Tahuantinsuyu definition
Tahuantinsuyu which means „land of the four quarters‟148 or „the country of four points of compass‟149 are regarded as suggestive of a people who more or less nurtured the ambition of ruling the entire world. The point is also made that the Incas believed in „the inherent superiority of and wisdom of their own people, thinking they were destined to refine mankind whether other peoples accepted it or not‟.150 The Inca state has therefore been described by some scholars as totalitarian. It is interesting to note, however, that their over-nourished desire for power and territory also led to their downfall. For the empire became „administratively unwieldy‟, depriving it of „unity‟ and thereby causing succession disputes and insurrections.151