Food and Empire: Administration of Hunger in Royal Commentaries of the Incas

Abstract

References to food in the first part of the Royal Commentaries of the Incas [1609] by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega are few and not very specific. But this does not mean that they are not relevant, as they highlight their enormous importance in an agrarian society par excellence. The Incas, through the production, distribution and consumption of food, established an expansive society that was subjecting - especially through the hunger strategy - to other indigenous groups to "instruct" them according to divine orders (myth of the solar couple). The food uses in Royal Commentaries are so varied and complex that, in addition to satisfying biological needs, they function as religious, cultural, economic, and warlike artifacts indispensable for the organization, operation, and expansion of the Inca empire.