Aztec
Also known as Aztec civilization, Aztec people, Aztecs, Azteclas
thumb|upright=1.35|The Aztec Empire in 1519 within [[Mesoamerica]]
AI overview
The Aztec Empire was a powerful civilization that flourished in Mesoamerica and reached its height around 1519, before being conquered by Spanish conquistadors. It matters because the Aztecs built one of history's most sophisticated pre-Columbian societies, with advanced architecture, agriculture, and governance systems that shaped the region for centuries.
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Article
58 sectionsContents
- Definitions
- History
- Sources of knowledge
- Central Mexico in the classic and postclassic
- Mexica migration and foundation of Tenochtitlan
- Early Mexica rulers
- Early rulers of the Aztec Empire
- Motecuzoma I Ilhuicamina
- Axayacatl and Tizoc
- Ahuitzotl
- Final Aztec rulers and the Spanish conquest
- The ''Cuauhtlatoque'' and Aztec polity post-conquest (1521–1565)
- Cuauhtémoc and the deterritorialization of the ''tlatoque''
- ''Cuāuhtlahtoāni'' (1525–1536)
- Restoration of dynastic rulership (1538–1565)
- Social and political organization
- Nobles and commoners
- Family and gender
- ''Altepetl'' and ''calpolli''
- Triple Alliance and Aztec Empire
- Economy
- Agriculture and subsistence
- Crafts and trades
- Trade and distribution
- Taxation
- Urbanism
- Mexico-Tenochtitlan
- The Great Temple
- Other major city-states
- Religion
- Deities
- Mythology and worldview
- Calendar
- Human sacrifice and cannibalism
- {{anchor|Aztec culture}}Art and cultural production
- Writing and iconography
- {{anchor|Music and song}}Music, song and poetry
- Ceramics
- Painted art
- Sculpture
- Featherwork
- Colonial period, 1521–1821
- Population decline
- Social and political continuity and change
- Legacy
- Aztecs and Mexico's national identity
- Aztec history and international scholarship
- Language and placenames
- Cuisine
- Ethnic identity
- In popular culture
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Bibliography
- Primary sources in English
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|upright=1.35|The Aztec Empire in 1519 within [[Mesoamerica]]
The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language. Aztec culture was organized into city-states (altepetl), some of which joined to form alliances, political confederations, or empires. The Aztec Empire was a confederation of three city-states established in 1427: Tenochtitlan (the capital city of the Mexica or Tenochca), Tetzcoco, and Tlacopan, previously part of the Tepanec empire, whose dominant power was Azcapotzalco. Although the term Aztecs is often narrowly restricted to the Mexica of Tenochtitlan, it is also broadly used to refer to Nahua polities or peoples of central Mexico in the prehispanic era, as well as the Spanish colonial era (1521–1821).