Mesoamerican refers to indigenous cultures in Mexico and Central America before Spanish exploration and conquest.
Aztecs were also known as the Tenochca or Mexica , were believed to have been a northern tribe of hunter-gatherers from the Nahutal word Aztlan (“White Land”).
Long before the Aztecs came to the valley, the area had seen the rise and decline of other tribal groups and were formed by the remnant of these ethnic groups, which predominantly spoke Nahuatl , a local indigenous language.
Because the area was so large, Aztec rule was “hegemonic“or “indirect” which meant rulers of conquered cities remained in power, as long as they agreed to pay semi-annual tribute to the Alliance, as well as supply military forces when needed, for Aztec war efforts.
Aztecs considered themselves the descendants of the Toltecs who once held a large empire in Mexico until it’s sudden and violent collapse in the 12th century, brought on by the worst mega-drought in nearly two thousand years.
Researchers have noticed a similar slump in construction at numerous sites across the northern Mayan territory which also took place against a backdrop of severe drought.
These early migrants established a series of independent city-states at the low point of the Valley of Mexico near Lake Texococo, which made life sustainable in the generally dry climate.
They fought various small-scale wars with each other, but due to shifting alliances, no individual city initially gained dominance.
The resulting power vacuum allowed the Aztecs to migrate and settle in towns of the southern Valley of Mexico.
In return the Aztecs, served as mercenaries for the king who appointed one of his daughters to co rule over the Aztecs.
However, according to native accounts, the Aztecs instead sacrificed as an offering to their god.
When the ruler of Culhuacan learned of this, he attacked and to drove the Aztecs away by force.
While fleeing , the Aztecs were said to be guided by their god Huitzilopochtli, meaning “Left-handed Hummingbird” or “Hummingbird from the South.
At an island in Lake Texcoco, they saw an eagle holding a rattlesnake in its talons, perched on a nopal cactus.
The Aztecs took this as a sign telling them they should build their city of Tenochtitlan on that site, by creating an artificial island, which today is in the center of Mexico City.
According to legend, when the they arrived in the valley around Lake Texcoco, they were considered by the other groups as the least civilized of all, but the Aztecs decided to learn, and they took all they could from other people, especially shaping the environment to suit their needs, and consolidate their power
Aztecs were primarily successful in retaining this site due to it’s generally an undesirable location.
Next ,they filled the enclosure with mud dredged up from the lake bed, and built similar to the way Venice , Italy was created.
This farming technique of the marshlands, made sure water was readily available while the decaying vegetation re fertilized the farm plots.
The space between the enclosures served as canals which facilitated the transport of material within the city.
Their very successful irrigation and farming methods grew crops that included maize (corn), along with beans, squashes, potatoes, tomatoes and avocados.
Aztecs also supported themselves through fishing and hunting local animals such as rabbits, armadillos, snakes, coyotes and wild turkeys.
Although the Aztecs eventually became more dominant as they extended their power by a combination of trade and military conquest, various other tribes, by this time, have been migrating towards the prosperous and flourishing Valley of Mexico,
Rulers in the Valley of Mexico,were required to blood relationship with Toltec ancestry – as relative newcomers, the Aztecs were at a disadvantage.
Aztec elders chose a nobleman of Toltec origin named Acamapichti as their ruler and to secure the city’s position through strong ties to powerful groups in the region.
In addition to these concrete ties, his direct descent from the Toltecs, made his bloodline particularly prestigious.
Acamapichtli, accepted the throne of Tenochtitlan as ruler.
He fathered a great many children by 20 wives, and his descendants became the heart of a new social upper class called Pipiltin .
Pipiltin were allowed to hold important government offices, but not all had positions of authority.
For example, some were craftsmen, or even palace servants.
Merchants were a privileged class, with the ability to travel and trade with valuable objects which provided a certain amount of freedom most Aztecs did not have.
Technically, there were only two main Aztec social classes – the upper class called: Pipiltin and the lower class called : Macehualtin
Those who served with distinction could move up the ranks and enjoy many other privileges, such as a fuller education.
Also the upper class were allowed to wear fancier clothes and decorate their houses.
Aztec homes ranged from one-room huts to large, spacious palaces and depended on the family’s social status.
Wealthy Pipiltin lived in many roomed elaborate houses, usually built around an inner courtyard .
