Aztec

History Main article: History of the Aztecs Sources of knowledge See also: Aztec codex and Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire § Sources for the conquest of Mesoamerica A page from the Codex Boturini depicting the departure from Aztlán Knowledge of Aztec society rests on several different sources: The many archeological remains of everything from temple pyramids to thatched huts can be used to understand many of the aspects of what the Aztec world was like. However, archeologists often must rely on knowledge from other sources to interpret the historical context of artifacts. There are many written texts by the indigenous people and Spaniards of the early colonial period that contain invaluable information about pre-colonial Aztec history. These texts provide insight into the political histories of various Aztec city-states, and their ruling lineages. Such histories were produced as well in pictorial codices . Some of these manuscripts were entirely pictorial, often with glyphs . In the postconquest era, many other texts were written in Latin script by either literate Aztecs or by Spanish friars who interviewed the native people about their customs and stories. An important pictorial and alphabetic text produced in the early sixteenth century was Codex Mendoza , named after the first viceroy of Mexico and perhaps commissioned by him, to inform the Spanish crown about the political and economic structure of the Aztec empire. It has information naming the polities that the Triple Alliance conquered, the types of taxes rendered to the Aztec Empire, and the class/gender structure of their society. [ 1 ] Many written annals exist, written by local Nahua historians recording the histories of their polity. These annals used pictorial histories and were subsequently transformed into alphabetic annals in Latin script. [ 2 ] Well-known native chroniclers and annalists are Chimalpahin of Amecameca-Chalco; Fernando Alvarado Tezozomoc of Tenochtitlan; Alva Ixtlilxochitl of Texcoco, Juan Bautista Pomar of Texcoco, and Diego Muñoz Camargo of Tlaxcala. There are also many accounts by Spanish conquerors who participated in the Spanish invasion, such as Bernal Díaz del Castillo who wrote a full history of the conquest. Spanish friars also produced documentation in chronicles and other types of accounts. Of key importance is Toribio de Benavente Motolinia , one of the first twelve Franciscans arriving in Mexico in 1524. Another Franciscan of great importance was Fray Juan de Torquemada , author of Monarquia Indiana . Dominican Diego Durán also wrote extensively about pre-Hispanic religion as well as the history of the Mexica. [ 3 ] An invaluable source of information about many aspects of Aztec religious thought, political and social structure, as well as the history of the Spanish conquest from the Mexica viewpoint is the Florentine Codex . Produced between 1545 and 1576 in the form of an ethnographic encyclopedia written bilingually in Spanish and Nahuatl, by Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún and indigenous informants and scribes, it contains knowledge about many aspects of precolonial society from religion, calendrics , botany , zoology , trades and crafts and history. [ 4 ] [ 5 ] Another source of knowledge is the cultures and customs of the contemporary Nahuatl speakers who can often provide insights into what pre-Hispanic ways of life may have been like. Scholarly study of Aztec civilization is most often based on scientific and multidisciplinary methodologies, combining archeological knowledge with ethnohistorical and ethnographic information. [ 6 ] Central Mexico in the classic and postclassic The Valley of Mexico with the locations of the main city-states in 1519 It is a matter of debate whether the enormous city of Teotihuacan was inhabited by speakers of Nahuatl, or whether Nahuas had not yet arrived in central Mexico in the classic period. It is generally agreed that the Nahua peoples were not indigenous to the highlands of central Mexico, but that they gradually migrated into the region from somewhere in northwestern Mexico. At the fall of Teotihuacan in the 6th century CE, some city-states rose to power in central Mexico, some of them, including Cholula and Xochicalco, probably inhabited by Nahuatl speakers. One study has suggested that Nahuas originally inhabited the Bajío area around Guanajuato which reached a population peak in the 6th century, after which the population quickly diminished during a subsequent dry period. This depopulation of the Bajío coincided with an incursion of new populations into the Valley of Mexico, which suggests that this marks the influx of Nahuatl speakers into the region. [ 7 ] These people populated central Mexico, dislocating speakers of Oto-Manguean languages as they spread their political influence south. As the former nomadic hunter-gatherer peoples mixed with the complex civilizations of Mesoamerica, adopting religious and cultural practices, the foundation for later Aztec culture was laid. After 900 CE, during the postclassic period, many sites almost certainly inhabited by Nahuatl speakers became powerful. Among them are the site of Tula, Hidalgo , and also city-states such as Tenayuca , and Colhuacan in the valley of Mexico and Cuauhnahuac in Morelos. [ 8 ] Mexica migration and foundation of Tenochtitlan In the ethnohistorical sources from the colonial period, the Mexica themselves describe their arrival in the Valley of Mexico. The ethnonym Aztec (Nahuatl Aztecah ) means "people from Aztlan ", Aztlan being a mythical place of origin toward the north. Hence the term applied