THE EMPIRE

This was the largest and most ancient empire on the American continent. Its imperial seat was the city of Cusco. It dated from 1200 ad. The word Tahuantinsuyo is derived from two quechua words: Tawa, meaning four, and suyo meaning state.

The territorial are of the empire was vast. It occupied over 3,000,000 kilometers, with over 5,000 kilometers (3,107 miles) of Pacific ocean coastline, representing double the present Peruvian territory.
The four suyos or nations had Cusco as their territorial or geographical center, and were distributed as follows: on the northwest was Chinchaysuyo, reaching to the Ancashmayo river in Pasto (Colombia); on the northeast was the Antisuyo, in the sub-tropical valleys., occupying part of the low Amazonian jungle; on the southwest, the Contisuyo occupied part of the Peruvian coast up to the river Maule (Chile); and on the southeast, the Collasuyo, that now occupies a large part of Bolivian territory up to Tucuman (Argentina).

All these lands belonged to the Sun, the Inca and the State. They were distributed in such a way that each inhabitant had a fertile patch of ground to till. The males received at birth a topo or tupu (2700 m; 0.27 ha, 0.67 acres), while women received half a topo.
They could not be sold or inherited, since they were not private property, but belonged to the State; therefore, when a person died, his/her lands were allotted to a new inhabitant.