The Inca were originally a warlike tribe living near the city of Cuzco in modern Peru. The Inca dynasty was began by Manco Capac in the 13th Century A.D. However, little marked the Inca from the other tribes that inhabited the Andes until around the 15th century A.D., when the Inca Empire under Tupac Yupanqui set itself on a path of conquest of South America. At its largest extent, the Inca Empire covered an area that was one third of the size of the South American continent. In fact it stretched almost the entire length of the western side of the continent from the bordering areas of Colombia in the North to half way down Chile in the South, west to east it stretched from the pacific coast into the Amazon rainforest. In fact there were the largest Native American civilization that ever existed.

The center of Inca civilization however was situated in the Andes Mountains. Their cities and fortresses were built on the slopes of some of the highest mountains in the World. Even though the Inca never had access to the wheel, they built a sophisticated road system to connect their Empire with upwards of 20,000 miles of roads, and a system of foot messengers that was as fast as any modern postal system could manage today. The mountainous terrain could in part explain why the Inca never used the wheel. However, it is not surprising to see how the sheer inaccessibility of some of the Inca strongholds, can explains why the remnants of the Inca Empire was able to hold out against the Spanish for decades. In fact, the city of Machu Picchu located high up in the Andes Mountains, was not discovered by the outside world, after the Inca abandoned it, until the 20th century.

However beginning around 900 B.C., a so-called Chavin culture emerged in the eastern slopes of the Cordillera Blanca in Peru. Their settlements were situated high in the Andes Mountains, between the tropical rainforest and the coastal plains. This culture would become the foundation of all later Peruvian civilizations to follow. Social stratification was also present consisting of a small group of elite, among a much larger group of commoners, as evident from burial sites. They also worshiped a feline god, and built temples equipped with underground chambers dedicated to it's worship. The Chavin culture seemed to have practiced ritual cannibalism from evidence found in these temples. However, advances in art, textiles and metal working also characterized this culture. Interestingly, it also appears that their artwork seemed to have some similarities to the Olmec art found in Central America. The Chavin period saw a period of political unification within Northern Peru. However, the Chavin culture would eventually declined around 300 B.C.

During the Chavin's decline, the Moche located within the river valleys along the Northern Peruvian coast started its emergence. Not much of the Moche culture is known except through archeological evidence of its art. What is known is that, the post-Chavin peoples formed city-states based on a theocracy after the breakup of the unified government. The Moche culture seemed to have gradually spread throughout these city-states as evident from their artwork. It also seemed to have gone through 5 distinct phases of developments. The Moche culture would last over a thousand years until around the 12th century A.D. The Moche would however serve as the cultural antecedents to the two powers that arose in South America shortly before the Spanish arrival, the Chimu and the Inca.

The Chimu was an aggressive expansionist state that thrived between 1100 A.D till the 1400's. The Chimu was known for their extensive irrigation systems. The longest of which stretched twenty miles from the Chicama Valley to their capitol of Chan-Chan. When the expansionist Chimu state grew southwards and encountered the Inca in 1462 A.D., conflict naturally arose. The Inca eventually prevailed over the Chimu in 1476 A.D. by ingeniously cutting off Chan-Chan's water supply. The inhabitants of the city were then resettled at Cuzco, the Inca capitol, to serve the Inca King.

During this time, other South American cultures also developed along side the Moche, which would become part of the Inca Empire, that are also noteworthy. In modern day Bolivia the Tiwanaku, settled the area beginning around 400 B.C. and came to dominate between 400 A.D. to 500 A.D. Their capitol was Tiahuanaco, and believed to have had a population between 30,000 to 60,000 people. They were also pyramid builders, and establish trade networks that eventually reached the majority of the southern Andes. The Tiahuanaco Empire (its people by then as they are now known as the Aymara) finally collapsed between 1000 A.D. and 1100 A.D. becoming divided into twelve separate kingdoms which the Inca was able to exploit. Another culture was the Nazca, that thrived between 250 A.D. till 750 A.D. They were situated on the coastal plain of southern Peru, from the Chincha to Acari valleys. They are perhaps one of the most mysterious peoples in the history of the Earth. Their claim to fame comes from the gigantic geoglyths that they sculpted into the landscapes where they inhabited. The purpose of these massive drawings is uncertain. It is still debated how they managed to create art at such a scale, let alone its meaning, but it is thought that they are connected to their beliefs and economical systems.