to all those peoples who claimed to carry the heritage from this mythical place. The migration stories of the Mexica tribe tell how they traveled with other tribes, including the Tlaxcalteca , Tepaneca , and Acolhua , but that eventually their tribal deity Huitzilopochtli told them to split from the other Aztec tribes and take on the name "Mexica". [ 9 ] At the time of their arrival, there were many Aztec city-states in the region. The most powerful were Colhuacan to the south and Azcapotzalco to the west. The Tepanecs of Azcapotzalco soon expelled the Mexica from Chapultepec and executed the first Aztec royal family except Queen Chimalxochitl II . In 1299, Colhuacan ruler Cocoxtli permitted them to settle in the empty barrens of Tizapan, where they were eventually assimilated into Culhuacan culture. [ 10 ] The noble lineage of Colhuacan traced its roots back to the legendary city-state of Tula, and by marrying into Colhua families, the Mexica now appropriated this heritage. After living in Colhuacan, the Mexica were again expelled and were forced to move. [ 11 ] According to Aztec legend, in 1323, the Mexica were shown a vision of an eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus , eating a snake. The vision indicated where they were to build their settlement. The Mexica founded Tenochtitlan on a small swampy island in Lake Texcoco, the inland lake of the Basin of Mexico. The year of foundation is usually given as 1325. In 1376 the Mexica royal dynasty was founded when Acamapichtli was elected as the first Huey Tlatoani of Tenochtitlan. [ 12 ] Early Mexica rulers In the first 50 years after the founding of the Mexica dynasty, the Mexica were a tributary of Azcapotzalco, which had become a major regional power under the ruler Tezozomoc . The Mexica supplied the Tepaneca with warriors for their successful conquest campaigns in the region and received part of the tribute from the conquered city-states. In this way, the political standing and economy of Tenochtitlan gradually grew. [ 13 ] In 1396, at Acamapichtli's death, his son Huitzilihhuitl ( lit. "Hummingbird feather") became ruler; married to Tezozomoc's daughter, the relationship with Azcapotzalco remained close. Chimalpopoca ( lit. "She smokes like a shield"), son of Huitzilihhuitl, became ruler of Tenochtitlan in 1417. In 1418, Azcapotzalco initiated a war against the Acolhua of Texcoco and killed their ruler Ixtlilxochitl . Even though Ixtlilxochitl was married to Chimalpopoca's daughter, the Mexica ruler continued to support Tezozomoc. Tezozomoc died in 1426, and his sons began a struggle for the rulership of Azcapotzalco. During this power struggle, Chimalpopoca died, probably killed by Tezozomoc's son Maxtla who saw him as a competitor. [ 14 ] Itzcoatl , brother of Huitzilihhuitl and uncle of Chimalpopoca, was elected the next Mexica tlatoani . The Mexica were now in open war with Azcapotzalco and Itzcoatl petitioned for an alliance with Nezahualcoyotl , son of the slain Texcocan ruler Ixtlilxochitl against Maxtla. Itzcoatl also allied with Maxtla's brother Totoquihuaztli ruler of the Tepanec city of Tlacopan. The Triple Alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan besieged Azcapotzalco, and in 1428 they destroyed the city and sacrificed Maxtla. Through this victory, Tenochtitlan became the dominant city-state in the Valley of Mexico, and the alliance between the three city-states provided the basis on which the Aztec Empire was built. [ 15 ] Itzcoatl proceeded by securing a power basis for Tenochtitlan, by conquering the city-states on the southern lake – including Culhuacan , Xochimilco , Cuitlahuac, and Mizquic. These states had an economy based on highly productive chinampa agriculture, cultivating human-made extensions of rich soil in the shallow lake Xochimilco. Itzcoatl then undertook further conquests in the valley of Morelos , subjecting the city-state of Cuauhnahuac (today Cuernavaca ). [ 16 ] Early rulers of the Aztec Empire Main article: Aztec Empire Motecuzoma I Ilhuicamina The coronation of Moctezuma I, Tovar Codex In 1440, Moteuczomatzin Ilhuicamina [ nb 1 ] ( lit. "he frowns like a lord, he shoots the sky" [ nb 2 ] ) was elected tlatoani; he was the son of Huitzilihhuitl, brother of Chimalpopoca and had served as the war leader of his uncle Itzcoatl in the war against the Tepanecs. The accession of a new ruler in the dominant city-state was often an occasion for subjected cities to rebel by refusing to pay taxes. This meant that new rulers began their rule with a coronation campaign, often against rebellious provinces, but also sometimes demonstrating their military might by making new conquests. Motecuzoma tested the attitudes of the cities around the valley by requesting laborers for the enlargement of the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan. Only the city of Chalco refused to provide laborers, and hostilities between Chalco and Tenochtitlan would persist until the 1450s. [ 17 ] [ 18 ] Motecuzoma then reconquered the cities in the valley of Morelos and Guerrero, and then later undertook new conquests in the Huaxtec region of northern Veracruz, and the Mixtec region of Coixtlahuaca and large parts of Oaxaca, and later again in central and southern Veracruz with conquests at Cosamalopan, Ahuilizapan, and Cuetlaxtlan. [ 19 ] During this period the city-states of Tlaxcalan, Cholula and Huexotzinco emerged as major competitors to the imperial expansion, and they supplied warriors to several of the cities conquered. Motecuzoma therefore initiated a state of low-intensity warfare against these three cities, staging minor skirmishes called " Flower