User:Maunus/Aztec

Aztec

Aztec people
When used about ethnic groups the term "Aztec" refers to several Nahuatl speaking peoples of central Mexico in the postclassic period of Mesoamerican chronology, especially the ethnic group that had a leading role in the establishing the hegemonic empire based at Tenochtitlan, the Mexica. Other ethnic groups associated with the Aztec empire are the Acolhua and Tepanec ethnic groups and some of the ethnic groups that were incorporated into the empire, and the term is also sometimes used about them. In older usage the term was commonly used about modern Nahuatl speaking ethnic groups, as Nahuatl was previously referred to as the "Aztec language". In recent usage these ethnic groups are rather referred to as the Nahua peoples. Linguistically the term "Aztecan" is still used about the branch of the Uto-Aztecan languages (Also sometimes called the yuto-nahuan languages) that includes the Nahuatl language and its closest relatives Pochutec and Pipil.

To the Aztecs themselves the word "aztec" was not an endonym for any particular ethnic group. Rather it was an umbrella term used to refer to several ethnic groups, not all of them Nahuatl speaking, that claimed heritage from the mythic place of origin, Aztlan. In the Nahuatl language "aztecatl" means "person from Aztlan". In 1810 Alexander von Humboldt originated the modern usage of "Aztec" as a collective term applied to all the people linked by trade, custom, religion, and language to the Mexica state and the Triple Alliance. In 1843, with the publication of the work of William H. Prescott, it was adopted by most of the world, including 19th century Mexican scholars who saw it as a way to distinguish present-day Mexicans from pre-conquest Mexicans. This usage has been the subject of debate in more recent years, but the term "Aztec" is still more common. Sometimes the term Aztec is replaced wholesale with "Mexica", but this ignores the fact that the use of Aztec is not usually restricted to the Mexica ethnic group that inhabited only the southern part of the Island of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, but also includes other groups who would not have identified as Mexica.

Aztec culture
Aztec culture is the culture of the people referred to as Aztecs, but since all ethnic groups of central Mexico in the postclassic period shared most basic cultural traits, many of the basic traits of Aztec culture can not said to be exclusive for the Aztecs. Among the cultural traits that the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan shared with many other cultures of central Mexico is the agricultural basis of maize cultivation, the basic social organization dividing society into classes of noble pipiltin and macehualli commoners, the complex of religious beliefs and practices including most of the pantheon (e.g. gods such as Tezcatlipoca, Tlaloc and Quetzalcoatl), the calendric system of a xiuhpohualli of 365 days intercalated with a tonalpohualli of 260 days. Cultural traits particular to the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan was the veneration of the Mexica patron God Huitzilopochtli, the construction of twin pyramids, and the ceramic ware known as Aztec I to III.

Aztec empire
The Aztec empire was a tribute empire based in Tenochtitlan, which extended its power throughout Mesoamerica in the late postclassic period. It originated in 1427 as a Triple alliance between the citystates Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan who allied to defeat the Tepanec state of Azcapotzalco, that had previously dominated the Basin of Mexico. Soon Texcoco and Tlacopan became junior partners in the alliance which was de-facto lead by the Mexica of Tenochtitlan. The empire extended its power by a combination of trade and military conquest. It was never a true territorial empire controlling a territory by large military garrisons in conquered provinces, but rather controlled its client states primarily by installing friendly rulers in conquered cities or constructing marriage alliances between the ruling dynasties, and by extending an imperial ideology to its client states. Client states paid tribute to the Aztec emperor, the Huey Tlatoani in an economic strategy limiting communication and trade between outlying polities making them depend on the imperial center for the acquisition of luxury goods. The political clout of the empire reached far south into Mesoamerica conquering cities as far south as Chiapas and Guatemala and spanning from the pacific to the atlantic oceans. The empire reached its maximal extent in 1519 just prior to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors led by Cortés who managed to topple the Aztec empire by allying with some of the traditional enemies of the Aztecs, the Nahuatl speaking Tlaxcalteca.

Migrational period: before 1376
myth and history Settling in the basin of Mexico

Client state of Azcapotzalco: 1376 - 1427
Acamapichtli Huitzilihhuitl Chimalpopoca

Rise of the triple Alliance 1427 - 1519

 * Itzcoatl & Nezahualcoyotl - defeat of Azcapotzalco
 * Moctezuma I & Tlacaelel - Tenochtitlan takes the lead
 * Acxayacatl - incorporation of Tlatelolco
 * Tizoc - failed conquests
 * Ahuitzotl - conquest
 * Moctezuma II - consolidation and defeat

Spanish Conquest 1519-23
Cortés and the Tlaxcaltecs Noche Triste Fall of Tenochtitlan

Material culture
agriculture: maize and chinampas technology

Urban culture
tenochtitlan cityplanning household life pyramids and monumental architecture templo mayor

Power, class and social organization
Rulers, nobles, artisans, commoners, slaves calpolli and lineage pochteca warrior societies

Warfare, trade and economy
warfare trade and tribute

Religion
Ideology Gods Rituals Human sacrifice

Calendar
Xiupohualli Tonalpohualli Calendar rituals

Language
Nahuatl Writing Literature

Colonial chroniclers

 * Sahagun
 * Ecclesiastic Chroniclers: Durán, Motolinia, Zorita, Torquemada, Crónica X,
 * Native chroniclers: Chimalpahin, Alvarado Tezozomoc, Alva Ixtlilxochitl, Muñoz Camargo

Archaeology
Monumental archaeology Social Archaeology

Ethnohistory
Early ethnohistory New philology

Ideological views
Mexican nationalism Indigenism