The Inca Empire, known to its people as Tawantinsuyu, flourished across the western coast of South America from the early fifteenth century until the Spanish conquest of the 1530s. In this AI-generated introduction to that civilization, you will find an account of how a small highland kingdom expanded into the largest empire the Americas had ever seen, and how it ultimately collapsed under the pressure of European invasion, epidemic disease, and internal division. The book covers Inca origins, political and social organization, religion, architecture, and the extraordinary road network that held the empire together. It offers you a clear and accessible overview of a society whose achievements continue to interest historians and archaeologists today.