Wars " (Nahuatl xochiyaoyotl ) against them, perhaps as a strategy of exhaustion. [ 20 ] [ 21 ] In the Valley of Oaxaca , which was invaded by Moctezuma's forces in the 1450s, the Aztec Empire would oppress the Mixtec and Zapotec peoples, who they would also require to pay tributes . [ 22 ] Motecuzoma I also consolidated the political structure of the Triple Alliance and the internal political organization of Tenochtitlan. His brother Tlacaelel served as his main advisor (Nahuatl languages: Cihuacoatl ) and he is considered responsible for the major political reforms in this period, consolidating the power of the noble class (Nahuatl languages: pipiltin ) and instituting a set of legal codes, and the practice of reinstating conquered rulers in their cities bound by fealty to the Mexica tlatoani. [ 23 ] [ 24 ] [ 20 ] Axayacatl and Tizoc In 1469, the next ruler was Axayacatl ( lit. "Water mask"), son of Itzcoatl's son Tezozomoc and Motecuzoma I's daughter Atotoztli II . [ nb 3 ] He undertook a successful coronation campaign far south of Tenochtitlan against the Zapotecs in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec . Axayacatl also conquered the independent Mexica city of Tlatelolco, located on the northern part of the island where Tenochtitlan was also located. The Tlatelolco ruler Moquihuix was married to Axayacatl's sister, and his alleged mistreatment of her was used as an excuse to incorporate Tlatelolco and its important market directly under the control of the tlatoani of Tenochtitlan. [ 25 ] Axayacatl then conquered areas in Central Guerrero, the Puebla Valley, on the gulf coast and against the Otomi and Matlatzinca in the Toluca Valley. The Toluca Valley was a buffer zone against the powerful Tarascan state in Michoacan , against which Axayacatl turned next. In the major campaign against the Tarascans (Nahuatl languages: Michhuahqueh ) in 1478–1479 the Aztec forces were repelled by a well-organized defense. Axayacatl was soundly defeated in a battle at Tlaximaloyan (today Tajimaroa), losing most of his 32,000 men and only barely escaping back to Tenochtitlan with the remnants of his army. [ 26 ] In 1481 at Axayacatls death, his older brother Tizoc was elected ruler. Tizoc's coronation campaign against the Otomi of Metztitlan failed as he lost the major battle and only managed to secure 40 prisoners to be sacrificed for his coronation ceremony. Having shown weakness, many cities rebelled and consequently, most of Tizoc's short reign was spent attempting to quell rebellions and maintain control of areas conquered by his predecessors. Tizoc died suddenly in 1485, and it has been suggested that he was poisoned by his brother and war leader Ahuitzotl who became the next tlatoani. Tizoc is mostly known as the namesake of the Stone of Tizoc a monumental sculpture (Nahuatl temalacatl ), decorated with a representation of Tizoc's conquests. [ 27 ] Ahuitzotl Ahuitzotl in Codex Mendoza The next ruler was Ahuitzotl ( lit. "Water monster"), brother of Axayacatl and Tizoc and war leader under Tizoc. His successful coronation campaign suppressed rebellions in the Toluca Valley and conquered Jilotepec and several communities in the northern Valley of Mexico. A second 1521 campaign to the gulf coast was also highly successful. He began an enlargement of the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan, inaugurating the new temple in 1487. For the inauguration ceremony, the Mexica invited the rulers of all their subject cities, who participated as spectators in the ceremony in which an unprecedented number of war captives were sacrificed – some sources giving a figure of 80,400 prisoners sacrificed over four days. Probably the actual figure of sacrifices was much smaller, but still numbering several thousand. There have never been found enough skulls in the capital to satisfy even the most conservative figures. [ 28 ] Ahuitzotl also constructed monumental architecture in sites such as Calixtlahuaca, Malinalco, and Tepoztlan. After a rebellion in the towns of Alahuiztlan and Oztoticpac in Northern Guerrero, he ordered the entire population executed and repopulated with people from the valley of Mexico. He also constructed a fortified garrison at Oztuma defending the border against the Tarascan state. [ 29 ] Final Aztec rulers and the Spanish conquest Main article: Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire The meeting of Moctezuma II and Hernán Cortés , with his cultural translator La Malinche , 8 November 1519, as depicted in the Lienzo de Tlaxcala Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin is known to world history as the Aztec ruler when the Spanish invaders and their indigenous allies began their conquest of the empire in a two-year-long campaign (1519–1521). His early rule did not hint at his future fame. He succeeded in the rulership after the death of Ahuitzotl. Motecuhzoma Xocoyotzin ( lit. "He frowns like a lord, the youngest child who is dead as he had lived in life but not death"), was a son of Axayacatl, and a war leader. He began his rule in standard fashion, conducting a coronation campaign to demonstrate his skills as a leader. He attacked the fortified city of Nopallan in Oaxaca and subjected the adjacent region to the empire. An effective warrior, Moctezuma maintained the pace of conquest set by his predecessor and subjected large areas in Guerrero, Oaxaca, Puebla, and even far south along the Pacific and Gulf coasts, conquering the province of Xoconochco in Chiapas. he also intensified the flower wars waged against Tlaxcala and Huexotzinco and secured an alliance with Cholula. He also consolidated the class