Table of Contents
Toltec, in Ancient Peru
Ancient Peruvian Civilization
This page follows chapter XI, “Two Atlantean Civilisations”, of Man: Whence, How and Whither (1913) by Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater. The book presents itself as a record of clairvoyant investigation. Everything below is what the authors say they saw in Peru around 12,000 B.C.
They use Peru as their example of Atlantean civilisation:
The civilisation of Peru in the thirteenth millennium B. C. so closely resembled that of the Toltec Empire in its zenith, that, having closely studied that period, we utilise it here as an example of Atlantean civilisation.
Besant and Leadbeater, Man: Whence, How and Whither, ch. XI
Governance and Society
According to the authors, the government was autocratic. They explain this by saying the first rulers had been great Adepts, far ahead of the people in knowledge. In their Peru the king held absolute responsibility for the welfare of every subject. He was trained to see any avoidable evil in his realm as a failure of his own rule.
The chain of officials
A large governing class helped the king. The Empire was split into provinces under a kind of Viceroy, then counties under what the authors call Lord-Lieutenants, then cities and smaller districts under Governors. At the bottom stood an official responsible for a hundred families:
This subdivision of responsibility went on until we come to a kind of Centurion — an official who had a hundred families in his care, for whom he was absolutely responsible.
Besant and Leadbeater, ch. XI
The Centurion often chose a volunteer from every tenth household to bring him news quickly. He also kept a record of everyone in his care, and births, marriages and deaths were registered across the Empire.
Duty instead of law
The authors say duty was enforced less by law than by a sense of honour in the governing class:
a feeling akin to the honour of a gentleman, a force far stronger than the command of any mere outer law can ever be
Besant and Leadbeater, ch. XI
They also write that there were hardly any laws and no prisons:
There were practically no laws in old Peru, and consequently no prisons
Besant and Leadbeater, ch. XI
Continued neglect of duty counted among the worst offences, with murder and theft. The only punishment for these was exile from the Empire.
Land and Economy
According to the book, the land around each town or village was split into two halves, private and public, and the labourers worked both. The private land fed the workers. The produce of the public land was shared between the king and the priests of the Sun.
The king’s share paid for the government, for public works such as roads, bridges and aqueducts, and for the army. The authors say the army was also used for many tasks besides fighting. Grain was stored against hard times:
in order to store it in the enormous granaries which were invariably kept full in case of famine or emergency
Besant and Leadbeater, ch. XI
The priests’ share kept up the temples, paid for free schooling, and cared for the sick and the old. A sick man and, if he was the breadwinner, his family became “guests of the Sun” until he recovered. Everyone over forty-five, except officials, also became a guest of the Sun and could stop working. Many kept working at hobbies and inventions.
Education
The book says education was free and, in its first stages, the same for all classes and both sexes. Boys and girls were taught together. Reading, writing and a kind of arithmetic were part of it, alongside practical skills.
Science and Agriculture
According to the authors, the land was surveyed and its soil analysed, so that each field got the right crop. New manures and labour-saving machines were rewarded by the government, and young men trained on Government Farms. Many machines, especially those for irrigation, worked by hydraulic pressure.
In astronomy, the book says, the Peruvians could predict eclipses of the sun and moon, but from a traditional formula rather than by observation. They found the exact moment of noon by measuring the shadow of a tall column in the temple grounds.
Religious and Cultural Life
The book describes a religion of the Sun, which was seen as the source of all light, life and power. Its services were simple:
Praise was offered daily to the Spirit of the Sun, but never prayer
Besant and Leadbeater, ch. XI
At great festivals there were splendid processions, and the priests taught through pictures and parables.
The Source
The full chapter is in the 1913 edition on archive.org and on the book page. The book says this material first appeared as articles in The Theosophical Review.
