Inca Warfare Rough draft

The ancient South American people known today as “The Inca” were great warriors. They rarely lost any battles and therefore grew in military power, tactics, and diversity. 

The Inca used a variety of different weapons. They handled slings with great accuracy up to 70 meters away and boleadoras (heavy stones attached to a rope, similar to the hammer throw track event) which were also extremely accurate when used by an experienced Incan boleador. They also utilized truncheons, long and short spears, clubs, maces, bows and arrows. The Inca also had an arsenal of armour, though limited it was still useful. This protective attire consisted of wooden or copper shields for higher ranked officers, copper forehead plates and wooden helmets for any soldier that found it comfortable enough to use during battle, and a copper or leather chest apron cushioned with cotton for high ranking officers.

The Incan Sling was an accurate and 

precise killing tool that launched

projectiles such as stones.

The Inca made use of this wide array of weapons to their advantage. They would bring into play the long range weapons, such as the boleadoras, bows, and slings as a first wave of attack. This would help to weaken the enemy forces before hand to hand combat commenced, lessening the amount of Inca casualties. Once the long range weapons ran out of ammunition the real fight began. The army usually split up into three battalions. Two battalions would flank the enemy forces while the third attacked from the front, eventually encircling the opposing army and eliminating them or forcing them to surrender.

The Boleador was a stone

attached to a rope and was thrown

at enemies in a manner similar to that

of the hammer throw event in a track competition.

Although this was their main and most basic strategy they had many different ones for many different situations. In the event of a siege battle they would first try and negotiate with the enemy. If negotiation failed they would cut all supply lines, communications with the outside world and trading routes. Or they would just storm the fortress if it was badly guarded or protected.

The Inca were rather lenient when it came to conquered lands. They would give the target a chance to surrender. If they resisted the vast and powerful Inca army would sweep in and force them to. Depending on the amount of resistance the enemy would be either annihilated, or accepted into the Inca society as an Inca, with equal rights and laws. If great resistance was encountered the enemy leaders would be executed while the rest of the people were added to the Inca society. Conquered people were allowed to keep their religious beliefs and were allowed to keep performing their rituals. This merciful nature urged many peoples to give up without a fight.

Military service was mandatory for all Incan men. From the age of 16 onwards military training was considered part of the education of every young man. These soon to be Incan warriors were trained intensively for 3-4 years in all aspects of battle. They were forced to train in all of the weapons in the arsenal of the Inca until this period of time was over. Then they would need to choose the one to their liking. If chosen an Incan man could be kept in the professional army. This was considered a great honour and this select group would become the future officers. Military service ensured that the Inca always had an army that would outnumber any other and could be mobilized within days.

 The Incan military was superior to others of the time in many ways. They were very disciplined. Also they greatly outnumbered their enemies due to the obligatory military service. This vast army helped conquer many lands. And with each land conquered their military grew in both numbers and intelligence. For example as more civilizations were conquered warriors trained in many different types of terrain were added to the army (swamps, grasslands, mountains, hills, forests). This also added to their weapon arsenal and array of fighting styles. They were also incredibly organised and had great tacticians and strategists who could create ingenious ways of defeating the enemy with as little collateral damage as possible. 

Works Cited

Boleador. N.d. Home Comcast. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2010. <http://home.comcast.net/‌~DiazStudents/_units1.htm>.

Braided Sling. N.d. Galwest. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2010. <http://www.galwest.com/‌artifacts/_america/_sling2.htm>.

“Inca.” MNSU. Minnesota State University, n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2010. <http://www.mnsu.edu//‌prehistory////.html>.

“Inca Army.” Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org//_army>.

“Inca Weapons.” New 7 Wonder. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2010. <http://www.peru-travel-confidential.com/‌inca-weapons.html>.