structure of Aztec society, by making it harder for commoners (Nahuatl languages: macehualtin ) to accede to the privileged class of the pipiltin through merit in combat. He also instituted a strict sumptuary code limiting the types of luxury goods that could be consumed by commoners. [ 30 ] "The Torture of Cuauhtémoc" ( El suplicio de Cuauhtémoc ), 1892 oil painting by Leandro Izaguirre In 1517, Moctezuma received the first news of ships with strange warriors having landed on the Gulf Coast near Cempoallan and he dispatched messengers to greet them and find out what was happening, and he ordered his subjects in the area to keep him informed of any new arrivals. In 1519, he was informed of the arrival of the Spanish fleet of Hernán Cortés, who soon marched toward Tlaxcala where he allied with the traditional enemies of the Aztecs. On 8 November 1519, Moctezuma II received Cortés and his troops and Tlaxcalan allies on the causeway south of Tenochtitlan, and he invited the Spaniards to stay as his guests in Tenochtitlan. When Aztec troops destroyed a Spanish camp on the Gulf Coast, Cortés ordered Moctezuma to execute the commanders responsible for the attack, and Moctezuma complied. At this point, the power balance had shifted toward the Spaniards who now held Moctezuma as a prisoner in his palace. As this shift in power became clear to Moctezuma's subjects, the Spaniards became increasingly unwelcome in the capital city, and, in June 1520, hostilities broke out, culminating in the massacre in the Great Temple , and a major uprising of the Mexica against the Spanish. During the fighting, Moctezuma was killed, either by the Spaniards who killed him as they fled the city, or by the Mexica themselves who considered him a traitor. [ 31 ] Cuitláhuac , a kinsman and adviser to Moctezuma, succeeded him as tlatoani, mounting the defense of Tenochtitlan against the Spanish invaders and their indigenous allies. He ruled for only 80 days, perhaps dying in a smallpox epidemic, although early sources do not give the cause. He was succeeded by Cuauhtémoc , the last independent Mexica tlatoani, who continued the fierce defense of Tenochtitlan. The Aztecs were weakened by disease, and the Spanish enlisted tens of thousands of Indian allies, especially Tlaxcalans , for the assault on Tenochtitlan. After the siege and destruction of the Aztec capital, Cuauhtémoc was captured on 13 August 1521, marking the beginning of Spanish hegemony in central Mexico. Spaniards held Cuauhtémoc captive until he was tortured and executed on the orders of Cortés, supposedly for treason, during an ill-fated expedition to Honduras in 1525. His death marked the end of a tumultuous era in Aztec political history. After the fall of the Aztec Empire, entire Nahua communities were subject to forced labor under the encomienda system, the Aztec education system was abolished and replaced by a very limited church education, and Aztec religious practices were forcibly replaced with Catholicism . ^ Berdan & Anawalt 1997 . ^ Boone 2000 , pp. 242–249. ^ Batalla 2016 . ^ León-Portilla 2002 . ^ Sahagún 1577 . ^ Berdan 2014 , pp. 25–28. ^ Beekman & Christensen 2003 . ^ Smith 1997 , pp. 41–43. ^ Smith 1984 . ^ Smith 1984 , p. 173. ^ Smith 1997 , pp. 44–45. ^ Townsend 2009 , pp. 60–62. ^ Townsend 2009 , p. 63. ^ Townsend 2009 , pp. 64–74. ^ Townsend 2009 , pp. 74–75. ^ Townsend 2009 , pp. 78–81. ^ Smith 1997 , p. 51. ^ Hassig 1988 , pp. 158–159. ^ Hassig 1988 , pp. 161–162. ^ a b Townsend 2009 , pp. 91–98. ^ Smith 1997 , pp. 51–53. ^ Schmal, John P. "The Mixtecs And Zapotecs: Two Enduring Cultures of Oaxaca" . Houston Institute for Culture . Retrieved 2 October 2024 . ^ Smith 1997 , pp. 52–53. ^ Carrasco 1999 , pp. 404–407. ^ Townsend 2009 , p. 99. ^ Townsend 2009 , pp. 99–100. ^ Townsend 2009 , pp. 100–101. ^ " 'Huey Tzompantli': Fearsome tower of human skulls unearthed in Mexico City" . The Yucatan Times . 21 July 2017. Archived from the original on 12 January 2023 . Retrieved 14 July 2021 . ^ Townsend 2009 , pp. 101–110. ^ Townsend 2009 , p. 110. ^ Townsend 2009 , pp. 220–236. Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page ).

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Economy Agriculture and subsistence Cultivation of maize , the main foodstuff, using simple tools. Florentine Codex Like all Mesoamerican peoples, Aztec society was organized around maize agriculture. The humid environment in the Valley of Mexico with its many lakes and swamps permitted intensive agriculture. The main crops in addition to maize were beans, squashes, chilies, and amaranth . Particularly important for agricultural production in the valley was the construction of chinampas on the lake, artificial islands that allowed the conversion of the shallow waters into highly fertile gardens that could be cultivated year-round. Chinampas are human-made extensions of agricultural land, created from alternating layers of mud from the bottom of the lake, and plant matter and other vegetation. These raised beds were separated by narrow canals, which allowed farmers to move between them by canoe. Chinampas were extremely fertile pieces of land, and yielded, on average, seven crops annually. Based on current chinampa yields, it has been estimated that one hectare (2.5 acres) of chinampa would feed 20 individuals and 9,000 hectares (22,000 acres) of chinampas could feed 180,000. [ 1 ] The Aztecs further intensified agricultural production by constructing systems of artificial irrigation . While most of the farming occurred outside the densely populated areas, within the cities there was another method of (small-scale) farming. Each