article_jsa_0037-9174_1967_num_56_2_2304 - the inca tupu and the shipibo indian

8/6/2019 article_jsa_0037-9174_1967_num_56_2_2304 - the inca tupu and the shipibo indian

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Robert L. Farrier

The Inca tupu and the Shipibo Indian. A discussion of the

controversial tupu of Incaic Peru and an attempt to define itIn: Journal de la Socit des Amricanistes. Tome 56 n2, 1967. pp. 449-458.

Citer ce document / Cite this document :

Farrier Robert L. The Inca tupu and the Shipibo Indian. A discussion of the controversial tupu of Incaic Peru and an attempt todefine it. In: Journal de la Socit des Amricanistes. Tome 56 n2, 1967. pp. 449-458.

doi : 10.3406/jsa.1967.2304

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T H E I N C A T U P U

A N D T H E S H I P 1 B 0 I N D I A N

A DISCUSSIONOF THE CONTROVERSIAL TUPUOF INCAICPERUND AN ATTEMPTTO DEFINEIT

by Robert L. FARRIER

Rowe: Informationin Inca unitsof measurementis relativelyabundant,but it is soscattered,and unsustematized,as to givetheimpressionthat theIncahadno veryprecisestandards.ActuallyInca engineeringworkalmost requireda systemof measurementasexactas that in use in the16.centuryEurope.(Handbookof theSouthAmericanI ndian, vol.2, page232).

...a studyof themodernusesof thetopo in Andeancountries,is muchto be desired... (Ibid.,page233.)

To-daywith rocket-rides-to-the-moon nearlyupon us, we mayfeel justlyproud of the precise measuringsystemthat makessuch daily comfortspossible.

And yet if our history, and most of our learning were suddenly obliterated by an invadingforceof ignorant soldiersfrom another world aswasthe Incaculture I wonderwhat a later investigatormightthink ofour measurements,when he constantly encounteredsuch deviationsas thereare in the quart (three of them, no less) and three differentbushelsandboxes, andbarrels,and tons, all of whichvary in the most indecentman-


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450 SOCIETEDESAMERICANISTES

ner1.This sort of thing goes on-and-on,but at best, it only partly prepares

us for what we may expectwhen we try to placea definite value on anIncameasurethat has been handed downto us through uncertainsources,and expressedin old Spanishterms that are in themselvesuncertain.

Rowesays: was measuredby the topo... (HereI list my own findingsalongwith thoseof Piowe2:

1. Accordingto data from the U.S.Bureauof Standards.1 U.S. quart (dry) contains 67.2 cu. in.1 U.S. quart(liquid) 57.75 1 British quart 80.69

1 bushel (interstateCommerce)1 >, (CourtCustomsAppeals)1 >, British

2250. 122747.7152219.2934

1 Barrel (notfor cranberries) 1 (for cranberries^

1 long ton -=2722.22lbs troy ^ 2240 lbs av =1 short ton = 2430.56, =- 2000 ^1 metricton =-2679.23 - 2204.6 =

7056 5X26 ,,

1..12 sh. ton - 1.016M T. 89286L. ton --^ .90718M T.98421L. ton = 1.1023S T

1 basketmaybe 1 /2 pint, 1 pint, 1 quart,or any multipleof a quart.A reamof papermaybe either480sheets,or 500sheets.And ahorseis measuredin hands,andweighedin stones!2. Thetupuis oftenexpressedin paces(orposaswhichmaybe takenas singlesteps,

or as twosteps,of moreor lessuncertainlength.Fot-example Rowesays : Measuresof travp.linf/distancewere basedon thepace (thatki)whichis the most

convenientunit fortravelerson foot.A largerunit calledthetopowas usedalongtheIncaroads,someof whichhad a mile-stoneat every topo. The topo wan approximatelyequalto 1 1/2 Spanishleagues,or about4 1/2 miles... (Cites: Cieza,Polo, Acosta,Calancha,andBertonio) ...Morasays that a topocontained6000 paces.If bothoftheseequivalentsare correct,theInca pace wouldhave beenabout4 feet,countedfromthetime one footwas put downuntil thesamefoottouchedthegroundagain.That istwosteps,which isa comfortablewalkingpacefor a manof mediumheight. Here I.interruptRowe'sexcellent articlefor whatmightseemto be a nigglingcriticism,prompte d o doubtby memoriesof screaminglytired legmuscles.

