INCA-01A
John Jenkins Designs
The Spanish began the conquest of the Inca Empire in 1532 and by 1572 the last Inca state was fully conquered.
The Inca litter carried the commanding officers and the Sapa Inca. Traditionally it was carried by men from Callahuaya for short trips, and for longer distances by Lucana tribesmen of the provinces of Lucana and Sora, and they were known as the “feet of the Inca”.
They were trained for this special role from the age of 20, and were usually uniformed in blue.
Pictorial sources invariably show the litter born by just four men, but it is believed that this is just an illustrative convention, since text references mention eight or sometimes even as many as 20 bearers.
The litter was normally accompanied by replacement crews, with it being recorded as a total of as many as 200-300 Lucanas accompanying the Sapa Inca’s litter. Warriors from the Carabaya Tribe replaced the traditional Lucanas as the royal litter-bearers, after the Lucanas had deserted in the early stages of the Spanish conquest. They had defected to Pizarro’s side even before the conquistadores had entered Cuzco.
2nd photo shows with the full Litter which is sold separately.