family had a garden plot where they grew maize, fruits, herbs, medicines, and other important plants. When the city of Tenochtitlan became a major urban center, water was supplied to the city through aqueducts from springs on the banks of the lake, and they organized a system that collected human waste for use as fertilizer. Through intensive agriculture, the Aztecs were able to sustain a large urbanized population. The lake was also a rich source of proteins in the form of aquatic animals such as fish, amphibians, shrimp, insects and insect eggs, and waterfowl. The presence of such varied sources of protein meant that there was little use for domestic animals for meat (only turkeys and dogs were kept), and scholars have calculated that there was no shortage of protein among the inhabitants of the Valley of Mexico. [ 2 ] Further information on the land distance measure: Tlalcuahuitl Crafts and trades Typical Aztec black on orange ceramic ware The excess supply of food products allowed a significant portion of the Aztec population to dedicate themselves to trades other than food production. Apart from taking care of domestic food production, women weaved textiles from agave fibers and cotton . Men also engaged in craft specializations such as the production of ceramics and obsidian and flint tools and of luxury goods such as beadwork , featherwork , and the elaboration of tools and musical instruments. Sometimes entire calpollis specialized in a single craft, and in some archeological sites large neighborhoods have been found where- only a single craft specialty was practiced. [ 3 ] [ 4 ] The Aztecs did not produce much metalwork but did have knowledge of basic smelting technology for gold , and they combined gold with precious stones such as jade and turquoise . Copper products were generally imported from the Tarascans of Michoacan. [ 5 ] Trade and distribution Diorama model of the Aztec market at Tlatelolco Products were distributed through a network of markets; some markets specialized in a single commodity (e.g., the dog market of Acolman), and other general markets with the presence of many different goods. Markets were highly organized with a system of supervisors taking care that only authorized merchants were permitted to sell their goods, and punishing those who cheated their customers or sold substandard or counterfeit goods. A typical town would have a weekly market (every five days), while larger cities held markets every day. Cortés reported that the central market of Tlatelolco, Tenochtitlan's sister city, was visited by 60,000 people daily. Some sellers in the markets were petty vendors; farmers might sell some of their produce, potters sold their vessels, and so on. Other vendors were professional merchants who traveled from market to market seeking profits. [ 6 ] The pochteca were specialized long-distance merchants organized into exclusive guilds . They made long expeditions to all parts of Mesoamerica bringing back exotic luxury goods, and they served as the judges and supervisors of the Tlatelolco market. Although the economy of Aztec Mexico was commercialized (in its use of money, markets, and merchants), land and labor were not generally commodities for sale, though some types of land could be sold between nobles. [ 7 ] In the commercial sector of the economy, several types of money were in regular use. [ 8 ] Small purchases were made with cacao beans , which had to be imported from lowland areas. In Aztec marketplaces, a small rabbit was worth 30 beans, a turkey egg cost three beans, and a tamal cost a single bean. For larger purchases, standardized lengths of cotton cloth, called quachtli , were used. There were different grades of quachtli, ranging in value from 65 to 300 cacao beans. About 20 quachtli could support a commoner for one year in Tenochtitlan. [ 9 ] Taxation A folio from the Codex Mendoza showing the tribute paid to Tenochtitlan in exotic trade goods by the altepetl of Xoconochco on the Pacific coast Another form of distribution of goods was through the payment of taxes . When an altepetl was conquered, the victor imposed a yearly tax, usually paid in the form of whichever local product was most valuable or treasured. Several pages from the Codex Mendoza list subject towns along with the goods they supplied, which included not only luxuries such as feathers, adorned suits, and greenstone beads, but more practical goods such as cloth, firewood, and food. Taxes were usually paid twice or four times a year at differing times. [ 10 ] Archaeological excavations in the Aztec-ruled provinces show that incorporation into the empire had both costs and benefits for provincial peoples. On the positive side, the empire promoted commerce and trade, and exotic goods from obsidian to bronze managed to reach the houses of both commoners and nobles. Trade partners also included the enemy Purépecha (also known as Tarascans), a source of bronze tools and jewelry. On the negative side, imperial taxes imposed a burden on commoner households, who had to increase their work to pay their share of taxes. Nobles, on the other hand, often made out well under the imperial rule because of the indirect nature of imperial organization. The empire had to rely on local kings and nobles and offered them privileges for their help in maintaining order and keeping the tax revenue flowing. [ 11 ] ^ Noguera Auza 1974 . ^ Townsend 2009 , pp. 171–179. ^ Brumfiel 1998 . ^ Townsend 2009 , pp. 181–196. ^ Townsend 2009 , pp. 184, 193. ^ Hirth 2016 . ^ Hirth 2016 , pp. 18, 37–38. ^ Hirth 2016 , Ch. 2. ^ Smith 1997 , p. 126. ^ Berdan & Anawalt 1997 . ^ Smith 2005 .

