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| Aqlla Wasi | |
|---|---|
| Name | Aqlla Wasi |
| Type | Institution |
| Established | 15th century (traditional) |
| Location | Andes |
| Region | Tawantinsuyu |
Aqlla Wasi Aqlla Wasi were institutions in the Andean highlands associated with the Inca state, traditionally described as houses where selected women were secluded, trained, and dedicated to religious, artisanal, and administrative functions within the empire. Accounts from colonial chronicle writers and modern scholars link Aqlla Wasi to imperial ceremonies, textile production, religious observances, and service to Inca elites across the central Andes. Archaeologists, ethnohistorians, and comparative studies of Andean polities have advanced interpretations that integrate material culture, colonial documents, and indigenous oral traditions.
The term Aqlla Wasi appears in Quechua lexicons and was recorded by chroniclers such as Pedro Cieza de León, Garcilaso de la Vega, and Bernabé Cobo; contemporaneous Spanish administrators like Blasco Núñez Vela and José de Acosta also used related terms in reports to the Viceroyalty of Peru. Linguists reference works by Alfred Kroeber, Ruth M. Shady, and John V. Murra to analyze morphemes and compare with parallel institutions attested in colonial records associated with the Inca Empire and provincial ayllu organizations. Comparative ethnography involving the Aymara and Quechua-speaking communities appears in studies by Mary J. Weismantel, Carmen McEvoy, and Terence D'Altroy to clarify semantic fields and administrative vocabulary.
Colonial sources attribute roles for Aqlla Wasi in supplying aclla (chosen women) for ritual service to the Sapa Inca, textile production for state redistribution, and participation in imperial ceremonies such as capacocha offerings documented in accounts by Diego de Almagro chroniclers. Spanish fiscal records from the Audiencia of Lima and tribute lists compiled under Viceroy Francisco de Toledo detail labor mobilization, mit'a allocations, and state-sponsored craft production linked to these institutions. Scholars like John Howland Rowe and Terence D'Altroy interpret Aqlla Wasi within broader redistribution networks that include state storerooms, administrative centers such as Qosqo (Cusco), and provincial centers like Chan Chan and Huánuco Pampa.
Ethnohistorical reconstructions draw on descriptions by Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa and Martín de Murúa to depict hierarchical staffing with supervisors, priestly attendants, and selected women engaged in weaving, brewing, and ritual preparation. Administrative parallels are noted with offices recorded in quipu accounting records and colonial census documents overseen by inspectors from the Casa de la Contratación and local corregidores. Daily routines inferred from textile remains excavated at sites such as Machu Picchu and Tipón include spindle work, dyeing using botanical sources catalogued by José María Arguedas and agricultural allocation comparable to hacienda records in the Potosí region.
Training within Aqlla Wasi combined ritual instruction, liturgical practice, and specialized artisan skills; chroniclers such as Garcilaso de la Vega and Juan de Betanzos describe instruction in weaving patterns, ceremonial choreography, and hymns associated with the cult of the Sun God Inti and local huacas. Material analyses by researchers like Claudio Guerrero and Anna C. Roosevelt of textile fragments reveal complex iconography and techniques comparable to high-status garments from Chavín de Huántar, Nazca, and Wari traditions. Administrative texts and colonial testimonies suggest curricula aligned with elite needs—production for state rituals, diplomatic gift exchange recorded in colonial archives, and medical or midwifery practices compared with information preserved in Andean herbal compendia.
Aqlla Wasi functioned as instruments of elite integration, ideological dissemination, and demographic management within Tawantinsuyu, intersecting with kurakas, mitma populations, and state-sponsored marriages documented in trials and petitions lodged before the Real Audiencia of Charcas and the Real Audiencia of Lima. Their role in producing prestige textiles and ritual specialists reinforced Sapa Inca authority and linked provincial elites to central power brokers like those active in Cusco and Quito. Colonial legal cases and encomienda records filed with officials such as Viceroy Francisco de Toledo illuminate conflicts over control of women, labor, and resources involving Spanish encomenderos and indigenous authorities.
Archaeological investigations at highland administrative centers—Machu Picchu, Ollantaytambo, Písac, Choquequirao, and Huánuco Pampa—have yielded architectural complexes, textile workshops, and artifacts interpreted as associated with Aqlla Wasi activities by teams led by Hiram Bingham III, Richard L. Burger, and Gustavo Sánchez. Excavations revealing spinning tools, dye pits, and specialized rooms correspond to ethnographic descriptors compiled by Alfred Métraux and material culture studies published by Lucy Salazar. Ongoing surveys integrating remote sensing undertaken by research groups at Yucay and field seasons coordinated with the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and international collaborators continue to refine site attributions and chronologies.
Category:Inca Empire institutions