Accordingto my arithmetic.Rowe's1-footpacewouldmeana 24inchstep,whichis a rather mincingstep for anyone; and I, whohavefollowedthe mountainindin,and his fly-footedllamatrain for hour-after-weary-hour upthe sidesof nearverticalcliffs,and acrossrugged,desolatecountry, whereI darednot be left behind,can testify that they do not mince,at leastthey didn'twhen1 was following them.

Whatthen can be wrong withthe calculations? I canonly suggestthis :It seemsthat Rowehas usedthe commonvalueof 3 milesto the league; but I

havebeeninformedthat the OLDSpanishleagueran 17 1/2 leaguesto the degree.This wouldhavemadethe leagueabout4 mileslonginsteadof 3 ; andhis topowouldhavebeen6 mileslong insteadof 4 1/2, makingthe resultingstep about30inches


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THEINCATUPUANDTHESHIPIBOINDIAN 451

Measurement(whichI havereducedto acresas a standard)riterGobo quotedby Rowe as 50x25fathomsGarcilaso 11 /2 fanegas Mishkin 1 fanegaMeans 60x 50 paces(pasos?)Mishkin 44x 88 yardsSirivichi 3872varas2Markham 50x 60paces(pasos?)Prescott the land requiredto plant11/2 hwt cornAriquipa Somewhatlargerthan the Guzcotopo(id.)Guzco Givenas mas-o-menos40x 80 M2

equaling0.82.41.591.80.80.671.85 ?

acres

1.0?Theforegoingvaluesgivento the tupurepresentestimatesgivenby someof the au

thorities botholdandnew.Butvaried asthey are, I wishto pointout thatthe complexity doesnot stophere.

It is commonin thesierraback-countryto figurethe valueof the tupu in fanegasof whichthereare manyandeachman,of course,has the only correct,and truefanega.3Thevariationsextendevento onewhichI havefoundin theimpeccablewell,almostimpeccableZelzquezwho says:

FANEGA (fah/NAY/gah) : Fanegade tierra; extentof arableland,generallyof four hundredfathomssquare; and of pasture-land,fivehundred.4

Ofcoursethis last definitionputs the valueof the tupu a very longwayfrom anyof the previouslygivencalculations,since400fathomssquare wouldgivethe fanegaa valueof slightly lessthan135acres; while500fathomssquarewouldmakeit equi-

insteadof 24. Andsincethe 30 inchstep is practically aworldstandardfor militaryuse,the figuresseemto tally.

(The RoyalGeographic Society considersthe pace asonestepof 30 inches saying: Pacingat 30 inchesper pace,at 120pacesper minuteequals300ft.per minute,or 3.41statutemilesper hour.)

3. Valueof the Fanega(Datafrom Bureauof StandardsU.S.)Fanegavalue(dry) Country1.5745 Bu2 . 752681.577441. 575013.334 3.8887.776 Fanegadouble

Ecuador, SalvadorChiliMexico,GuatemalaSpainVenezuelaUruguay

Thefanegamayalsobe :12 celemines,or 1/12cahdez,or 1/60caballeria,or 576estadales,or 64 areas.It also maybe the amountof landnecessaryto plant1 cwt.of maize.(Whichby

the way,is the Britishhundredweightor 112pounds,not 100pounds.)4. Zelzquez,NewPronouncing DictionarySpanish-English,p. 315.


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452 SOCITDESAMRICANISTES

valenttoabout207 acresandthevalueof thetupu wouldvaryaccordingly.For example,11/2 fanegaswouldbe equivalentto either202acres,or 310acres dependingon whether it wasa tupu of arableland,or a tupuof pasture!

One might feel by this time that error is the norm, where the tupuis concerned,and it was at about this stage that I gave up, and thoughtno more aboutit for a while,until I discovereda small,but significantclueconcerningthe tupu ; not in the museumsof Lima; not in the almost frve-mile-high sierra; and not in any of my variousbooks,but in the Amazonjungle, of all places; and the clue camefrom an old Shipibofisherman,ofall people.

