Summary
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how the people of Cusco, in modern Peru, established an empire along the Andes down to the Pacific under their supreme leader Pachacuti. Before him, their control grew slowly from C13th and was at its peak after him when Pizarro arrived with his Conquistadors and captured their empire for Spain in 1533. The image, above, is of Machu Picchu which was built for emperor Pachacuti as an estate in C15th.
With
Frank Meddens Visiting Scholar at the University of Reading
Helen Cowie Senior Lecturer in History at the University of York
And
Bill Sillar Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology at University College London
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:04.9 | Thanks for downloading this episode of In Our Time. |
| 0:07.5 | There's a reading list to go with it on our website and you can get news about our |
| 0:10.8 | programs if you follow us on Twitter at BBC In Our Time. |
| 0:14.8 | I hope you enjoyed the programs. |
| 0:16.8 | Hello, in 1532, utter hall par became a ruler of the Great Inca Empire that was based |
| 0:21.7 | high in the Andes of South America and spread along the Pacific coasts for over 1500 miles. |
| 0:27.6 | The anatomy of 80,000 warriors controlling 10 million people in a complex system of |
| 0:32.2 | road, irrigation canals, terraced fields and temples developed by andian people over |
| 0:37.3 | thousands of years. |
| 0:39.2 | Within a year, this elaborate empire had collapsed. |
| 0:41.8 | The conquistadores captured and garottied at a Walper in 1533 and a civilization that |
| 0:47.1 | had seemed so strong was then destroyed by civil war, religious conversion and small |
| 0:51.9 | books. |
| 0:52.9 | We'd need to discuss the rise in fall of the Inca, our Frank Medins visiting scholar |
| 0:57.1 | at the University of Reading. |
| 0:58.9 | Alan Cawie, senior lecturer in history at the University of York and Bill Siller, senior |
| 1:03.3 | lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology at University College London. |
| 1:07.5 | Bill Siller, what was the extent of the Empire at its peak? |
| 1:13.6 | It was stretching from Argentina and Chile up through Bolivia and Peru going through Ecuador |
| 1:22.1 | to the boundaries of Colombia. |
| 1:24.8 | Around 10 million people in a very large area stretching from the Pacific coasts over |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.