The Inca Empire was one of the largest and most successful of the empires of the Americas, being part of the "Big Three" which most people are familiar with. It started out as a small city-state in the Cusco Valley, that grew to encompass much of the region under the reign of Pachacuti(1438-1471), and later on under his successors. It is still debated whether the Inca expansion was the result of one political and military genius, or a culmination of social, political, and economic factors that culminated into the inevitability of large-scale conquest by a central Andean power. The question I would like to ask is, what if another Andean state, perhaps the Chimu, or one of the Aimara principalities, achieved a similar expansion and united the region under it's banner? How would it's culture and technology differ? How would the history of the Andes be changed? How would it react to the Spanish? And how would a culture and language which is formerly hegemonic over an empire fare under the Spaniards if conquest still happens as OTL? Which polities are most likely to do this?
WI: Non-Incan "Inca"
- Thread starter SunKing105
- Start date
-
- Tags
- inca inca empire
i'm in the early stages of development for an idea that the OTL war between the Inca and the Chanca goes in the other direction and the Chanca end up taking over the whole region. current thinking is that they're still in charge when the Spanish arrive and the Inca become Tlaxcalla-like quislings working for the Spanish as revenge with the Chimu/Moche and others caught in the middle. as yet, though, i'm not really certain on alot of this.
the problem is who does it ? Chimu was not an andean state it was a coastal one
,
the Charca confedration while strong would not exert authority beyond apurimac , there is an argument to be made that (if the incans are correct ) the chankas where rising to prominence but some other claimed that was just exageration on Pachacutec part to make his victory even more great and that the chancas where not as strong and would not have taken cuzco with out a hard figth but if that is the case then pachacutec father was really cowardly , assmuing the inca story is true the chankas which had expanded from as far north as ayacucho so maybe they could.
,
the Charca confedration while strong would not exert authority beyond apurimac , there is an argument to be made that (if the incans are correct ) the chankas where rising to prominence but some other claimed that was just exageration on Pachacutec part to make his victory even more great and that the chancas where not as strong and would not have taken cuzco with out a hard figth but if that is the case then pachacutec father was really cowardly , assmuing the inca story is true the chankas which had expanded from as far north as ayacucho so maybe they could.
I used a bit of a loose definition when I said "Andean", I mean the peoples within the general cultural and material region or influenced very heavily by it, instead of being strictly geographically based in the Andes mountains, so Chimu and other related cultures are acceptable.
It's unlikely the Wari will manage to survive long enough to European contact.
no , i was just stating that it is possible if the wari manged to do it another one could
still unlikely as seen by the map chimu had about 300 years and expanded only in the costal regions.
An Aymara version of Tenochtitlan on the shores of Lake Titicaca would be really cool.
That's understandable, though the Chimu as a culture are unlikely to have much success in the Andes. They could certainly do it but it'd require more stars aligning versus say, the Chancas, who the Inca considered the equivalent of mountain Mongols.
If sailing spreads in the South American coast, then the economy of the coastal states will benefit and improve as they trade with each other and Mesoamerica. This more developed coast might eventually create an empire like the Chimu and while its immediate expansion targets would be other coastal states, they'd eventually expand into the highlands to protect their flanks. One notable aspect is they'd lack the command economy the Inca had, for better or worse. The Chimu are unfortunately on the far south of this so they'd likely not be this empire. Maybe the Tumaco-La Tolita culture (which extended to the San Juan estuary northwest of Buenaventura in Colombia)? Although it could be any group in this area.
Something like this happened in the TL Land of Sweetness, with a coastal South American state imposing themselves over much of the Andes.
And this would be with an indigenous development of sailing so no Polynesians needed. Although sustained contact with them would be interesting since this would mean coastal states get chickens, breadfruit, and a few agricultural developments a generation or two (at minimum) earlier meaning a stronger economy and yet more advantage over the mountain peoples.
Also in terms of other Andean empires, I'd love to see a Muisca wank since they never seem to get a lot of time in TLs here.
Something like this happened in the TL Land of Sweetness, with a coastal South American state imposing themselves over much of the Andes.
And this would be with an indigenous development of sailing so no Polynesians needed. Although sustained contact with them would be interesting since this would mean coastal states get chickens, breadfruit, and a few agricultural developments a generation or two (at minimum) earlier meaning a stronger economy and yet more advantage over the mountain peoples.
Also in terms of other Andean empires, I'd love to see a Muisca wank since they never seem to get a lot of time in TLs here.