These houses had beautiful gardens were lavishly decorated; but lower class Macehualtin were not allowed to usually lived in one-room homes, built of adobe brick and thatched roofs.
Families had to contribute a share of their farm and household craft production as taxes, and manpower in times of war.
They also had to provide labor for religious and community functions.
Some Macehualtin would work a portion of land for life -though land was farmed by individual families but ultimate ownership rested with the clan.
If a family could not farm the land under their care its control reverted to the clan to reassignment to another family.
The Aztecs regarded childbirth as a form of battle. Women who died during childbirth were thought to rise to one of the highest heavens, the same one as for male warriors who died in battle.
Ullamaliztli was a rigorous game that often resulted in grave injuries, especially when the players, often protected by deerskin gears, had to throw themselves to the ground.
In any case, the ball game transcended into a true spectator sport that attracted kings, nobles and throngs of commoners among audiences, while pitting city-states against each other that usually took a political turn.
In fact, the popularity of Ullamaliztli rose to such heights that it fueled gambling businesses on the side where one could sell his featherworks, belongings, and even himself (as a slave) to work off the debts.
Slavery (a slave was a Tlacotli) was not hereditary, and was strictly protected by law.
If someone was in economic difficulty, they could sell themselves as slaves.
As time went by and farming became more efficient, less people were needed for harvest, so other parts of society became stronger.
They developed a form of hieroglyphic writing, a complex calendar system, and built famous pyramids and temples.
Though Aztecs were first and foremost a warrior society , the empire had compulsory education for everyone, regardless of gender or class.
Though boys received a wider education than girls., the society was generally well educated.
Girls were taught how to run a home, cook, and care for a family, but they were also taught crafts and ways to economically run the home.
In this way women had a lot of power in society, though it was behind the scenes.
Note: Mandatory education was historically rare in the rest of the world.
The Calmecac ( Scool of the Lineage ), a separate school for the upper class, where candidates were trained for both priesthood and warfare.
A soldier who served with distinction could eventually hold an office normally held for the upper class Pipiltin .
A warrior who captured many prisoners could be honored by the European equivalent of being knighted and was the first major step up the ranks.
Much like the ancient Spartans, the Aztecs perceived warfare as one of the ‘pillars’ of their thriving society.
To that end, it doesn’t come as a surprise that most adult males had to provide some form of mandatory military service.
The Telpochcalli (‘School of Youth’), was founded for lower class to be trained as warriors .
Schools were run by veteran warriors barely older than their pupils , thus alluding to the demand and progression of military duties in Aztec society.
Societal interdependence was formed at an early age and reinforced their sense of fraternity during actual military campaigns.
Those chosen as future warriors started “training” as early as 5 yrs of age.
One of the first tasks the small boy had to perform related to the intensive physical labor of carrying heavy goods and crucial food supplies from the central marketplace.
By age 7, the Aztec boy had to learn to maneuver his family boat and fish on Lake Texcoco.
Tasks assigned to the teenager trainees focused on teamwork such as and as such repairing and cleaning public works like canals and aqueducts.
Discipline was one of the mainstays of the Aztec military.
Idleness was actively punished by elders, with punishments ranging from beatings, stinging with agave thorns, or even having their faces and eyes ‘incensed’ with the pernicious smoke from roasted chili peppers.
Students were then encouraged to take part in mock battles against each other as teams, with reward systems of food and gifts.
These staged combat scenarios were perceived as rites of initiation for the young warriors, and the victors were often inducted into advanced training programs focused on handling heavier weapons reserved for the elite fighters of the Aztec military.
Aztec warriors trained in ambush would use blowguns with and darts tipped with poisonous tree frog secretions.
Aztec Regular Units were formed into companies called Calpulli and divided into units of 800, 400 or 200 warriors.
They were led by nobles from the region where the troops were recruited.
The leadership of the army, particularly the generals, designated a successor before each battle so that if they were killed they could immediately be replaced.
Elite Aztec Warriors such as the Eagle and Jaguar or the dreaded Shorn Ones excelled in warfare.
Each society had different styles of dress, tactics and equipment as well as styles of body paint and adornments.
Generally, higher ranking warriors received the right to wear finer and more spectacular attire.
Warriors could shift from one society and into another when they became sufficiently proficient in the martial abilities of one group; however, it is not known exactly how this worked.
