0:00:07.057,0:00:10.218 It was the Western Hemisphere’s [br]largest empire ever, 0:00:10.218,0:00:13.817 with a population [br]of nearly 10 million subjects. 0:00:13.817,0:00:17.957 Over an area of more [br]than 900,000 square kilometers, 0:00:17.957,0:00:21.177 its people built massive [br]administrative centers, 0:00:21.177,0:00:25.658 temples, and extensive road [br]and canal systems. 0:00:25.658,0:00:30.247 They did so in an inhospitable, [br]extreme terrain, 0:00:30.247,0:00:37.959 all without the use of wheels, [br]horses, iron, or even written language. 0:00:37.959,0:00:41.549 Yet within 100 years of its rise [br]in the fifteenth century, 0:00:41.549,0:00:45.388 the Inca Empire would be no more. 0:00:45.388,0:00:47.029 According to legend, 0:00:47.029,0:00:51.728 the ancestors of the Inca rulers [br]were created by the sun god Inti, 0:00:51.728,0:00:55.620 and they emerged[br]from a cave called Tambo Toco. 0:00:55.620,0:01:01.069 Leading four brothers [br]and four sisters was Ayar Manco, 0:01:01.069,0:01:03.670 who carried a golden staff [br]with instructions 0:01:03.670,0:01:06.931 to find the place where [br]it would sink into the ground, 0:01:06.931,0:01:09.280 showing fertile soil. 0:01:09.280,0:01:12.410 After many adventures [br]and extensive searching, 0:01:12.410,0:01:16.620 Ayar Manco and his siblings [br]reached the Cuzco Valley, 0:01:16.620,0:01:19.662 where the staff pierced the ground. 0:01:19.662,0:01:23.201 After fighting off the fierce [br]local native population, 0:01:23.201,0:01:25.030 they founded their capital, 0:01:25.030,0:01:34.842 and Ayar Manco became Manco Capac, [br]the first Sapa Inca, or king of the Incas. 0:01:34.842,0:01:37.192 Archaeological evidence suggests 0:01:37.192,0:01:41.872 that the Incas first settled [br]in this valley around 1200 CE. 0:01:41.872,0:01:45.696 They remained a small kingdom until 1438, 0:01:45.696,0:01:49.971 when they were nearly overrun [br]by the neighboring Chanka tribe. 0:01:49.971,0:01:56.162 The Inca king at this time, Viracocha, [br]and his designated heir fled in fear, 0:01:56.162,0:01:58.102 but one of his other sons remained 0:01:58.102,0:02:01.330 and successfully rallied [br]the city’s defenses. 0:02:01.330,0:02:05.828 For his military skill, he became [br]the ninth Inca ruler, 0:02:05.828,0:02:11.215 assuming the name of Pachacuti, [br]or "Cataclysm." 0:02:11.215,0:02:15.665 Pachacuti expanded Inca rule [br]throughout the Andes mountains, 0:02:15.665,0:02:20.955 transforming the kingdom into [br]an empire through extensive reforms. 0:02:20.955,0:02:28.435 The empire’s territory was reorganized [br]as Tahuantinsuyu, or "four quarters," 0:02:28.435,0:02:32.920 with four divisions ruled [br]by governors reporting to the king. 0:02:32.920,0:02:35.149 Although the Inca had no writing, 0:02:35.149,0:02:39.989 they used a complex system [br]of knotted strings called quipu 0:02:39.989,0:02:44.017 to record numbers [br]and perhaps other information. 0:02:44.017,0:02:47.200 A decimal-based bureaucracy [br]enabled systematic 0:02:47.200,0:02:50.501 and efficient taxation [br]of the empire’s subjects. 0:02:50.501,0:02:56.826 In return, the empire provided security, [br]infrastructure, and sustenance, 0:02:56.826,0:03:01.677 with great storehouses containing [br]necessities to be used when needed. 0:03:01.677,0:03:04.318 Great terraces and irrigation works [br]were built 0:03:04.318,0:03:07.508 and various crops were grown in [br]at different altitudes 0:03:07.508,0:03:10.728 to be transported all over the empire. 0:03:10.728,0:03:13.098 And it was during Pachacuti’s reign 0:03:13.098,0:03:17.738 that the famous estate [br]of Machu Picchu was constructed. 0:03:17.738,0:03:22.847 Pachacuti’s son Topa Inca continued [br]the empire’s military expansion, 0:03:22.847,0:03:28.099 and he eventually became ruler[br]in 1471 CE. 0:03:28.099,0:03:33.620 By the end of his reign, the empire [br]covered much of western South America. 0:03:33.620,0:03:39.219 Topa’s son Huayna Capac [br]succeeded him in 1493. 0:03:39.219,0:03:44.250 But the new ruler’s distant military [br]campaigns strained the social fabric. 0:03:44.250,0:03:49.240 And in 1524, Huayna Capac [br]was stricken by fever. 0:03:49.240,0:03:53.719 Spanish conquistadors had arrived [br]in the Caribbean some time before, 0:03:53.719,0:03:58.711 bringing diseases to which [br]the native peoples had no resistance. 0:03:58.711,0:04:01.278 Millions died in the outbreak, 0:04:01.278,0:04:05.768 including Huayna Capac[br]and his designated heir. 0:04:05.768,0:04:11.501 The vacant throne ignited a civil war[br]between two of the surviving brothers, 0:04:11.501,0:04:14.371 Atahualpa and Huascar, 0:04:14.371,0:04:16.411 greatly weakening the empire. 0:04:16.411,0:04:20.874 In 1532, after finally winning [br]the Inca civil war, 0:04:20.874,0:04:25.763 Atahualpa and his army [br]encountered the European invaders. 0:04:25.763,0:04:27.713 Although greatly outnumbered, 0:04:27.713,0:04:32.433 Francisco Pizarro [br]and his small group of conquistadors 0:04:32.433,0:04:36.843 stunned the king’s much larger force [br]with guns and horses, 0:04:36.843,0:04:39.763 neither of which they had seen before. 0:04:39.763,0:04:44.794 Atahualpa was taken captive [br]and killed about a year later. 0:04:44.794,0:04:49.383 The Spanish conquerors [br]were awed by the capital of Cuzco. 0:04:49.383,0:04:55.914 Pizarro described it as so beautiful that[br]“it would be remarkable even in Spain.” 0:04:55.914,0:04:57.674 Though the capital had fallen 0:04:57.674,0:05:01.932 and the native population had been[br]destroyed by civil war and disease, 0:05:01.932,0:05:06.755 some Incas fell back to [br]a new capital at Vilcabamba 0:05:06.755,0:05:09.455 and resisted for the next 40 years. 0:05:09.455,0:05:15.385 But by 1572, the Spaniards had destroyed [br]all remaining resistance 0:05:15.385,0:05:19.217 along with much of the Incas’ physical [br]and cultural legacy. 0:05:19.217,0:05:25.428 Thus, the great Inca empire fell [br]even faster than it had risen.