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Religion Main article: Aztec religion Nahuas' metaphysics centers around teotl , "a single, dynamic, vivifying, eternally self-generating and self-regenerating sacred power, energy or force." [ 1 ] This is conceptualized in a kind of monistic pantheism [ 2 ] as manifest in the supreme god Ometeotl , [ 3 ] as well as a large pantheon of lesser gods and idealizations of natural phenomena such as stars and fire. [ 4 ] Priests and educated upper classes held more monistic views, while the popular religion of the uneducated tended to embrace the polytheistic and mythological aspects. [ 5 ] In common with many other indigenous Mesoamerican civilizations, the Aztecs put great ritual emphasis on calendrics , and scheduled festivals, government ceremonies, and even war around key transition dates in the Aztec calendar . Public ritual practices could involve food, storytelling, and dance , as well as ceremonial warfare , the Mesoamerican ballgame , and human sacrifice , as a manner of payment for, or even effecting, the continuation of the days and the cycle of life. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] Deities Main article: List of Aztec gods and supernatural beings The deity Tezcatlipoca depicted in the Codex Borgia , one of the few extant pre-Hispanic codices The four main deities worshiped by the Aztecs were Tlaloc , Huitzilopochtli , Quetzalcoatl , and Tezcatlipoca . Tlaloc is a rain and storm deity ; Huitzilopochtli , a solar and martial deity and the tutelary deity of the Mexica tribe; Quetzalcoatl , a wind , sky , and star deity and cultural hero; and Tezcatlipoca , a deity of the night, magic, prophecy, and fate. The Great Temple in Tenochtitlan had two shrines on its top, one dedicated to Tlaloc, the other to Huitzilopochtli. The two shrines represented two sacred mountains: the left one was Tonacatepetl, the Hill of Sustenance, whose patron god was Tlaloc, and the right one was Coatepec, whose patron god was Huitzilopochtli. [ 8 ] Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca each had separate temples within the religious precinct close to the Great Temple, and the high priests of the Great Temple were named " Quetzalcoatl Tlamacazqueh ". Other major deities were Tlaltecutli or Coatlicue (a female earth deity); the deity couple Tonacatecuhtli and Tonacacihuatl (associated with life and sustenance); Mictlantecutli and Mictlancihuatl , a male and female couple of deities that represented the underworld and death; Chalchiutlicue (a female deity of lakes and springs); Xipe Totec (a deity of fertility and the natural cycle); Huehueteotl or Xiuhtecuhtli (a fire god); Tlazolteotl (a female deity tied to childbirth and sexuality); and Xochipilli and Xochiquetzal (gods of song, dance and games). In some regions, particularly Tlaxcala, Mixcoatl or Camaxtli was the main tribal deity. A few sources mention a binary deity, Ometeotl , who may have been a god of the duality between life and death, male and female, and who may have incorporated Tonacatecuhtli and Tonacacihuatl. [ 9 ] Some historians argue against the notion that Ometeotl was a dual god, claiming that scholars are applying their preconceived ideas onto translated texts. [ 10 ] Apart from the major deities, there were dozens of minor deities each associated with an element or concept, and as the Aztec empire grew so did their pantheon because they adopted and incorporated the local deities of conquered people into their own. Additionally, the major gods had many alternative manifestations or aspects, creating small families of gods with related aspects. [ 11 ] Mythology and worldview Main article: Aztec mythology Aztec cosmological drawing with the god Xiuhtecuhtli, the lord of fire in the center and the four corners of the cosmos marked by four trees with associated birds, deities, and calendar names, and each direction marked by a dismembered limb of the god Tezcatlipoca. [ 12 ] From the Codex Fejérváry-Mayer Aztec mythology is known from many sources written down in the colonial period. One set of myths, called Legend of the Suns, describes the creation of four successive suns, or periods, each ruled by a different deity and inhabited by a different group of beings. Each period ends in a cataclysmic destruction that sets the stage for the next period to begin. In this process, the deities Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl appear as adversaries, each destroying the creations of the other. The current Sun, the fifth, was created when a minor deity sacrificed himself on a bonfire and turned into the sun, but the sun only begins to move once the other deities sacrifice themselves and offer it their life force. [ 13 ] In another myth of how the earth was created , Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl appear as allies, defeating a giant crocodile Cipactli , and requiring her to become the earth, allowing humans to carve into her flesh and plant their seeds, on the condition that in return they will offer blood to her. In the story of the creation of humanity, Quetzalcoatl travels with his twin Xolotl to the underworld and brings back bones which are then ground like corn on a metate by the goddess Cihuacoatl, the resulting dough is given human form and comes to life when Quetzalcoatl imbues it with his blood. [ 14 ] Huitzilopochtli is the deity tied to the Mexica tribe and he figures in the story of the origin and migrations of the tribe. On their journey, Huitzilopochtli, in the form of a deity bundle carried by the Mexica priest, continuously spurs the tribe by pushing them into conflict with their neighbors whenever they are settled in a place. In another myth, Huitzilopochtli defeats and dismembers his sister the lunar deity Coyolxauhqui , and her four hundred brothers at the hill of Coatepetl. The southern side of the Great Temple, also called Coatepetl, was a representation of this myth, and at the foot of the stairs lay a large stone monolith carved with a representation of the dismembered goddess. [ 15 ] Calendar Main article: Aztec calendar The " Aztec calendar stone " or "Sun Stone", a large stone monolith unearthed in 1790 in Mexico City depicting the five eras of Aztec mythical history, with calendric images. Aztec religious life was organized around the calendars. Like most Mesoamerican people, the Aztecs used two calendars simultaneously: a ritual calendar of 260 days called the tonalpohualli and a solar calendar of 365 days called the xiuhpohualli . Each day had a name and number in both calendars, and the combination of two dates was unique within 52 years. The tonalpohualli was mostly used for divinatory purposes and it consisted of 20-day signs and number coefficients of 1–13 that cycled in a fixed order. The xiuhpohualli was made up of 18 "months" of 20 days, and with a remainder of five "void" days at the