Rules of the Ruling

Initial thoughts of Garcilaso's Royal Commentaries of the Incas

Family portrait of Manco Capac with his father the Sun.

I am thoroughly enjoying reading the Royal Commentaries of the Inca and the History of Peru so far because I feel like I am finally getting a more solid understanding of the Incas and how their civilization came to be. I will say that many of these tales do indeed sound like fables as Garcicilaso writes, although, this is on brand with the presentation of Incan astrology that we learned about at the Planetarium last night. What is fascinating, yet also frustrating about astrology is how there are different interpretations for the different orientations of the stars. It often feels arbitrary to me but perhaps the flexibility and creativity that comes with these stories of the stars is what contributes to the novelty and excitement. This is not an experience post though so let’s discuss the text now (more stars to come in the next post though!).

In the beginning sections of the book, Garcilaso writes about the origins of the Incan empire and the fable of the two children of the Sun (yes the Sun in the sky), where they were sent down to build civilizations and teach the “savages” how to live, clothe, and feed themselves like men instead of animals. What I thought was particularly interesting was how in these new civilizations Manco Capac, an individual who is believed to be the first ruler of the Incan empire, was quite strict in how they allowed their people to conduct themselves.

For example, Manco Capac permitted his subjects to cut their hair, but only in specific lengths and hairstyles to differentiate between their role and rank, and province or origin. Later, Manco Capac allowed their subjects to pierce their ear, but within specific parameters that differentiated between their rank, and the province of origin. Coming from a time where individual expression has been fought for and is now more widely accepted, it is striking to me that these traditions were faithfully followed to prevent confusion. The need to differentiate between people’s roles, ranks and places of origin is often used as a tool of oppression as it allows one to impose a judgment on another person based on these qualities. Perhaps I have not read far enough and there is a more meaningful reason for these restrictions, however, in our current socio-political climate where religion often divides us, race disconnects us, and wealth classifies us, my first reaction is to reject this practice that Manco Capac facilitated. In our present-day society, it is much more valuable to find commonality and seek ways to connect considering how divisive we have become. Of course, there are most likely very practical reasons for differentiating people by their rank and place of origin during the Incan times, but my initial rejection demonstrates how foreign and unwelcome this concept would be today, at least in the circles I surround myself in. However, after further consideration of this topic, I’ve come to realize that these differentiations in class are less institutionalized, but they still present themselves in different ways such as with the clothes we choose to dress with, the schools we attend, and other superficial characteristics that may be less obvious exist nonetheless.

I couldn’t find an image representing the different hairstyles and earrings for ranks but this is a diagram of Incan class society from the website Ancient Inca Empire which illustrates some of the different dress and hairstyles of the various social classes.

Another aspect of the book that struck me is how Garcilaso is very obviously cynical about the validity of the fables of the Sun and their descendants (I guess this cynicism is warranted though). It is believed that the fable of the Sun was fabricated in order to convince the people to obey him and follow the path of natural progress. Manco Capac was successful in convincing the people that he was not like other men and that he was the son of the heavenly body, but this makes me ponder about the ethics of ruling whether people would prefer to live in ignorance, and how they would react to the truth. Would anarchy ensue if Manco Capac was revealed to be a fraud? This argument that a heavenly body is best fit to rule reminds me of Plato’s philosopher-king argument where it is believed that some individuals are inherently more fit to rule. However, Manco Capac’s rule is arguably less controversial (if true) because it is certainly harder to disagree with the son of THE SUN GOD, rather than an educated elite.

My question to the class: what do you think of Manco Capac’s use of fables to create unquestioning loyalty and adherence to his rule? There are costs and benefits associated with this path to control but do you think there was a better alternative, and what would the implications be?