Quechua
We name our lamps in Quechua in tribute to the language of the Incas, who lived in harmony with nature, following clear ecological guidelines regarding the conservation and management of natural resources.
The Quechua was originally born in the early 13th century in what is now Peru and became the vehicular language of the Inca Empire. The language spread further to other territories that the empire conquered.
The Inca Empire became the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political and military Centre of the empire was located in the city of Cusco.
The Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire (1532-1572), also known as Conquest of Peru, was one of the most important campaigns in the Spanish colonization of the Americas and the proximate cause of the collapse of the Inca Empire.
The long-term effects of the arrival of the Spanish on the population of South America were simply catastrophic. The Incan population suffered a dramatic and quick population decline ratio of 58:1 during the period of 1530–1571.
The single greatest cause of the decimation of native populations was Old World Eurasian diseases, which had long been endemic on the Continent, were carried by colonists and conquistadors. As these were new to the natives, they had no acquired immunity and suffered very high rates of death. More Incas died from this disease than any army or armed conflict.
Since the collapse of the Inca empire, Quechua suffered a process of devaluation related to social stigma, considering Quechua speakers as of a lower social class, which has sometimes caused the language to stop being transmitted from parents to sons. Speaking this language was repressed out of fear and dread. It was the passport for a miserable future.
Despite centuries of contempt, local initiatives emerged that made Quechua resist and even grow.
Today it is spoken by about 7 million people in Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, northern Chile, Argentina, and southern Colombia.