end of a cycle before the new xiuhpohualli cycle began. Each 20-day month was named after the specific ritual festival that began the month, many of which contained a relation to the agricultural cycle. Whether, and how, the Aztec calendar was corrected for leap year is a matter of discussion among specialists. The monthly rituals involved the entire population as rituals were performed in each household, in the calpolli temples, and the main sacred precinct. Many festivals involved different forms of dancing, as well as the reenactment of mythical narratives by deity impersonators and the offering of sacrifice, in the form of food, animals, and human victims. [ 16 ] Every 52 years, the two calendars reached their shared starting point and a new calendar cycle began. This calendar event was celebrated with a ritual known as Xiuhmolpilli or the New Fire Ceremony . In this ceremony, old pottery was broken in all homes and all fires in the Aztec realm were put out. Then a new fire was drilled over the breast of a sacrificial victim and runners brought the new fire to the different calpolli communities where fire was redistributed to each home. The night without fire was associated with the fear that star demons, tzitzimimeh , might descend and devour the earth – ending the fifth period of the sun. [ 17 ] Human sacrifice and cannibalism Main articles: Human sacrifice in Aztec culture and Cannibalism in the Americas § Aztecs Ritual human sacrifice as shown in the Codex Magliabechiano To the Aztecs, death was instrumental in the perpetuation of creation, and gods and humans alike had the responsibility of sacrificing themselves to allow life to continue. As described in the myth of creation above, humans were understood to be responsible for the sun's continued revival, as well as for paying the earth for its continued fertility. Blood sacrifice in various forms was conducted. Both humans and animals were sacrificed, depending on the god to be placated and the ceremony being conducted, and priests of some gods were sometimes required to provide their blood through self-mutilation. It is known that some rituals included acts of cannibalism , with the captor and his family consuming part of the flesh of their sacrificed captives, but it is not known how widespread this practice was. [ 18 ] [ 19 ] While human sacrifice was practiced throughout Mesoamerica, the Aztecs, according to their accounts, brought this practice to an unprecedented level. For example, for the reconsecration of the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan in 1487, Aztec and Spanish sources later said that 80,400 prisoners were sacrificed over four days, reportedly by Ahuitzotl , the Great Speaker himself. This number, however, is considered by many scholars as wildly exaggerated. Other estimates place the number of human sacrifices at between 1,000 and 20,000 annually. [ 20 ] [ 21 ] The scale of Aztec human sacrifice has provoked many scholars to consider what may have been the driving factor behind this aspect of Aztec religion. In the 1970s, Michael Harner and Marvin Harris argued that the motivation behind human sacrifice among the Aztecs was the cannibalization of the sacrificial victims , depicted for example in Codex Magliabechiano . Harner claimed that very high population pressure and an emphasis on maize agriculture, without domesticated herbivores, led to a deficiency of essential amino acids among the Aztecs. [ 22 ] While there is universal agreement that the Aztecs practiced sacrifice, there is a lack of scholarly consensus as to whether cannibalism was widespread. Harris, the author of Cannibals and Kings (1977), has propagated the claim, originally proposed by Harner, that the flesh of the victims was a part of an aristocratic diet as a reward since the Aztec diet was lacking in proteins . These claims have been refuted by Bernard Ortíz Montellano who, in his studies of Aztec health, diet, and medicine, demonstrates that while the Aztec diet was low in animal proteins, it was rich in vegetable proteins. Ortiz also points to the preponderance of human sacrifice during periods of food abundance following harvests compared to periods of food scarcity, the insignificant quantity of human protein available from sacrifices, and the fact that aristocrats already had easy access to animal protein. [ 23 ] [ 20 ] Today, many scholars point to ideological explanations of the practice, noting how the public spectacle of sacrificing warriors from conquered states was a major display of political power, supporting the claim of the ruling classes to divine authority. [ 24 ] It also served as an important deterrent against rebellion by subjugated polities against the Aztec state, and such deterrents were crucial for the loosely organized empire to cohere. [ 25 ] ^ Maffie n.d. , sec 2a: "Teotl continually generates and regenerates as well as permeates, encompasses, and shapes the cosmos as part of its endless process of self-generation-and–regeneration. That which humans commonly understand as nature – e.g. heavens, earth, rain, humans, trees, rocks, animals, etc. – is generated by teotl, from teotl as one aspect, facet, or moment of its endless process of self-generation-and-regeneration." ^ Maffie n.d. , sec 2b,2c, citing Hunt 1977 and I. Nicholson 1959; Leon-Portilla 1966, p. 387 cited by Barnett 2007 , "M. Leon-Portilla argues that Ometeotl was neither strictly pantheistic nor strictly monistic." ^ Maffie n.d. , sec 2f: "Literally, 'Two God', also called in Tonan, in Tota, Huehueteotl , 'our Mother, our Father, the Old God'" ^ Maffie n.d. , sec 2f, citing Leon-Portilla 1963 . ^ Maffie n.d. , sec. 2f, citing Caso 1958; Leon-Portilla 1963 , ch. II; H. B. Nicholson 1971, pp. 410–412; and I. Nicholson 1959, pp. 60–63. ^ Wade, Lizzie (2018). "Feeding the Gods" . Science . 360 (6395). Science.org: 1288– 1292. Bibcode : 2018Sci...360.1288W . doi : 10.1126/science.360.6395.1288 . ISSN   0036-8075 . PMID   29930121 . S2CID   49414905 . Retrieved 6 October 2023 . ^ Smith 1997 , pp. 204, 211–212, 221–222. ^ King, Authors: Heidi (October 2004). "Tenochtitlan: Templo Mayor | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History" . The Met's Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . Retrieved 27 April 2023 . ^ Miller & Taube 1993 , p. 172. ^ "Ometeotl" . Mythopedia . Retrieved 27 April 2023 . ^ Taube 1993 , pp. 31–33. ^ Taube 2012 , p. 745. ^ Taube 1993 , pp. 41–44. ^ Taube 1993 , pp. 33–37. ^ Taube 1993 , pp. 44–50. ^ Hassig 2001 , pp. 7–19. ^ Elson & Smith 2001 . ^ Isaac 2005 . ^ Isaac 2002 . ^ a b Ortíz de Montellano 1983 . ^ Pennock, Caroline Dodds (2012). "Mass Murder Religious Homicide: Rethinking Human Sacrifice and Interpersonal Violence in Aztec Society". Historical Social Research . 37 (3): 276– 283. ^ Harner 1977 . ^ Ortíz de Montellano 1990 . ^ Carrasco 2000 , p.  [ page needed ] . ^ Keen 2001 .

