Women's Role During The Inca Empire (1438-1533) And After Independence

Women’s role during the Inca Empire (1438–1533) and after Independence

ABSTRACT

In the following paper, we will see the role of women change from a submissive role during the Inca Empire to an activist in the present.

Many empires developed and declined before 1500 CE. Imperialism had great impact on the status and roles of women, for example in noble women’s roles in marriage, religious rituals, power structures and legal rights (“Imperialism and Colonialism” web). In the following paragraphs, we will understand women’s role in the Inca Empire, and how it changed after independence (if it did at all).

The Inca Empire was a vast South American state and it required the participation of women politically, religiously, and economically (“Imperialism and Colonialism” web). In these, women and men for the most part had parallel positions and roles, at the same time; women were usually subordinate to the men (Silverblatt 36). At the highest level, the Inca king made one of his sisters his main wife. This union would bring wealth and status, and this women could rule as queen (quya) in her husband’s absence, and exercised great power in determining the royal heir with her “deciding vote” if the vote of the king’s council (represented by the four imperial regions) was deadlocked (“Imperialism and Colonialism” web). It is important to note that a royal couple was put in place to rule not just the king, thus this wielded the queen influence on political affairs. However, the king could take other wives such as the daughters of provincial rulers so that they may serve as links in political alliances (Silverblatt 39).

In addition to her political role, the queen had religious responsibilities particularly those of the women (“Imperialism and Colonialism” web). The queen’s role was especially important during the agricultural cycle when fertility was of utmost concern. Besides the queen, other women were selected from throughout the empire at a young age to serve the Inca state (Silverblatt 40). These girls of about eight to ten years of age were highly trained, and they too could become the king’s secondary wives. Also, the highly trained girls called aqllas could also be consecrated to the gods thus spent their lives in religious service such as priestess, teachers, shrine helpers, and weaving textiles for sacred or ordinary uses, and making chicha (maize beer) for the gods and high ranking people of the Inca Empire (Silverblatt 41).

As for the ordinary citizens of the Inca Empire, the men produced agricultural crops, herded llamas and alpacas, manufactured crafts, and fulfilled military duties (“Imperialism and Colonialism” web). The women mainly cared for the children, prepared food, made beer, spun and weaved. There were some tasks that overlapped, for example, women prepared fields for planting and men weaved. They both worked as miners, porters on military campaigns, and manufacturers of metals and pottery (Silverblatt 41). As the empire continued to grow, there was an increase in demand for labor in the military, public works, craft production and transportation.

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