Men aged 15 to 50 were required to donate a portion of their time to the empire’s various construction projects, everything from the Sapa Inca’s palace to roads, bridges, and storehouses.

In 1781, the revolutionary amaru-kataristas occupy the highlands of southern Peru. Sapa Inca, the last descendant of the Aymara Incas, and his wife Gregoria, decide to continue the indigenous ...