The Aztec Empire

• The Aztecs were a Mexica group of about 10,000 people who slowly expanded their power till they controlled the most important lands in South Central Mexico.

• At its height the Aztecs controlled an empire of some 22 million people, making it more populous than any kingdom or empire in Europe.

• Unlike their European counterparts, the Aztecs developed no formal bureaucracy.

• Instead, the Aztecs let regional kings and leaders remain in power as long as they continued to send tribute.

• Aztec kings held both political and religious power. They controlled the civil powers and were seen as representatives of the gods.

• Religion was a key element in keeping control of conquered peoples – especially with the sacrifice system.

Overview

Introduction to the Mexica and Aztec Peoples.

• Of all the Amerindian civilizations it is the Mexicas that we know the most about.

•They settled in their city of Tenochtitlan around 1345.

Aztec of Tenochtitlan at the time of the Spanish invasion.

Aztecs entered central Mexican valley from the north. Overthrew Toltecs.Developed independently from Mayans

Extended empire based on warfare and tribute into Central AmericaTenochtitlan: capital city (present day Mexico City)

Built on Marshes of Lake Texcoco100,000-250,000 residents at peak. Larger than major European cities at the

time.

Rise of the Aztecs

The Aztec Economy

• Lands of conquered peoples were used to feed the capital city and other important centers.•Food was sent as a form of tribute by conquered peoples.•Market days were held every 5 to 13 days to buy, sell and trade goods.•Cacao beans and gold dust was used for currency.•The state controlled the markets and redistributed wealth to needy areas. So there was more government involvement than in Europe.•Chinampas Agriculture was used to supplement the food supply.

Technology/ Trade•Markets in cities•Relied on extensive slave labor, tributes.•Wealth was based on strength of military and their ability to exploit the resources of surrounding people

ExpansionMilitaristic EmpireDominated by warriors, kings, and priestsSubordinate groups (i.e. Mayans) forced to pay tribute in gold and slaves but could run own internal affairs.Depended on warfare as a means to acquire slaves (POWs) for labor and sacrificial purposes

How many Indians?

• China – 150 million• India – 100 million• Europe – 35 million• Amerindian – 67 million

• Aztec Empire – 22 million• England - 5 million

Aztec Religion1) Polytheistic2) Similar to other regional religions•Pyramids, art, ceremonies, sacrifice.•Sacrifice: Up to 20,000 at a time! •Sun was created as a result of gods being sacrificed.•Needed human blood as nourishment•required constant warfare

•There were at least 128 major deities in the Aztec religion with many more minor deities as well.• Each god had a female consort – recognizing duality in all things.• The gods had different forms or manifestations – like Hindu avatars.•Asked the really big and important questions in life just like all great religions.

Do flowers go to the land of dead?

In the Beyond, are we dead or do we still live?

Where is the source of light, since that which gives life hides itself?

Are you real, are you fixed?

Only You dominate all things

The Giver of Life.

Is this true?

Perhaps, as they say, it is not true.

Three Types/Categories of Deities

• First Type: Fertility and Agricultural – Water, Maize and Fertility.

• Second Type: Creators – Gods who brought the universe into existence like Quetzalcoatl.

• Third Type: Warfare and Sacrifice – This third group was the

official cult of the state and worshipped gods like Huitzilopochtli's the war god.

Quetzalcoatl. The creator god of humanity represented duality by nature. Half air and half earth, the feathered serpent was one of the most important pre-Hispanic deities, the main protagonist of many of the major Mesoamerican myths and his cult was very ancient. Quetzalcoatl had different avocations: Venus as the morning star, called Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli; Xolotl, the "Precious Twin," Venus as the afternoon star; and Ehecatl, god of Wind. The cult of Quetzalcoatl reached the Maya zone, where he is known as Kukulkan. Among his most important attributes are the cut shell ornament, whether used as a pectoral, earplugs or adornment in some other part of his accouterments. As the wind god, he wears a beak-shaped mask, with which he produces the wind.

