.

It probably provided an ideological
mechanism of integration,

so that in constructing
that road system,

you could not but be aware
that you were integrating
Cuzco with the coast.

You were a part of empire.

We must remember that there is no
idea of a map of the Inca Empire.

It is largely through the connection
of individual places,

through roads and track ways
and though ceremonial

and ritual activities that
the Inca Empire holds together.

The network was so vast

that new parts of it are
still being uncovered today.

This is a newly discovered road.

It's absolutely extraordinary,
it clings to the side of the cliff

with a 300 metre drop-off
down to the river below.

These roads are about
more than just travel.

They are the physical ties
that bind the empire together

and underpin Inca power.

Armies, food and livestock
can move quickly along them.

No matter where you are
in the empire,

you're never far from a road
that leads to Cuzco.

And that proximity means
Inca power is ever-present,

no matter which corner
of the empire you're in.

This road leads down
to Machu Picchu.

It isn't on any of
the tourist itineraries

and it may not be as celebrated
as what lies below.

But it is part of the same empire,
built by the same people

and is, in its own way, just as
important as that iconic Inca ruin.

From a western perspective,
ancient empires are lauded

for victorious battles, ingenious
systems of governance and control,

territorial expansion and
domination through generations.

The Inca achieved all this and more.

If we define power as the ability

to control people's
actions and behaviour,

then I think we have a tremendous
amount to learn from the Inca,

because force was just
one small tool in their armoury.

To give people the
sense of freewill,

to make the decisions
that you want them to make -

that is the source of true power.

And the scale at which the
Inca did it was extraordinary.

But as the Inca
reached their zenith,

they would be visited by foreign
soldiers from across the ocean.

These Spanish conquistadors had
a very different concept of power.

And their determination to build
an empire of their own in this land

would lead to a catastrophic clash

of two completely
different cultures.