Aztecs, Maya, and Inca History

Aztecs

Central Mexico was the location of the Aztec Empire. From the 1400s until the arrival of the Spanish in 1519, it dominated a large portion of the area. Aztec society was largely based on its religion and deities. They waged war to seize victims they could sacrifice to their gods while also constructing enormous pyramids as temples to their deities.

Tenochtitlan served as the Aztec Empire’s capital. On an island in Lake Texcoco, this city was established in the year 1325. The city most likely had 200,000 residents at the height of its power. A huge temple complex with pyramids and the king’s palace stood in the city’s center. The rest of the city was organized into districts and laid out in a grid-like pattern. It constructed aqueducts to carry fresh water into the city and causeways to connect to the mainland.

The Tlatoani was the title given to the Aztec king. Tlatoani Montezuma I was the ruler during the Empire’s apex. The Aztec priesthood started noticing omens of doom around 1517. They had a nasty feeling that something negative would occur. They were accurate. Hernan Cortes, a Spanish conquistador, arrived in Mexico in 1519. The Spanish had subdued the Aztecs by 1521. They destroyed most of Tenochtitlan and replaced it with Mexico metropolis, their own metropolis.

Maya

The Maya civilization dates back to 2000 BC, and it remained dominant in Mesoamerica for more than three thousand years before the arrival of the Spanish in 1519 AD. There were numerous strong city-states among the Maya. Different city-states, including El Mirador, Tikal, Uxmal, Caracol, and Chichen Itza, rose to prominence throughout Maya history.

The Maya lived in what is now southern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, Guatemala, Belize, and northern El Salvador in Central America. Numerous cities chock full of massive stone buildings were constructed by them. Perhaps the Maya are best known for their numerous pyramids today. To honor their gods, they constructed pyramids that protruded hundreds of feet above the jungle.

The only American civilisation to create a sophisticated written language was the Maya. They were also quite talented in astronomy, painting, and arithmetic. The so-called Classic Period, which lasted from 250 AD to 900 AD, is when the Maya civilisation was at its height.

Inca

From the 1400s until the arrival of the Spanish in 1532, the Inca Empire, which had its capital in present-day Peru, controlled a large portion of South America’s west coast. Despite without the wheel, iron tools, or a writing system, this vast empire managed to build a society where everyone had a job, a place to live, and food to eat.

The Sapa Inca was the title of the Inca ruler. Manco Capac was the first Inca of Sapa. Around 1200 AD, he founded the Kingdom of Cuzco. The empire would continue to have Cuzco as its capital as it grew in the ensuing years. During Pachacuti’s rule, the Inca grew into a vast empire. The Inca Empire, known as the Tawantinsuyu by the Inca, was founded by Pachacuti. An estimated 10 million people lived in the Inca Empire at its height.

In 1533, the Spanish and conquistador Francisco Pizarro overthrew the Inca. When Pizarro came, the empire had already been severely undermined by internal strife and ailments like smallpox.