Page 52 - Amazon River Cruise & Rain Forest

Although Peru is well known as the land of the Incas, its rich ancient history pre-dates the
Inca Empire by thousands of years. The earliest evidence of indigenous societies goes back to
the eighth millennium BC. There are indications that organized village life was present as long
ago as 2500 BC.

By 1200 BC, several groups had begun moving from the north into what is now Peru. These
included the Chavín, Chimú, Sechìn, Nazca, and Tiahuanaco. The ruins of the Chimú city of
Chanchan, which was built around 1000 AD, still exist today. Another legacy of these early
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coastal area in their time. They portrayed animals, particularly the jaguar, in a distinctive and
impressive style.

New regional cultures arose following the decline of the Chavín and Sechìn around the 5th
century BC. The Saliner and the Paracas made artistic and technological advances including
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cryptic Nazca Lines, were successors to the Paracas culture.

The Incas

The Inca Empire had a surprisingly brief reign at the end of this long pre-colonial history. In
less than a century, the Incas expanded their domain from the river valley around Cuzco to the
whole region from northern Argentina to southern Colombia, including much of present-day
Peru and Ecuador. In addition to their military skill, the Incas had a knack for assimilating the
best features of the peoples they conquered. They built their entire empire between the early
1400s and 1532, when the Spanish conquistadors arrived.

In its prime, the Incan capital at Cuzco was the richest city in all of the Americas, dominated
by gold-plated temples. Though only fragments of Cuzco’s Incan architecture remain, the
renowned ruins at Machu Picchu, an Incan ceremonial center, have survived to astonish
the world.

At the very moment when Francisco Pizarro landed with his band of Spanish conquistadors,
the Inca Empire had been divided and weakened by a dispute over succession to the throne.
Pizarro’s possession of horses and cannons gave him a military advantage, and he also used
deception to exploit the situation. Concealing his true intentions, he arranged a personal
meeting with the Inca ruler Atahualpa, then proceeded to assassinate him. The conquistadors
sacked the city of Cuzco and took control.

Though Inca resistance continued for several years, Atahualpa’s death ended the Inca Empire.
Francisco Pizarro established a new capital city at Ciudad de los Reyes, now Lima, in 1535. It
was there that a rival conquistador killed Pizarro during a factional dispute six years later.

Colonial Period and Independence

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with the indigenous population. In 1780, some 60,000 native people rose up in revolt against
Spanish rule, led by a Peruvian patriot who used the Inca name of Tupac Amaru. The Spanish
ultimately put down this revolt and another in 1814.

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