From 1438 to 1533, the Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the Andean mountain ranges, including, besides Peru, large parts of modern Ecuador, western and south central Bolivia, northwest Argentina, north and central Chile, and a small part of southern Colombia into a state comparable to the historical empires of Eurasia.
The official language of the empire was Quechua, although hundreds of local languages and dialects of Quechua were spoken. The Inca referred to their empire as Tawantinsuyu which can be translated as "The Four Regions" or "The Four United Provinces."
Many local forms of worship persisted in the empire, most of them concerning local sacred Huacas, but the Inca leadership encouraged the worship of Inti—the sun god—and imposed its sovereignty above other cults such as that of Pachamama.[4] The Incas considered their King, the Sapa Inca, to be the "child of the sun."[5]The Inca referred to their empire as Tawantinsuyu, "four parts together."[6] In Quechua, the term Tawantin is a group of four things (tawa, meaning "four", with the suffix -ntin which names a group). Suyu means "region" or "province," so the name roughly translates as "The four lands together." The empire was divided into four suyus, whose corners met at the capital, Cusco (Qosqo). The four suyos were: Chinchay Suyo (North), Anti Suyo (East. The Amazon jungle), Colla Suyo (South) and Conti Suyo (West). The name Tawantinsuyu was, therefore, a descriptive term indicating a union of provinces. The