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About
Chan Chan | Chimor
Empire | The
Palace
The
Barrios | Threats
to Chan Chan | Bibliography
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The
Power of the Chimor Empire
According to legends
preserved by Spanish
chronicles, the Chimor Kingdom was
founded by a man named Taycanamo, who came to the site of Chan
Chan on a log raft, dressed in cotton breechcloth and carrying
magic yellow powders. Having proclaimed that "a great lord sent
him to govern this land from across the sea,"1 Taycanamo
built a shrine at the site and performed religious rites using
his yellow powders. He conquered the local inhabitants, learned
their language and began the 600-year reign of the Chimor Kingdom.
A succession of nine kings ruled the Chimor people, building an
empire with expanding influence over the region. They conquered
surrounding
polities
and gained land to the south and north
of Chan Chan. The Chimu achieved success not only through military
conquests, but also through control of vital water systems. |
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The Chimu rose
and prospered in the searing desert environment by building and
controlling an amazingly well engineered
irrigation
system
that tapped the nearby Moche River. This irrigation system supplied
the city and the entire region with water. The Chimu controlled
two-thirds of all agricultural land that has ever been irrigated
along the Pacific coast of South America. They had successfully
transformed the hostile desert environment into a
fertile
empire.
The Chimu also achieved their
hegemony
over the region
by producing goods that played an important part in the system
of
tax and tribute
and in the system of
reciprocity
and exchange among many nations and kingdoms in the
Andean
region.
Chan Chan served as the kingdom's center of craft production.
One quarter of the city's population was composed of artisans
who produced goods out of precious metals, pottery and ornate
textiles. A busy caravan near the center of the city received
shipments of raw materials and loaded finished goods for transport
throughout the empire. The redistribution of these goods served
to extend the power of the Chimor ruler and his empire.
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1 Davis,
Nigel The Ancient Kingdoms of Peru, (New York: Penguin
Books, 1997), 80. |
Photo credits:
(top to bottom)
1,2. Roberto Arakaki/International Stock
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About
Chan Chan | Chimor
Empire | The
Palace
The
Barrios | Threats
to Chan Chan | Bibliography
|
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