The Llama, the Incas, Perú and the Andes
by Charles Young and Karl Klooster

The Inca Empire
(continued)

The word "Inca" actually comes from the title of Sapa Inca (Sole Lord), their absolute and indisputable ruler. They worshipped the Sun, and the Inca, believed to be the son of the Sun, was treated like a god on earth.

To know what was going on at any time, anywhere in his vast empire, the Inca was served by an elite group of messengers, called Chasquis (runners).

Stationed every few miles over the length and breadth of the road system, the Chasquis carried messages for the Inca. These "messages" were a complex series of knotted, colored strings called "quipus" (meaning knots), on which all manner of information was recorded in knots based on tens.

The quipus were used in place of a written language by the Incas. By "reading" them, the Lord Inca was able to determine numbers of llamas or men involved in a project, quantities of food available, days required to repair a bridge, which bridge, etc.

A Chasqui had to memorize which knot string stood for which subject by color. He then ran as fast as he could to the next station where he would pass the quipus and information on to the next runner.

That Chasqui would then go to the next and so on, in relay fashion. In this manner, the Lord Inca received news of important events from the farthest reaches of his 3,000-mile-long domain in no more than five days. In the same way, he could dine daily on fresh ocean fish at his palace in Cuzco, high in the Andes.