It had been oneof thoselangorous, lazy dayswheneventimehung suspended, andnothingseemedto mattervery much.I watchedmy old Shipibofriendas he bent,and straightened,and sharpenedthe tines of a smallfishspear; sightingdownitsflawlesslysmoothreed shaft, and feeling the sharppointscriticallywithhis fingers.At last they seemedto conformto the standardof perfectionhe required,andpickingup a ballof incrediblystrong,hand-twistedtwine,he measuredoffa fathom of it,andbeganneatlyto bindthe spearshaft.

Idly I askedhim for the Shipiboword to measure"\Tuponti,he said without lookingup. That's curious, I thought, He soundedjust as if he were going to

say tupu .

5. ThefollowingShipibo,Quechua,andEnglishmeasuresare compared:Inca English Shipiboname Translation

rokana(?) Fingerwidth metotituponti fingertomeasureyu-ku Thumb/to /forefinger mekentuponti hand-to-measureka-pa (Span?) ? ?kho-kok Cubit maskotuponti short>.-to-measurerik-ra Fathom paantuponti arms-to-measurethat-ki (2-steppace) esh~ka-tituponti pace-to-measure

(Note : I believethe word kho-kokto representthe Spanishpalmo but I amby no means certain.)

In connectionwith the abovewords,I giveyou the followingmeasures:Measurementof Rome RoyalGeographicSociety

thumb-forefinger H"cubit 17"span 9"

pace 30"

yu-kukho-kokka-parikrasik-yathat-ki

thumbto forefingercubitspan,or


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THEINGATUPUANDTHESHIPIBOINDIAN 453

Then I askedhim for the Shipiboword : fathom , and he gave me :ponan tuponti. Again it soundedas if he were about to say : lupu.

I was interestedso I asked him Corall the units of measurementI couldthink of ; and each time, he seemedabout to say : tupu.Finally, in answerto much questioning,the old man told me that the

Incahad given the Shipibostheir system of measurementas well as theirsystemof enumeration, and everythingelsegoodthat we have ! he addedreverently.

Thenextpart ofhis story I alreadyknew; not aboutthe measurements,of course,but aboutthe Shipibocreator-godAtahualpa,whoseblazingeyes believedby manyignorantwhite-mento be only twostars calledVegaand Altair gazedlovinglydownon the jungleworldwhichhe had createdfor the Shipibopeople.And Iknewalsothat it was this sameAtahualpawhotaughtthe Shipibomen all thearts thatwereproperfor a manto know; whilehis goodwife MamaOcllo haddonethe samefor the Shipibowomen.(PleasenotethatAtahualpais onlyoneof at leastfiveInca-crestor-godsin Shipibolore,andthe factthat MamaOcllo'sassociationwithhim is scandalous,andalsoanachronistic, worriesthemnot at all.)

As wetalked, the thought of the tupu was haunting me again,and Iwonderedif there couldbe any relation betweenthe tupu and the tuponti.So I askedthe old manif the Shipibohad any word: to measurewithoutany qualifyingwords.

Againhe said : tuponti,and for a long moment hestood lookingat me,the way so many of the jungle Indians do when you ask something thatrequires some deep thought. Then he began to explainin a halting, groping sort of way.He saidthat when the amountis understoodbetweenbothpartiesthe wordtupontimay be used to represent ANYquantity. For example: to a Shipibo man, a tupontiof fish line is a brazo (or fathom), while to a Shipibo woman,a tupontiof cloth is a Spanishmeter ; and if no other quantities are mentionedin the transaction,the amounts given above wouldbe expected.But he madeit very clearthat the word tupontiby itselfmeans:to measure and it meansnothingelse.Thenhe added,just to be sure thatI understood: You alwayshave to measuresomething.

I beganto see that what lie wastelling me was important; then suddenlyI rememberedthat in many parts o the sierra, the Quechuawomenusethe word tupu in connectionwith a meter of cloth, and the enigmaof thetupu beganto havemeaning. Everythingmy old friendhad said about thetupontiappliedto the tupu as well. The Shipiboword tupontihad no arithmetical limitations, and neitherdid the Quechuawordtupu. And yet, likeso many others, I had spent a great dealof time trying to give it one ! trying to attach a precise numbervalueto a transitive verb.


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454 SOCITDESAMRIGANISTES

When I got back to Pucallpa,I dustedoff all my notes on the tupu andI went to work ; but this time I knewwhat I waslookingfor, and I wasn'tlong in finding it.As a matter of fact it had beenright under my noseeversince I had set myselfthe task of findingout : : How much is a tupu.