The Inca has a social structure, consisted of many levels with the "Sapa Inca" at the top. He served as ruler, high priest and supreme army commander. The royal family formed an educated, governing upper nobility that served as Priests, architects and regional army commanders were next. Then all who spoke Quechua, the native tongue of the tribe from which the Inca dynasty came from became an "Inca" class and held colonial privileges over the lands conquered by the Inca. Lesser administrative officials, were derived from formerly independent rulers, and their descendants. They formed the minor nobility that controlled their former subjects in servitude to the Inca, however they could never become a part of the "Inca" class. Artisans, and soldiers form the next lower class. Farmers and herders, who employed Llamas as pack animals and for its meat, were at the bottom of the social ladder. The farmers were charged with providing subsistence for the rest of the population and also had to pay tax in the form of gold, to the higher classes. The social structure was very strict but it was not impossible for someone to advance his or her social status. The Inca however, did not have a written language, instead they used a record keeping system using knots on ropes called Quipus.

The Inca justice system was also very severe, most crimes were punishable by death. The Inca worshiped a number of Gods, the six major gods of the Inca represent the moon, sun, earth, lightning and the sea. The Sun God Inti was the most revered and most powerful of the Inca mythology. Worship of the Inca gods took place at the heighest peaks that the Inca could find, as they held such places sacred. The Inca Sun Temple, was located at Machu Picchu situated at an altitude of 8,000 feet. It is not surprising that the Inca buried their Royalty on top of mountain peaks so that they could be close to their Sun God. As a result the cold dry air and the ice atop the mountains managed to mummify and preserve the remains to the present day. The city of Macchu Pichu was built between 1460 A.D. and 1470 A.D. by Emperor Tupac Yupanqui, the 9th and most expansive Emperor in the Inca dynasty. It is believed that the city was used for solely religion purposes. So few people outside the emperor's closest retainers were actually aware of its existence. This would turn out to be fortuitous because prior to the Spanish conquest, a smallpox epidemic and then a civil war easily erased the knowledge of its existence even to the Inca themselves. The secret of Machu Picchu was preserved from the outside world, and most importantly the Spanish conquerors intent on erasing the Inca culture and plundering its wealth. It was not until 1911 A.D. when the world was more ready to learn what the Inca civilization had to teach, was it discovered by American archaeologist Hiram Bingham.

Unfortunately for Atahualpa, the Spanish arrived at exactly the wrong time. Francisco Pizarro arrived in Inca territory that same year. with a force of 180 men, and a determination to make his fortunes as Cortez had done in conquering the Aztecs a few decades earlier. As Atahualpa made his way towards the Inca capitol to meet with the bulk of his army and to officially take the throne, he was informed of the Spanish visitors' demands to meet with him. He was more concerned with consolidating his power so he did not take the small Spanish contingent very seriously. However he did agree to meet but mostly with unarmed attendants and officials. Upon the meeting the Spanish presented him with a bible and a demand that he renounce his gods and accept treaty with Spain. Naturally he did not, and threw the book down on the ground. The Spanish used this excuse to attack, a rush managed to capture the Inca Emperor. The Inca army became confused and disheartened by the capture of their King. Terrified by the Spaniards' strange weapons and horses, the Inca retinue that number in the thousands were annihilated, while the Spanish achieved their goal of capturing the Inca ruler, without taking any serious casualties. The Inca ruler now sought to gain his freedom by offering the Spaniards a treasure in gold and silver. So over the next few months a room full of gold (eleven tones) and even more in silver was delivered to the Spanish as they held Atahualpa hostage. However, as soon as the ransom demands were met, Atahualpa was strangled to death by the Spanish.