Tezcatlipoca is Aztec the god of the night sky and the night wind. His name means "Smoking Mirror," the Nahuatl term for the black obsidian mirrors the Mesoamericans used for divination. Tezcatlipoca also had several titles, for He was considered a fearsome god whom the people were careful to call upon by name.As the Lord of the Near and Nigh, Tezcatlipoca governs the fate of mortals, seeing into their minds and hearts with His obsidian mirror. He gives both reward and punishment as He sees fit; having the power to both bestow riches and take them away. As the night wind, Tezcatlipoca would rush through the streets in the night, giving terror or luck to any He came across in accordance with His whims and their worth. He carries five arrows which He uses to punish the wicked.

HUITZILOPOCHTLI -  (from huitzilin, "hummingbird," and opochtli, "left") was the Aztec sun and war god ... what a name ! Blue Humming Bird on the left.The Aztecs believed that dead warriors came back to life  as hummingbirds and that the south was the left side of the world. Huitzilopochtli's name, therefore, meant the Warrior of the South brought back from the dead. His animal disguise, was the eagle.

Huitzilopochtli's  image, in the form of a hummingbird, was carried upon the shoulders of the priests when the Aztecs invaded, and at night his voice was heard giving orders. Thus, according to Huitzilopochtli's command, Tenochtitlan the Aztec capital, was founded in AD 1325 on a small rocky island in the lake of the Valley of Mexico. The god's first shrine was built on a spot where priests found an eagle poised upon a rock and devouring a snake. Successive Aztec rulers enlarged the shrine until the year "Eight Reed" (1487), when an impressive temple was dedicated by the emperor Ahuitzotl.

Politics•Centralized•King claimed divine mandate, worked closely with priestly class to maintain status quo

Decline•No loyalty from subordinate groups. Resisted whenever possible.•Spanish - Hernando Cortes, El Conquistador. Overpowered Aztecs with superior weapons and horses. •Convinced Aztecs the Spanish were gods. •European disease. Small pox, measles. Americans had no natural immunity. Destroyed pop.

The Inca Empire

The South American Empire of the mountains.

The Inca Empire extended for some 3,000 miles making it as long as the lower 48 states of the US.

The Incas incorporated ideas and culture from many different peoples and fused them into a truly unique society.

Unlike the Aztecs, the Incas had a very sophisticated and effective bureaucracy.

Between 9 and 13 million people lived under Incan rule. Truly remarkable when you consider the geography and limited technology of the empire.

Overview

•Developed independently from Mayans and Aztecs in the Andes (Peru and Bolivia)•Cuzco: capital city•Similar to ancient Egypt•Sun God. “People of the Sun”•Centralized State•Divine ruler

Rise of the Incas

Technology/ Trade

•ROADS: 10,000 miles throughout mountains•Facilitated communication, trade, troop movements, travel•Record keeping: “Quipu” System of colored ropes and knots.•No written language •Advances in metalworking – especially gold and silver. Also used copper and bronze for tools and weapons.

The Incan Road System

• A complex system of roads was built through out the empire with bridges and causeways.

•Along these roads, way stations were placed about a day’s walk apart to serve as inns, storehouses and supply centers for the Inca armies.

•They also served as relay points for the system of runners who carried messages throughout the empire. A message from the extreme south would reach the extreme north in about 9 days.

•The Inca probably had around 10,000 way stations throughout the empire.

Incan Rope Bridge

Stone Steps

Incan Road and Settlement

Citadel at Machu Picchu

•Exerted control over regional neighbors•Late 1400s. Empire spanned from Ecuador to Chile.•Largest governmental unit in the Americas

Expansion

Incan Religion• Less brutal than Aztecs• Tolerant of local beliefs• Royal family descended from sun

god.• Mummification • Like the Aztecs, the Incas held the

sun to be the highest deity.• As the empire spread, so did the

cult of the sun, however, locals were not prohibited from worshiping their local gods as well.

• Viracocha (seen to the right) was a creator god that was a favorite throughout the empire.