When I had first arrived in Peru I had madethe mistake of trying tofind out what everybody saidabout the tupu, and then trying to makeit agreewith what I thought they should have saidabout it. Now, however , wasonly interested in findingout what the Incahad said about it,and that waseasy, becauseall the chroniclershad written it downfor me ;and those who came laterhad copiedwhat the chroniclershad written :Cobohad stated it, and Garcilaso,and Acosta,and Sarmiento, andCieza,and all the rest of them, but afterthey had recordedthe Inca's wordsaboutthe tupu, they hadn't beencontent to leave it at that.Theyfelt that theyshould interpretthe tupu in strict numericalterms!Later camePrescott, and in his pages he also told me what the Incahad said about the tupu ; but he too was unableto resist telling me interms of : how much. Then followedMarkham, and Means, andMish-kin. They also told me what the Incahad said, andthey quotedthe chroniclers with mathematicalprecision; as did Rowe,and Siriviche,all of thembetter trained, and better suited to their work than I. And yet I. had agreat advantage,for not one amongthem had had the opportunityof discussingthe tupu with a wise oldShipibo Indian! and becauseof this,each of them had followedthe logicalpath that had been marked outforthem to follow; and eachhad inherited the error from those who had gonebefore : that of writing down figures torepresentwhat they thought thetupu shoudhave been.

But also each of them had told me that the Inca ordered to be allotedto every newlymarried couple: one tupu of la,nd; and that he had r equired an additionaltupu to be given them for each boy-child; and onehalf tupu for each girl-child. And elsewherein their writingseach writermentionedthat eachfamilymust havea sufficiencyof everything, and thatnoneshouldsufferprivationin any form; on that the administratingofficialwasheld strictlyaccountableto the Inca, evento the point of death ! Andthe samewriters told me that some familieswere weavers, somewere potters,and somewere dyers,whileothers were fishermen, farmers,miners, etc.That someof them were so highly specializedin their work that theymight spend their entire lives dyeing particularlybright red, or yellow, orblue, or green threads for the surroundingcountry ; and that there weremany farmerswho producedonly one specialgrain,maize for instance,and they grew nothing else; and there were irrigation experts who did nofarming at all, but were concernedwith the design and the maintainanceof such systems.

All of this I havehad to mentionin order to bring out a specialpoint,which will be easyto understandby anyonewho will look overthe very


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THEINCATUPUANDTHESHIPIBOINDIAN 455

partial list of occupationsgiven above, and who will notice the extremediversity in the needsof those people, asfar as land wasconcerned.

Thealways practicalInca wouldhardly havegiven aweaveras muchlandas wouldhavebeenrequiredby a herdsman; and a potterwouldn't haverequired s muchas wouldhavebeennecessaryfor a growerof maize; and it mightbe imaginedthat the irrigation expert,whowasclothed,and fed, and lodgedbythe state, couldhavegottenalongwithoutany land at all. A fisherman mighthave neededa very smallvegetableplot to help feed his family ; while aherb doctorwouldnot have required muchground to raise allthe medicinalplants he might care to cultivate. Thus no set rule governing the exactvalueof the tupu can comefrom the varied occupational requirementsofthe Inca'ssubjects.

What about climate? It has been well, and very often said, that inPeru a person may travel from the tropics to the north pole in a journeyof a fewkilometers.But I can add, eventhis doesnot adequatelyexpressthe situation : I know severalrancherosand not big land ownerseither who haveboth the tropics and the polarregionson any one of their several anches,and this is becausemuch of their land clings to almost vertic a l ides of mountainswhich could easily look down on Europe'shighestmountainsby a matter of severalkilometers; thus it may be seen that thesame ranch may havevalleyland suitablefor bananas,while another portion high-up may be too cold to grow potatoes(perhapsperpetual snow-fields)while allthe other climatesmay be tucked in between.Often I havesat on a warm sun-flooded terracewhile a Quechuaindin scamperedupthe hill the farm's natural refrigerator to bring back beer so coldthat it set my teeth on edge. No. Climatedoesn'thelpus set the tupu's v alue either6.

Water supply? That's even worse.Thedifferencebetweenthe arid coastal deserts of Peru and the water-logged ceja-de-la-montaa couldhardly be more distinct and irrigation runs the gamut from relativelyeasyto impossible.

