The messenger raced on foot along well-worn pathways, heading north to his next stop. He had run at a rapid clip for almost an hour now, and the sun was beginning to cast long shadows across the Inca Empire.
This chasqui—the Inca word for these running messengers—wasn’t just a physical specimen; he was a vital link in the empire's communication network. His mind and body were both trained for resilience and sharpness. These chasquis were the lifelines of the empire, delivering crucial messages from one location to another.
In his hands, he carried a quipu, a sophisticated system of knotted strings used by the Incas to store information. Their intricate knots held data ranging from census figures to military commands.
The messenger knew that he just needed to make it a little further, to the next tambo, where another chasqui stood ready. There, he would pass the quipu, ensuring the swift and unbroken transmission of information across the vast stretches of the empire.
The messenger handed the quipu to the next chasqui, completing one leg of this packet transfer.
I’ve read and heard the quipus analogized with text messaging—after all, the idea of a runner carrying your message as quickly as possible to another location sounds a little like texting, but there is a far better analogy: email and the early days of the internet.
Each knot and its position in the quipu represented different data, akin to the binary code of ones and zeros in digital communication. Just as emails carry text, images, and data across the internet, the quipu conveyed diverse information ranging from census data to military orders.
The chasquis, akin to data packets in a network, ensured this information traveled swiftly and accurately across vast distances.
Europeans marveled at the way the Inca were able to administer their vast empire, spanning from modern day Chile all the way up to Ecuador, and encompassing several million people, just like the biggest European powers at the time.
Information is compressed, then transferred across individual nodes. At the end of the journey, the information is then decompressed and translated into something the person receiving the information receives. This sounds an awful lot like email to me.
The quipu system can be seen not just as an ingenious ancient method of record-keeping (it was), but also as something of a precursor to the digital communication systems that underpin our modern world.
The Inca had no writing, but they did have a fantastic way to store information.
Even more interesting, the idea of compressing information into a little packet so it would be much easier to transfer? That’s an awful lot like the way we use email today. All those little intricate knots could be translated into a meaningful message, which Inca administrators could then carry out hundreds of miles away.
As we’re all here using the internet—and especially if you’re getting this as an email in your inbox—let’s reflect on the journey our information went on today. I woke up this morning and wrote this piece, and then I encoded it into the quipu of the modern day by sending out an email.
The packets of information were delivered by the chasqui of today: the vast, invisible network of the internet.
The essence of communication, from the intricate knots of a quipu to the digital bytes of an email, remains fundamentally the same: it's about connecting people, conveying ideas, and bridging distances.
Having been to part of the land of the Inca, doing what you described was no easy feat. The terrain is mountainous, rugged and fraught with danger. Those of us lucky enough to have visited their lands are indeed fortunate to have had the experience. As for the knowledge that the world has lost because of the wanton killing and destruction throughout the ancient world for ages, cannot be measured. This is just one example of how ingenious people can be when the need is there. And it’s throughout the Americas. For a really eye popping experience, whenever anyone finds themselves in Washington, DC, pay a visit to the Native American Museum. You won’t be disappointed.
Fascinating blend of ancient information, current implementation, and images to set the imagination on fire. I just found out there is a woman in a local senior care home who was one of the early archaeologists excavating and studying the Incas and Quipu. I am hoping to meet her soon.