THE POWER OF THE INCA LAW.

The Inca Empire was the largest South Americas had ever known and one of the largest empires in the world prior the arrival of the Europeans settlers. Their complex and multicultural society stretched across the Andes' mountain tops and down to the shoreline, incorporating lands from today's Colombia, Chile, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina and Peru -all connected by a very vast highway system whose complexity rivaled any in the Old World. Rich in food, textiles, gold, herbs, and more, the Incas were masters of city building, land planners, sophisticated mountain agriculture, with no marketplaces at all, no class of traders and no commerce of any kind within its boundaries. Their empire was divided into four quarters or "suyos," whose corners met at the sacred capital, Cuzco, in modern-day Peru.
In the Tahuantinsuyo (The Four United Regions) there was a moral code that regulated the human coexistence and allowed, in the cities as in the ayllus, harmonious relations between each other. These were based on mutual aid and cooperation. The development of individual wealth was not possible under these common philosophy and that is the reason why commerce never got the chance to be born.
The Incas never promulgated Laws to frighten their vassals, nor to deride them, because they were not barbarians or cruel to each other. Rather they were a well organized state that used most of the time peaceful assimilations as a method of conquest and governed their coexistence by a spirit of cooperation and collective work.
The ones who did not want to accept the practice of authentic human values, harsh and severe set of 3 Laws, were applied on them: "Ama Sua, Ama Llulla, Ama Quella" meaning "Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not be lazy."
Ama Sua, Do not steal, this law promoted "respect"showing regard and appreciation for the worth of someone or something including respect for self, respect for the rights and dignity of all persons  as parts of the whole universal creation and respect for the environment that sustain life.
Ama Llulla, Do not lie, this law promoted integrity emphasized by the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
Ama Quella, Do not be lazy, this law promoted fairness giving all people an equal treatment. They were all bound by the rules that take turns and share. Be committed to your work was another teaching associated with this law.
Along with these 3 Laws, there were other ordinances of great importance, such as:
-Be honest, -Be clean, -Be vivacious, -Be worthy, -Respect life, -Be gentle, -Be sensitive.
The Laws promoted peace among its people. Crime was an unusual thing, but when a crime was committed the punishment was ruthless. The purpose of the Laws was to teach a lesson to the offender and prevent re-occurrence by any member of the society. The transgression was considered an action against the power of their divinities.
There was no system of imprisonment and offenders were punished severely so that the penalty was exemplary to the rest of the population. Those who were able to survive the punishment were forced to tell their stories for the rest of their lives, those interested in listening would give them food so basically their survival was based on how engaging and compelling their stories were.
Penalties were categorized in two groups -personal or -collective, according to the crime, from simple mass repression to the isolation of entire villages. Mutilation and the death penalty were frequently applied. Rebellions, homicide, adultery, 2nd offenses in drunkenness, theft and laziness, breaking state possessions, were all punished to death by stoning, hanging or pushing the person off a cliff. Mutilation were common for theft. Punishment such as public scolding was administered for minor crimes and 1st time offenders.
When a new territory was annexed to the Inca Empire the local laws and rules to their deities continued to be applied unless they were in conflict with the 3 Laws imposed by the Inca. If the leader of the newly annexed territory opposed to follow the 3 mandatory Laws, he would be executed and a new loyal leader would oversee and secure loyalty among the population. This new leader was usually transferred from another territory along with his family and entourage.
Regional leaders were authorized to decide in several different matters of Law but not all. Only a higher and ceremonial authority could decide in cases in which the mutilation or death penalty was enforced.
The great wealth of the Inca Empire was based on a high code of behavior and mutual cooperation to sustain life in an environment challenged by so many difficulties. They as one body developed so many methods to prevent starvation and that was the common goal rather than to foster trade and individual wealth.