The
Incans ruled a vast empire in western South America when the Spaniards encountered them in the
sixteenth century. Although the Incas had no writing system of their own,
historical information about Incas is available to researchers
because early Spaniards wrote documents about them. However, there are
drawbacks to use the written record. First, the Spanish writers were describing
activities and institutions that were very different from their own, but
they often described Inca culture in terms of their own society. As an example, consider the list of kings given by the Incas. As presented in the historical chronology, Spanish sources
indicate there were thirteen kings who ruled sequentially. The names were given
to them by Inca informants. However, one school of thought in Inca
studies suggests that the names were not actual people, but, rather, titles
filled by different individuals. Thus, the number of actual kings may have been
fewer, and several titles may have been filled at the same time. The early Spanish
writers, being unfamiliar with such a system of titles, simply translated it into
something they were familiar with (a succession of kings). Given that the Inca empire expanded only during the time of the last four kings, or as a result of the actions of the individuals in those four positions, this question is not
deemed significant for an understanding of the Incas. But the example
shows that biases and inaccuracies
may have been introduced inadvertently from the very beginning of the written Spanish reports about the Incas. Moreover, early writers often copied
information from each other - so misinformation was likely to be passed on and accepted as true by later scholars.
Second, both Spanish writers and Incan informants sometimes had motives for being deliberately deceitful.
For example, in an effort to gain status in the Spaniards' eyes, Incas might say that
they formerly had been more important
in the Inca empire than they actually were. Spanish officials as well were occasionally untruthful when it
served their purposes. For example, Spaniards might deliberately underreport the
productivity of a region under their authority so they could sell the
additional products and keep the money,
rather than hand it over to the Spanish Crown.
Third,
it should be noted that the Spaniards' main sources of information were the Incas themselves, often members
of the Inca ruling class. Therefore, what
was recorded was the Incas' point of view about their own history and empire. Some modern authorities question whether the history of Incas happened as they said it did. Although some of their history is certainly more myth than truth, many, if not most, scholars agree that the history of the last four Inca kings
is probably accurate. The same is true of other things told to the Spanish writers: the more recently an
event is said to have occurred, the more likely it is to have actually happened.
A fourth problem relates to the nature of the Inca conquests of the other people
in the Americas before the Spanish arrived and how accurate the accounts of those conquests
are - whether related by the Spaniards or by the Incas on whom they relied. It was certainly in the Inca's interest to describe themselves as invincible and
just. However, lacking accounts by conquered people about their interactions with the
Incas, it is unknown how much of the information of the Inca conquest as
related by the ruling class is factual.
Finally, there is a certain vagueness in the historical record regarding places and names. Many Spanish writers listed places they had visited within the empire, including both provinces and
towns. However, other writers traveling along the same routes sometimes recounted
different lists of places. In addition, it is difficult to identify the
exact locations of towns and other
geographic points of reference because of the widespread movements of people over the past five centuries.
For
all these reasons, the historical record must be carefully evaluated to determine
whether it is accurate and to verify the locations of past events. One approach is to cross-check information from a number of authors. Another approach is to conduct archaeological research. Regardless of the problems, historical documents review some important information about the Incas.