Atahualpa's capture and subsequent murder not only deprived the empire of leadership at a crucial moment, but also revived the hopes of his recently defeated pro-Huascar opponents, who had hoped to form an alliance with this new power in the region, the Spanish. Manco Capac II, an ally of Huascar, was thusly crown Emperor the by the pro-Huascar forces with their new allies, the Spanish. The native South American tribes originally though the Spanish were merely just another force to be bargained with, but the increasingly rapacious behavior of the Spanish eventually changed the minds of their former native allies. Manco Capac II also finally saw the subservient role he was being put into by the Spanish and thus lead a rebellion against them in 1536 A.D. The rebellion was defeated but Manco Capac II managed to escape and establish an independent kingdom deep in the interior of the Andes Mountains.

The Spanish however managed to consolidate their control over much of the former Inca territory over the next few decades despite facing native resistance and internal divisions among the victorious Spaniards. Establishing the city of Lima as their power base, converting its population to Christianity, and transforming the former Inca Capitol into a city thoroughly Spanish in character. In 1571 A.D. Tupac Amaru, the son of Manco Capac II led the indigenous rural population in an uprising against the Spanish. The Spanish took the opportunity to finally rid itself of the old Inca power structure, capturing and executing Tupac Amaru. The independent Inca State would hold out until 1572 A.D. The next few centuries saw the various South American states emerge as former conquistadors, and the Spanish crown vied for control of the colonial possessions.

In 1780 A.D., Jose Gabriel Condorcanqui, who served as the representative leader of the indigenous population had the chief magistrate appointed by the Spanish crown arrested on charges of cruelty. He took the name Tupac Amaru II and led a general uprising of indigenous people against the Spanish authority. The greed of Spanish rule, the cultural and social destruction caused even former Conquistadores at the end of their lives to express regret. So it is not surprising the revolt even gained the support of some of the Spanish descendents. The rebellion, spread from Peru into Bolivia and Argentina but lost support when it degenerated into a race war between the indigenous people and the white colonialists. Tupac Amaru II was captured in 1781 A.D. and taken to Cuzco where, after being forced to witness the execution of his wife and children, he was quartered and beheaded. However, subsequent indigenous rebel groups would still invoke the name of Tupac Amaru in their struggles.

In the next century the various South American states would seek their independence from Spain. Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Ecuador declared war on the Spain and finally expelled the Spanish crown in 1866 A.D. The silver mines had also finally ran out a few decades earlier. The Peruvian economy's dependence on a single resource, which saw it shift from gold and silver mining to exporting bird droppings for fertilizer would characterize what would follow for Peru. While more lucrative resources such as oil, sugar cane and cotton would be developed, the largely anachronistic agrarian society that had changed little for centuries, was unable to lift Peru out of its poor economic prospects. The unstable economic structure would lead to wars with its neighbors, rebellions, military dictatorships, political corruption and economic uncertainty that would continue through the 20th century and into the present day. Purhaps the expression "the higher they climb, the harder they fall" provides an ironic keynote to this once great civilizaton.

The first set of Inca unique units is a melee replacement for light infantry starting in the classical age. These would probably serve as a very cost-effective defensive force but probably not strong enough to use as an early rushing force. What is probably a better option is to use the Inca tremendous wealth generating ability to buy into the Enlightenment Age where they get their next set of unique units, the Inca Mortar. This unit will be extremely useful to the Inca player, as the name of the game is city capture, and you need good siege to do this. The Inca player should also have a great deal of metal collected if they followed my advice on mining. This will allow them to buy plenty of siege weapons to take enemy cities. Supplement these with a mixed bag of troops to use as fodder while the siege does its work. Keep up the pressure and try to take out your opponents before they and you have to advance pass the Industrial age, when the Inca have used up all their unique unit lines. While the wealth-mining bonus will continue to bolster their economy, the lack of unique units to spearhead an attack will make late game conquests more difficult compared to other civs. The Inca player will instead have to accumulate an overwhelming economic advantage over their opponents so that they are able to afford to build massive armies to throw at their enemies.

• Light Infantry

• Artillery Line

• Archer Line