| Pre-Inca Period |
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The first civilization of Peru is Chavin Culturein the mountainous area of Huantar (Ancash Prefecture) which flourished
from 1,200 B.C. to 200 B.C. The Temple was built in about 1,000 B.C., “Chavin
de Huantar” is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Paracas Culture (200 B.C. – 600) flourished in Southern Coast Area, and textile home industry
was well developed in this region during this period.
In the Northern Coast Area, Moche Culture flourished (200 B.C. – 600). The famous King Sipan ruled the country
at the end of this period. Large amount of gold was found in his tomb.
Designs of some of the sculptures and pictures are unique and wouderful
during this period.
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| Lanzon of Chavin |
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Around the Mountainous Area, Tiahuanacu Culture (200 B.C. – 1200), which developed at the southern side of Lake Titicaca
in Bolivian area, had influenced the whole area of Lake Titicaca.
Nazca Culture (300 B.C. – 900) flourished in the Desert Coast area. It has left underground
channel and the huge Nazca Lines. Until these days, there are many researchers
trying to solve the mysteies of Nazca Lines, and many different theories
have developed.
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| The tomb of King Sipan |
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Wari Culture (AD 600 – 1200), which had developed under the influence of Tiahuanacu Culture, spread throughout Andes region centering at Ayacucho.
Chimu Culture ( around 1100 – 15th Century) flourished around Chan Chan as the capital city which is 5 km away from Trujillo, and it lasted until it was conquered by Inca. Chan Chan Ruins were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. |
| Chan Chan |
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Chachapoyas Culture ( around 800 – 15th Century) flourished in the Northern Tropical Rain
Forest. We can see the greatness of this culture from Kuelup Fort.
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| Kuelap |
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| The Incas |
Inca Culture (the end of 11th Century – 16th Century) was the main culture which had been developed in South America
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Incas were worshipping the Earth goddness (Pachamama) and the Sun god (Inti).
The Emperor of Inca who ruled Tahuantinsuyo (The Inca Empire consisted of Four Regions) was considered as a son of
the sun. It was believed that the Sun sent his children (Manco Cápac and
Mama Ocllo, or Four Brothers of Ayar and their wives) to this land and
built the holy city, Cusco, which became the capital of the Empire of Inca.
The Tahuantinsuyo (or The Inca Empire) ruled from Colombia in the
north to Chile and a part of Argentina in the south, and up to the whole
area of Bolivia and Ecuador. During the reign of the Inca Empire, the people
were having excellent economy and prosperity with flourishing of fine arts
and architecture. From these facts, we can understand how they could
build such a big empire. |
Sacsayhuamán
Cusco |
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But this empire vanished when the last emperor Atahualpa was executed by
a Spanish, Francisco Pizarro in 16th Century.
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| Blending of the Two Cultures |
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The Blending of two Cultures (Inca and Spanish) started when the Inca Empire
was conquered by Spanish in 16th Century. A Spanish, Francisco Pizarro captured and executed the last emperor of Inca, Atahualpa at Cajamarca in the year 1532. In 1542, Viceroyalty of Peru was established under the domination of Spain.
Within the 16th Century, the viceroy of king of Spain, Francisco de Toledo
built up the system to control the labor force of aborigines and lay the
base of economy of colonial period.
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Cuarto de Rescate
The
room which Emperor Atahualpa was imprisoned. |
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However, after that, there were changes taking place in Spain, and during
Bourbon Restoration in 18th Century, the dissatisfaction of colonial system
in the society began to increase. Aborigines began to revolt. The revolt
started by Tupac Amar II led to the Creole movement that led to independence
At this period, Catholic and local religion
were blended. A newly blended religious system evolved. This newly blended
religious tradition is carried on till today. And at the same time during the
arrival of the Spanish, African were brought in to work as slaves and they too
became part of the Peruvian society.
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| Independece |
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Peru declared her independence by Don Jose de San Martin in the year 1821. After that, Simon Bolivar terminated the war of independence at 1824. However, Peru as a young Nation in the 19th Century, suffered severe poor economic distress during the time the country was under military dictatorship.
About year 1860, production of guano (dung from sea bird used as fertilizer), cultivation of cotton and sugar were increased. As the result, there was a shortage of labor, Chinese and European immigrants joined the Peruvian society to work in the plantations. At this time, President Manuel Pardo established the first democratic system of government in Peru. At the end of 19th Century, Japanese immigrants also came.
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| In 1879, Peru involved the war with Chile. Peru lost the war and caught
in economic crisis. After going through the period ruled under military
government for a while, Peru got back the civilian government and land-lord
system of government evolved. Peruvian economy was dominated by elites
of large landowners, and the rubber industry boomed. |
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| Present Peru |
At the beginning of 20th Century, Peru was under civilian dictatorship
by August B Leguia for long time. The projects for modernization of the
country left the country in debts. And at this period, those intellectuals
like the founder of APRA Party, Victor Raul Haya de La Torre and creative socialist, Jose Carlos Mariategui appeared.
After Leguia fell from his position, the
martial rule came back. In 1939, Civilian rule came back temporally by Prado.
However, the new marital government started again in 1948 by Manuel A Odria.
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In 1963, Fernando Belaunde was elected. However, military coup d’etat occur in 1968 and Juan Velasco Alvarado became the president. Juan Velasco Alvarado nationalized oil industry
and mass media, and implemented agricultural reforms. Subsequently, it
ruled by military government by General Francisco Morales Bermudez. However, by the increasing pressure of citizen, constitutional amendment
was implemented.
In 1980, Belaunde was elected again. However, the suffering of the people
living in the poorest area gave rise to the armed struggles by Sendero Luminoso and MRTA. This resulted sufferings to Peru for the next 10 years.
In the period of Alan Garcia of APRA Party (1985-1990), the country suffered by hyperinflation. After that, a Japanese descent, Alberto Fujimori who was elected in 1990, launched self-coup in 1992 and dissolved the
Parliament. President Fujimori enhanced counter terrorism measures, and
arrested major leaders of terrorist organizations. In 1995, Fujimori got
re-elected and had to confront with the Japanese embassy hostage crisis
by MRTA in the following year, December 1996. However, he succeeded to
release the hostages held in April 1997 and got re-elected second time
in year 2000. |
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However, being criticized for corruption in the election, Fujimori announced
to hold a reelection in 2001. After that, to avoid taking risk of own safety,
he resigned as president and stayed in Japan. Parliament Chairman, Valentin Paniagua served the temporary president.
In the year 2001, Alejandro Toledo assumed as a president. At the presidential election in 2006, Alan Garcia won the election by slim margin of vote to the ex-army nationalist Ollanta Humala, became the present president and will remain in power until the year
2011.
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