Above Illistrtion: Inca Empire Machu Picchu http://s.ngm.com/2011/04/inca-empire/img/inca-empire-machu-picchu-615.jpg
Inca culture was formed from the evolution of various Andean cultures that can be traced back up to 20,000 years ago, when hunters and Neolithic agriculturists lived there. However, it was only in the second and first millennium BCE that the first developed cultures flourished- Valdivia and Chavín. These set the foundations for the Inca empire that can be said to have achieved its potential as well as its religious system as it is known to us by the fifteenth century, either under the Inca Tupac yupanqui, or under his predecessor Inca Pachacuti.
The Inca empire expanded from Cusco, its capital, and conquered a large amount of territory that was inhabited by other cultures. The Incas imposed on these cultures their religion and systems. They built temples to the sun god, Inti, and other temples modelled on the structure of the main temple in Cusco. The Incas allowed the conquered cultures to keep their own beliefs provided they accepted the Incas' religion and system, and paid homage to the Inca and to the gods of the Inca. In exchange for this acceptance they received from the Inca their technological know how.
In the year 1532 the Inca empire was destroyed by the Catholic Spaniards, who also forbade the practice of the Inca religion, especially since the Inca religious practices permeated all aspects of public life. Some cults, however, those belonging to the pre- Inca tradition, survived.
The Inca empire expanded from Cusco, its capital, and conquered a large amount of territory that was inhabited by other cultures. The Incas imposed on these cultures their religion and systems. They built temples to the sun god, Inti, and other temples modelled on the structure of the main temple in Cusco. The Incas allowed the conquered cultures to keep their own beliefs provided they accepted the Incas' religion and system, and paid homage to the Inca and to the gods of the Inca. In exchange for this acceptance they received from the Inca their technological know how.
In the year 1532 the Inca empire was destroyed by the Catholic Spaniards, who also forbade the practice of the Inca religion, especially since the Inca religious practices permeated all aspects of public life. Some cults, however, those belonging to the pre- Inca tradition, survived.