Women of the Incan empire: Before and after the conquest of Peru

 Women of the Incan empire: Before and after the conquest of Peru

By Sarah Hunt

The day Pizarro set foot in Peru the Incas found their world forever altered. Within a few short years, the Spanish had conquered the Incan Empire, rearranging the life of an entire nation. While the Spanish conquest touched every Incan person, women were profoundly affected by this shift in power. In pre-conquest Peru, Andean women were part of a highly structured society, and held a complementary role to their male counterparts. However, after the Spanish conquest, women had to navigate through an entirely different society.

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Incan society was meticulously structured, and everyone had a distinct social niche. Though Andean society was a hierarchical patriarchy, it was not as extreme as the Spanish patriarchy, and women occupied a complimentary, rather than subordinate role to men. At the top of the feminine hierarchy was the Quoya, or queen. As the Inca, or king’s primary wife, she bore the title “Queen of all women.” Far from a mere consort, the Quoya held political power, could inherit land, and oversaw some of the feminine religious orders. The king’s secondary wives, though well respected, had less power than the Quoya. Below the Quoya and secondary wives were spouses of noblemen and royal administrators. Next in line were acllas—or chosen women. Similar to the vestal virgins of ancient Greece, acllas were chosen for their beauty and purity to become priestesses of the Sun and other deities, and made up an integral part of Incan religious institutions. The majority of women were commoners, and worked as farmers, weavers, and housewives, forming the backbone of society. After the conquest, this carefully ordered social structure was replaced with a wholly patriarchal Spanish model. The Quoya was dethroned, and the acllas order was destroyed, Hunt 3 considered pagan by the Catholic Spanish. Some semblance of Incan hierarchy remained among noblewomen, who were recognized by the Spanish as being of noble blood, and thus retained some status. The Spanish treated the common women as little better than slaves.

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Examining women in conquest history provides an intimate look at gender and power relations, socio-economics, and the shifting familial and cultural roles within post-conquest Peru. Women were the foundations of society, and when their roles shifted, it had a ripple effect for the broader social constructs. The drastically altered roles of indigenous women reflected the shifts in Andean society as a whole, and the experience of indigenous peoples under Spanish rule. Though beset by abuse, discrimination, and inequality, they still managed to navigate their society with an inspiring spirit of resilience and strength.

Hunt, Sarah A., "Women of the Incan Empire: Before and After the Conquest of Peru" (2016). Student Research. 5. https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/hist_studentresearch/5



Source:

Hunt, Sarah A., "Women of the Incan Empire: Before and After the Conquest of Peru" (2016). Student Research. 5. https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/hist_studentresearch/5