Kuraka
Inca Empire |
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Inca society |
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Inca history |
A kuraka (
The kurakas were the heads of the ayllus (clan-like family units) and of federations of ayllus, called chiefdoms or curacazgos.[5] During the Inca Empire, the Sapa Inca governed with the help of the existing local hierarchies.[5] They served as tax collector, and held religious authority, in that they mediated between the supernatural sphere and the mortal realm. They were responsible for making sure the spirit world blessed the mortal one with prosperity, and were held accountable should disaster strike, such as a drought.[6] Kurakas enjoyed privileges such as being exempt from taxation, the right to polygamy and to ride in a litter.[4]
The kuraka was an aristocrat who frequently, but not always, descended from the previous generation.[7] Kuraka means 'superior' or 'principal', and his authority was granted by the Inca.[8] Each ayllu and chiefdom had four kurakas: two of them ruled the upper and lower (hanan and hurin) parts, and each of these had an assistant. However, of the four, one kuraka was superior to the rest.[9]
With the conquest of Peru by the Spanish, the Spanish system of rule utilized indigenous leaders as mediators to mobilize labor and tribute from their communities for delivery to Spaniards awarded those benefits in
Magisterial Authority
One of the functions of the kurakas was to choose a bride for adult males, aged 25 and over, who could not choose, or had not chosen, a wife. The kurakas could also decide, in the event two men wanted to marry the same woman, which man would be allowed to marry.[10] The kurakas also dealt with minor crimes, but had to refer major crimes to the provincial capital.[11] Among other duties, the kurakas settled disputes, allocated agricultural lands, organized community events, and officiated ceremonies.[12]
Kurakas in the Spanish colonial era
The kurakas experienced a transformation during the first years of
The role of the kuraka was further transformed in the late colonial era. In the late eighteenth century during the
See also
Further reading
- Abercrombie, Thomas (1998). "Tributes to Bad Conscience: Charity, Restitution, and Inheritance in Cacique and Encomendero Testaments of 16th-Century Charcas". In Kellogg, Susan; Restall, Matthew (eds.). Dead Giveaways: Indigenous Testaments of Colonial Mesoamerica and the Andes. University of Utah Press. pp. 249–289. ISBN 978-0-87480-579-6.
- Cahill, David (1999). "Violencia, represión y rebelión en el Sur Andino: la sublevación de Túpac Amaru y sus consecuencias". Instituto de Estudios Peruanos.
- Méndez, Cecilia. The Plebeian Republic: The Huanta Rebellion and the Making of the Peruvian state, 1820-1850. Durham: Duke University Press 2005.
- Ramírez, Susan E. (1 November 1987). "The 'Dueño de Indios': Thoughts on the Consequences of the Shifting Bases of Power of the 'Curaca de los Viejos Antiguos' under the Spanish in Sixteenth-Century Peru". Hispanic American Historical Review. 67 (4): 575–610. .
- Ramirez, Susan E., "Rich Man, Poor Man, Beggar Man, or Chief: Material Wealth as a Basis for Power in Sixteenth-Century Peru." In Dead Giveaways: Indigenous Testaments of Colonial Mesoamerica and the Andes, Eds. Susan Kellogg and Matthew Restall. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press 1998, pp. 215-248.
- Saignes, Thierry. Caciques, tribute, and migration in the southern Andes: Indian society and the seventeenth-century colonial order. Trans. Paul Garner. London: University of London 1985.
- Serulnikov, Sergio (1996). "Disputed Images of Colonialism: Spanish Rule and Indian Subversion in Northern Potosí, 1777-1780". The Hispanic American Historical Review. 76 (2): 189–226. JSTOR 2517139.
- Spalding, Karen (1973). "Kurakas and Commerce: A Chapter in the Evolution of Andean Society". The Hispanic American Historical Review. 53 (4): 581–599. JSTOR 2511901.
- Spalding, Karen (1970). "Social Climbers: Changing Patterns of Mobility among the Indians of Colonial Peru". The Hispanic American Historical Review. 50 (4): 645–664. JSTOR 2512307.
- Stern, Steve J. (1981). "The Rise and Fall of Indian-White Alliances: A Regional View of 'Conquest' History". The Hispanic American Historical Review. 61 (3): 461–491. JSTOR 2513394.
References
- ^ Teofilo Laime Ajacopa, Diccionario Bilingüe Iskay simipi yuyayk'ancha, La Paz, 2007 (Quechua-Spanish dictionary)
- ^ Diccionario Quechua - Español - Quechua, Academía Mayor de la Lengua Quechua, Gobierno Regional Cusco, Cusco 2005 (Quechua-Spanish dictionary)
- ^ Puerto Rico. Office of Historian (1949). Tesauro de datos historicos: indice compendioso de la literatura histórica de Puerto Rico, incluyendo algunos datos inéditos, periodísticos y cartográficos (in Spanish). Impr. del Gobierno de Puerto Rico. p. 306. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- ^ ISBN 0-8094-9870-7.
- ^ a b Itier, César (2008). Les incas (in French). Paris: Les Belles Lettres. pp. 69–71.
- ISBN 0-8047-4922-1.
- ^ Timothy K. Earle and Allen W. Johnson, The evolution of human societies: from foraging group to agrarian state Stanford: Stanford University Press 1987, p.263
- ISBN 978-0-292-71485-4.
- ISBN 978-0-393-33301-5.
- ISBN 0-8094-9870-7.
- ISBN 0-8094-9870-7.
- ISBN 0-8047-1339-1.
- ^ Cecilia Méndez, The Plebeian Republic: The Huanta Rebellion and the Making of the Peruvian State. Durham: Duke University Press 2005, p. 102.
- ^ Teresa Gisbert, Iconografía y mitos indígenas en el arte. La Paz: Gisbert y Cía 1980, p. 117.
- ^ Méndez, Plebeian Republic, p. 102.
- ^ Méndez, Plebeian Republic, p. 103, David Cahill, "Conclusion" in Peter Bradley and David Cahill, Habsburg Peru: Images, Imagination, and Memory. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press 2000, p. 140.
- ^ Méndez, Plebeian Republic, pp. 102-5.