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"they weren't particularly well organized compared to many other places in the world at the time." They were able to introduce a common imperial language (Quec
by inglor_cz 2y ago
"they weren't particularly well organized compared to many other places in the world at the time."
They were able to introduce a common imperial language (Quechua), build up a very good network of roads and runners, and rule several dozen smaller ethnicities without triggering too many rebellions. They extracted taxes from the population quite efficiently without impoverishing it, and were able to build up massive uniformed armies.
I think this counts as extraordinary level of governance for that time. Certainly in the contemporary global top five, especially when taking into account just how big the empire was.
The same places aren't even in the global top fifty today.
- gonzobonzo 2y agoYour list proves the point. All of those things were common for governments in Europe and Asia at the time. When people bring up the Safavids or the Timurids, for example, you don't hear people saying "they were able to extract taxes, build roads, and they had an imperial language, they were the top administrators in the world!" These things were considered to be an extremely low baseline for being a functional government.