• Popular belief was primarily animistic. Mountains, stones, rivers, caves were considered to be ‘huacas’ or holy shrines.

Why they built an empire.• The usual motivations for economic

gain and political power did play a role in the building of empire for the Incas.

• However, the cult of the ancestors was extremely important to the Incas.

• Deceased rulers were mummified and treated as intermediaries with the gods. From the Chimor kingdom the Incas adopted the practice of royal ‘split inheritance’ whereby political power and titles of the ruler went to the successor, but palaces, wealth, land and possessions remained under the control of the dead leader.

• To ensure that he would have a place for eternity each new ruler needed to expand the empire to gain lands and wealth for the afterlife.

Incan Sun Priest and his Family

The Inca (king) was considered to

be a near god by the people.

•“Sapa Inca” (Only Inca): supreme ruler•Despot: Authoritarian ruler who controlled marriage, movement, produce.•Communal system/self-sufficiency emphasized•Education of elites regulated by state•Protests and uprisings dealt with through military force and resettlement.

Political

The Techniques of Inca Imperial Rule• The Inca (king) was considered almost a god.

He ruled from his court at Cuzco which was also the site for the temple of the Sun God.

• The empire was divided into four districts each with a local governor and then divided again into smaller regional districts.

• The state bureaucracy was run by the nobles. Each of the four large districts had bureaucracies based on decimal units of 10,000, 1,000, 100 and smaller for collecting taxes and mobilizing labor for public works.

• Local rulers were allowed to keep their positions as long as they remained faithful to the Inca and sent their sons to Cuzco for their education.

• The Incas intentionally spread the Quechua language as a way to integrate the empire.

• They would also send Quechua speakers to live in other parts of the empire to speed up integration.

Incan Engineering

Conquered Peoples

• Conquered peoples were enlisted in the Inca armies under Inca officers.

• Subject peoples received access to goods not previously available to them and the Inca state undertook large building and irrigation projects that formerly would have been impossible. Loyalty and tribute were the only requirements.

• The state claimed all resources and redistributed them.

• The Incas divided conquered areas into lands for the people, lands for the state and lands for the sun – that is for religion and to support the priests.

• The kind of tribute exacted by the Incas was labor through the mita system.

• Women were required to produce cloth and some women were taken as concubines for the rulers.

• Other women were selected as servants at the temples called “Virgins of the Sun”.

Inca terrace farming

Gender Roles in Inca Society

“Inca Princess” Barbie

•Women worked in the fields, wove cloth and cared for the household.•Property rights among nobles passed in both men and women:

•Father’s wealth to sons•Mother’s wealth to daughters

• Emphasis on military virtues reinforced gender inequality.•Both gods and goddesses were worshipped but women felt a particular affinity with the Moon Goddess.

The Inca Ullo temple of fertility, Chucuito, Lake Titicaca

Decline

•1400s. Overextension of territory. Unable to keep subordinate groups cooperative.•Weakened at the arrival of Spanish in 1500s.•Francisco Pizzaro. Defeated Inca army of over 20,000 with a force of several hundred conquistadors.

Comparing Inca and Aztec• Both were successful with imperial and military

organization.• Both had intensive agriculture organized by the state

that created a food surplus.• Both redistributed resources to all classes.• Both used nobles to run state machinery.• Both recognized local ethnic groups – although the

Inca did spread their culture and language.• Both developed systems of roads and advanced

engineering techniques• Both were polytheistic and made human sacrifices to

the Gods• Both were defeated by the Spanish

•Trade and markets were more developed.

•Developed more metal working skills.

•Developed a writing system.

•Had a more efficient bureaucracy

•Sacrificed more humans – reason for conquests

•Controlled more land – reason for conquests

Aztec or Inca?

• Trade and markets were more developed in the Aztec regions.

•Incas developed more metal working skills than the Aztecs.

•Aztecs developed a writing system and the Incas did not.

•Incas had a more efficient bureaucracy

•Aztecs sacrificed more humans – reason for conquests

•Incas controlled more land – reason for conquests

Fortress of Ollantaytambo