Fertility then? Here we do have a picture of diversity. There are shifting, marching sand-dunes, crescent-shapedand as large as small moun-

6. Peru is often called a land of contrasts, and it very trulyis. Its temperatu r e , ts humidity,altitudes,etc., representthe extremes.As an illustrationlet mepointout the highestpeakin the

Alps Pyrenees CaucasusMontBlanc: 15781

ftMaladeta: 11168ft Elbrus: 18481

ftYet it is wellknownthat the last wordhasnot yet comein fromthe Andeschain,but I havea list of fiftypresumablyhighestAndeanpeaks; thelowestof whichreaches20,013ft ; andother writershavenotedthe awsomefact that suchgreat Europeanpeaksas Vesuviuscouldbe lostin someof the Andeanvalleys! (Humboldt,VuesdesCordillres,p. 9).


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THEINGATUPUAND THESHIPIBOINDIAN 457

vidual,and that the quantity of land workedby a man variedthroughouthislife. Manyearlier writers hint at this, and a study of the Incaorganization

wouldseem to have required it.The generalefficiencyof the Inca'sbenevolent lawsseemsto have beendirectedat the fostering of a prosperousstate, and I believe thatthe Incaworkedin the sameway that a modern, enlightenedbusinessofficialworkswhen he tries to better the conditionsof his workers ; all the whilefeelinga tw o fold satisfaction: the humanitarianside, and the assurancethat hiscompanymay prosperthe more if his workers arehappy.

Certainlya fixed quantityof land to represent the valueof the tupu wouldhave workedagainst this end, since it wouldhavebeen tantamountto giving one man morethan another.

A PARTIALCONJUGATION OFTHEQUECHUA VERBTUPU(Y)

Pleasenote that I makeno claimto beinga Quechuascholar.This partof thispresentwork hasbeenarrivedat throughmuch labor,andby the assiduoususe ofSergioGrigoriefFsQuechuaparadigmas,or verb scales.I believethe workto be correct, but it has not beencheckedby any competentauthority,and the conjugationis far fromcomplete.

WhileI knowthis verb to be in commonuse by the mountainQuechuaindians,I suggestthat if this conjugationis to be usedfor anythingmorethan to provemypoint, I shallbe gladto redd the work,havingeachstep checkedby by one of severalfriendswhoare now workingin theLimamuseums, andwhohaveusedthe Quechua languagefrom infancy.

Quechuais so complexa languagethat someof it canonly be approximatedintranslation,or in writtenrepresentation.For this reasonI havetaken somepersonalliberties(orthographic)representinga sound aschiwheresomewritersuse tjih for thesamesound.As has beenrepeatedlystated,the indinsoundsare extremelydifficultto represent onthe typewriter,andas Meanshaspointedout, theoriginalsoundshaveprobablybeenlost foreveranyway.

Theverb tupu (measure)7Infinitive tupu () (to measure)

tupuh (measurer)tupuspa (measuring)tupuska (measured)

7. BecauseQuechuasometimeshas asmanyas twelvedegreesof comparison,thecompleteconjugationof a verb may requireten, to twentypages,of work.I havecompletedsevenpagesof this verb,but I shall notburdenyou with it unlessyourequestit.

Pleasenote thatalthoughmanyof the followingwritersusethe wordtopo; I bowto the authorityof suchQuechuaexpertsas SergioGrigoreff,andMiguelMossi(QuechuaParadigmas,Gramticadel IdiomaQuechua,etc.),in acceptingthe pronunciationof the wordas tupu.


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458 SOCITDESAMRICANISTES

tupuskamkai kah kaska kanka kaipah kankapah kaspah karkani karkanki karkuti karkanchi karkankichi karkanku

Presentindicative (singular)upimztup unkitupun

(plural)tupunich :tupuikitupunkichtupunku

to be measured. he whois,or shallbe measurec

thatthat(for)WhyI am

whichis, or wasmeasuredwhichis to tbe measured.to be measured.am I measured?beingmeasured.

I wasmeasured.You weremeasured.He wasmeasured.Weweremeasured.YouThey

1 st2 nd3 rd

1 st1 st2 nd3 rd

(plural)weremeasured.weremeasured.

personpersonperson

person(incl)person(excl)personperson

article_jsa_0037-9174_1967_num_56_2_2304 - the inca tupu and the shipibo indian

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