Inca Heritage in Modern Peru and Bolivia
The Inca Empire collapsed in 1532 with the Spanish conquest, but the legacy of the Incas survives in modern Andean culture in forms that range from the living Quechua language to the agricultural terraces still in use, from the patterns woven into modern Andean textiles to the Inti Raymi festival still performed every June in Cusco. The contemporary Andean nations of Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, and the northwestern corner of Argentina, together with their diasporas in the cities, are arguably the largest surviving cultural inheritance of any pre-Columbian civilization in the Americas.
This survival is partly the result of the deep penetration of Inca institutions in the highland communities, partly the result of the geography of the Andes (which made the imposition of a uniform colonial culture difficult), and partly the result of conscious efforts in the post-independence period to celebrate the Inca past as a marker of national identity.
The Quechua Language
The most visible Inca heritage is the Quechua language, which the Incas spread as a lingua franca across much of the Andes. Quechua is still spoken by some 8 to 10 million people, principally in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, and is one of the official languages of both Peru and Bolivia. Several regional dialects survive: Southern Quechua (in Peru and Bolivia), Ayacucho Quechua, Cusco Quechua, and others. The grammatical structure of Quechua, its rich system of evidential markers, and its vocabulary are direct inheritances from the imperial period.
The survival of Quechua was not guaranteed. The Spanish colonial government discouraged its use, the Catholic Church did not use it for instruction, and the post-independence governments of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries often promoted Spanish as the language of national unity. The survival of Quechua is due largely to the resistance of rural highland communities, who continued to speak it in spite of official pressure, and to the recovery efforts of the late twentieth century, which included bilingual education and a much greater public visibility of indigenous language and culture.
Agricultural Terraces and Andean Crops
The agricultural terraces (andenes) constructed by the Incas are still in use in many parts of the Andes, particularly in the Sacred Valley and around Cusco. Many modern Andean farmers plant the same crops on these terraces that were grown in the Inca period: potatoes of hundreds of native varieties, maize, quinoa, beans, and tubers such as oca and ulluco. The traditional techniques of crop rotation, freezing and drying potatoes (to produce chuño), and terracing are still used.
The continued use of the terraces is in part an economic decision (they are extraordinarily productive in a difficult environment) and in part a cultural inheritance. Many Andean farmers identify the terraces as a tangible link to their Inca ancestors and would resist their abandonment even if economically more productive options were available.
Textiles, Music, and Festivals
The Andean textile tradition is one of the most vibrant and visible legacies of the Inca past. Modern Andean weavers in Cusco, Puno, and Otavalo (Ecuador) still use backstrap looms, natural dyes, and patterns that draw directly on the Inca tradition. The tocapu, the rectangular geometric design that the Incas used to identify rank, has been revived in the modern Andean weaving.
In music, the quena (a vertical flute), the zampoña (panpipes), and the chajcha (a rattle) are direct descendants of Inca instruments, and the songs and dances performed with them remain a central part of Andean ritual life. The most famous festival, the Inti Raymi (Festival of the Sun), is still celebrated every 24 June in Cusco, drawing tens of thousands of visitors and serving as the largest annual celebration of the Inca heritage.
The Inca as National Symbol
The Inca past has been an important part of Peruvian and Bolivian national identity since the nineteenth century. The “Inca” has been invoked as a symbol of the indigenous past and as a mark of continuity with a pre-conquest civilization. The figure of Túpac Amaru II has been taken up as a hero of anti-colonial resistance, and the modern nation of Bolivia in particular has gone furthest in incorporating indigenous Andean identity into its public life: the 2009 constitution of Bolivia, for example, recognizes an “intercultural” plurinational state with Quechua, Aymara, and other indigenous languages as official.
The Inca legacy is, in this sense, not just a museum piece but a living political and cultural resource. It is also a reminder of the extraordinary accomplishments of the Inca state and a touchstone for the modern identity of millions of people in the Andean nations.