The travels of Pedro de Cieza de Léon; part 2Cieza de León, Pedro de
History
The travels of Pedro de Cieza de Léon; part 2
Cieza de León, Pedro de
Incas; Peru -- History -- To 1548
Although I might write the events of the reign of Sinchi Roca Inca, son
of Manco Capac the founder of Cuzco, in this place, it has seemed to me
that there will be confusion further on if the system of the government
of these lords is not explained as one whole. For one ordered one set of
laws, and others others. For example, one introduced the system of
_mitimae_,[85] others the plan of having garrisons of soldiers in fixed
positions for the defence of the kingdom. All these regulations are
important and worthy to be remembered, that the learned statesmen who
regulate the affairs of civilized governments may be informed of them,
and may feel astonished at the knowledge that a barbarous people without
letters should have been found to have had institutions such as we know
that they possessed, both with reference to internal polity and to their
plans of extending their dominion over other nations. Under a monarchy
they obeyed one Lord, who alone was deemed worthy to reign in an empire
which the Incas possessed, extending over more than one thousand two
hundred leagues of coast. In order to avoid the necessity for saying
that some assert that particular institutions were introduced by one
lord, and others by another, on which points many of the native accounts
differ, I will relate, in this place, what I understand and hold for
certain, in conformity with the statements that I took down from their
mouths in the city of Cuzco, which are corroborated by the remains that
they have left, and which are visible to those who have travelled
through Peru.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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