Amauta (meaning "master" or "wise one" in
Quechua
Quechua may refer to:
*Quechua people, several Indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru
*Quechuan languages, an Indigenous South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language ...
) was a title for teachers in the
Inca Empire
The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...
, especially of children of the nobility.
According to Fray Martin de Murua, a missionary in Peru, education in the Inca empire was instituted in schools called ''Yachaywasi'' or "Houses of Knowledge" in
Cuzco
Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous province and department.
The city was the capital of the Inca Empire unti ...
. Students were children of the Inca nobility, the future rulers. The subjects were the moral standards, religion, government tenets, statistics, math, science, "
Runa-Simi" language variety of Cuzco,
Khipu
''Quipu'' ( ), also spelled ''khipu'', are record keeping devices fashioned from knotted cords. They were historically used by various cultures in the central Andes of South America, most prominently by the Inca Empire.
A ''quipu'' usually cons ...
interpretation, art, music construction, history, agronomy, architecture,
medicine, philosophy and cosmological ideas of the earth and the universe, among other subjects.
The original ''Yachaywasi'' was constructed and inaugurated by
Inca Roca
Inca Roca (Quechua = ''Inka Ruq'a'', " magnanimous Inca") () was the sixth Sapa Inca of the Kingdom of Cusco (beginning around 1350) and the first of the Hanan ("upper") Qusqu dynasty.Steele, Paul Richard and Allen, Catherine J.; (2004), ''Handb ...
. More schools like this were built as the empire grew, and were the centers of teaching the primary ideologies, histories, and philosophies of the empire. The amautas maintained this knowledge through an oral tradition and passed it on to the future generations.
The word is still used in modern Perú, the communist,
José Carlos Mariátegui
José Carlos Mariátegui La Chira (; June 14, 1894 – April 16, 1930) was a Peruvian writer, sociologist, historian, journalist, politician, and Marxist philosopher.
A prolific author despite his early death, El Amauta (from Quechua: ham ...
ran a magazine named "Amauta".
See also
* Amauta Project, sponsored by the Departamento de Ciencia y Tecnología of the
OEA
Oea (; ) was an ancient city in present-day Tripoli, Libya. It was founded by the Phoenicians in the 7th century BC and later became a Roman–Berber colony. As part of the Roman Africa Nova province, Oea and surrounding Tripolitania wer ...
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''(in Spanish)''
* Amautas, la aventura del conocimient
References
* ''(in Spanish)''
*
*
Amaruk Kayshapanta
Juan Carlos Caizapanta (Amaruk Caizapanta Anchapacxi) (Quito, January 30, 1970), whose stage name is ''Amaruk'' is an Ecuadorian multidisciplinary artist, known in Spain and Ecuador for his artistic and humanistic trajectory towards Human Rights ...
El segreto de los Amawtas Ediciones Carena. (in Spanish)
{{Inca Empire topics
Inca society
Culture of Peru