The Inca term for a group of ten thousand people was Hunu. In the Inca Empire’s decimal administrative system, households and taxpayers were organized into nested units of 10, 50, 100, 500, 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000.
A Hunu was supervised by a high-ranking official commonly called a Hunu kuraka. The system helped the state organize labor obligations, military service, census records, and tribute across Tawantinsuyu, the Inca name for their four-part empire.
The number did not necessarily represent an exact headcount of individuals. In many descriptions, the unit consisted of approximately 10,000 taxpayers, households, or family units. That distinction explains why sources sometimes translate Hunu as a group of ten thousand households rather than ten thousand people.
Hunu is also easy to confuse with other Inca numerical terms. Pachaca referred to a unit of 100, while Waranqa referred to 1,000. In some Quechua number lists, Hunu is instead given as a word for one million, reflecting differences between numerical vocabulary and administrative terminology.