Eagle and Jaguar Warriors were the largest warrior societies.
They dressed like their name sake animals and were head quartered in the Quauhcalli “The Eagle House” located in the ceremonial precinct in Tenochtitlan.
Eagles were adorned in eagle feathers and wore headgear with an eagle head on it, their faces looking out from an open beak
Jaguars wore suits made from the pelts of pumas (jaguars) and associated themselves with their god of night. Regalia became more splendid and refined as Eagles and Jaguars increased in honors and rank.
To be eligible to join the Eagles and Jaguars a man must capture four or more prisoners in battle.
These visually spectacular warriors were often depicted as statues and in codices.
Aztec poetry used the term Eagles and Jaguars to refer to nobles in war.
Otomies, another warrior society named after the Otomi people who were known for being fierce warriors and allies of the Aztecs.
The Shorn Ones or Cuachicqueh ,so named because their heads were shaved except for a long braid over the left ear,was the most prestigious warrior society of which a very high ranking general, was always a member.
They painted their bald heads blue on one side and red or yellow on the other.
The Shorn Ones took an oath not to take a step backwards during a battle on pain of death at the hands of their fellow warriors.
Officers were recognizable in the battle by their particularly remarkable finery and unusually long wood poles (Pamitl) with the feathers and banners flying from them.
They fastened this banner to their back, so that they did not become hindered in battle.
Aztec warriors used a range of weapons in combat scenarios, from slings, bows to spears and clubs.
Aztec society suffered under a tremendous burden of a religion which held that the god of the Sun needed to be fed human hearts in order to make the daily journey from east to west, which necessitated .nearly constant war to capture sacrificial victims.
Thus in their warfare the Aztecs tried not to kill their enemies in battle but to take them alive – the more captives they took, could increase their rank.
This religious burden drained labor away from productive enterprises such as supplying the army with weapons and sustenance.
Aztecs also required great resources be devoted to building the temples and monuments.
Mexican archaeologists have discovered a passageway that may lead to a secret chamber hiding tombs of Aztec rulers in the ruins of Templo Mayor ,which was one of the main temples of the Aztec Empire (15th century)
The passageway is continuation of a tunnel discovered in 2013 that leads to Cuauhxicalco, a circular structure where the bodies of Aztec rulers were cremated, according to historical records.
In excavations that year, archaeologists found a large container at the mouth of the tunnel containing gold objects, knives, the skulls of two children aged five and seven and the bones of eagle among other materials which hinted at the ritual practice of human sacrifice by Aztec people.
Nevertheless, Tenochtitlan grew to be the largest city in the world at that time, housing a population of a quarter of a million at a time when Paris and London had no more than one hundred thousand people each.
In 1518, a Spanish Conquistador named Hernan’ Cortes sailed to the Gulf of Mexico to explore the region, for possible regions to colonize for Spanish royalty and landed near Potonchan- a city ruled by the Maya.
The Spanish, with their armor and steel weapons, easily won and soon local leaders asked for peace.
She was fluent in Maya and Nahuatl, and quickly picked up Spanish, but more importantly, she helped Cortes understand local cultures and politics.
Cortes again set sail and landed at the town of Tabasco, where he learned from natives of the great Aztec civilization ruled by Montezuma II.
Cortes and some 400 soldiers then marched into Mexico, aided by Malinche, who served as a translator.
Due to instability within the Aztec empire, Cortes was able to form alliances with other native peoples like the Tlascalans, who were at war with Montezuma II.
Cortes immediately took Montezuma II and his lords hostage, gaining control of the Aztec capitol ,Tenochtitlan .
He renamed the area Mexico City, in 1521 , which became the premier city of New Spain.
In all, some 240,000 people were believed to have died in the city’s conquest.
This ended the Aztec empire.
The Aztec codices
Antonio de Mendoza,, the first viceroy of New Spain, commissioned a codex to record information about the Aztecs known as the Codex Mendoza.
It contained information about the lords of Tenochtitlan, the tribute paid to the Aztecs, and every day life .
”The colonial era codices also contain Aztec pictograms, or entirely in Nahuatl without pictorial content.
Although there are very few surviving pre-conquest codices, the Tlacuilo (codex painter) tradition endured the transition to colonial culture; giving scholars access to around 500 colonial-era codices, which utilizes texts to create scholarly works from an indigenous viewpoint.