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Colonial period, 1521–1821 Main article: Nahuas § Colonial Period Further information: Society in the Spanish Colonial Americas Codex Kingsborough , showing the abuse by Spaniards of a Nahua under the encomienda Spanish labor system Mexico City was built on the ruins of Tenochtitlan, gradually replacing and covering the lake, the island and the architecture of Aztec Tenochtitlan. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] After the fall of Tenochtitlan, Aztec warriors were enlisted as auxiliary troops alongside the Spanish Tlaxcalteca allies, and Aztec forces participated in all of the subsequent campaigns of conquest in northern and southern Mesoamerica. This meant that aspects of Aztec culture and the Nahuatl language continued to expand during the early colonial period as Aztec auxiliary forces made permanent settlements in many of the areas that were put under the Spanish crown. [ 4 ] The Aztec ruling dynasty continued to govern San Juan Tenochtitlan, a division of the Spanish capital of Mexico City, but the subsequent indigenous rulers were mostly puppets installed by the Spanish. One was Andrés de Tapia Motelchiuh , who was appointed by the Spanish. Other former Aztec city states likewise were established as colonial indigenous towns, governed by a local indigenous gobernador . This office was often initially held by the hereditary indigenous ruling line, with the gobernador being the tlatoani , but the two positions in many Nahua towns became separated over time. Indigenous governors were in charge of the colonial political organization of the Indians. In particular, they enabled the continued functioning of the tax and enslavement of indigenous commoners to benefit the Spanish encomenderos. Encomenderos owned encomiendas , large tracts of agricultural land on which the encomenderos and their slaves lived. The Spanish coerced the tribes into granting them private ownership of indigenous people and land for enslavement and encomiendas. Occasionally, an Indigenous individual benefited from this system and grew into substantial wealth and power come the colonial period. [ 5 ] Population decline Main article: Population history of Indigenous peoples of the Americas Depiction of smallpox during the Spanish conquest in Book XII of the Florentine Codex After the arrival of the Europeans in Mexico and the conquest, indigenous populations declined significantly. This was largely the result of the epidemics of viruses brought to the continent against which the natives had no immunity. In 1520–1521, an outbreak of smallpox swept through the population of Tenochtitlan and was decisive in the fall of the city ; further significant epidemics struck in 1545 and 1576. [ 6 ] There has been no consensus about the population size of Mexico at the time of European arrival. Early estimates gave very small population figures for the Valley of Mexico, in 1942 Kubler estimated a figure of 200,000. [ 7 ] In 1963 Borah and Cook used preconquest tax lists to calculate the number of residents in central Mexico, estimating over 18–30 million. Their very high figure has been highly criticized for relying on unwarranted assumptions. [ 8 ] Archeologist William Sanders based an estimate on archeological evidence of dwellings, arriving at an estimate of 1–1.2 million inhabitants in the Valley of Mexico. [ 9 ] Whitmore used a computer simulation model based on colonial censuses to arrive at an estimate of 1.5 million for the Basin in 1519, and an estimate of 16 million for all of Mexico. [ 10 ] Depending on the estimations of the population in 1519 the scale of the decline in the 16th century, range from around 50 percent to around 90 percent – with Sanders's and Whitmore's estimates being around 90 percent. [ 8 ] [ 11 ] Social and political continuity and change See also: Society in the Spanish Colonial Americas José Sarmiento de Valladares, Duke of Moctezuma de Tultengo , viceroy of Mexico Although the Aztec empire fell, some of its highest elites continued to hold elite status in the colonial era. The principal heirs of Moctezuma II and their descendants retained high status. His son Pedro Moctezuma produced a son, who married into the Spanish aristocracy and a further generation saw the creation of the title Duke of Moctezuma de Tultengo. From 1696 to 1701, the Viceroy of Mexico held the title of Count of Moctezuma . In 1766, the holder of the title became a Grandee of Spain . In 1865, (during the Second Mexican Empire ) the title, which was held by Antonio María Moctezuma-Marcilla de Teruel y Navarro, 14th Count of Moctezuma de Tultengo, was elevated to that of a Duke , thus becoming Duke of Moctezuma , with de Tultengo again added in 1992 by Juan Carlos I . [ 12 ] Two of Moctezuma's daughters, Doña Isabel Moctezuma and her younger sister, Doña Leonor Moctezuma, were granted extensive encomiendas in perpetuity by Hernán Cortes. [ 13 ] The Nahua peoples, just like other Mesoamerican peoples in colonial New Spain, were able to maintain many aspects of their social and political structure under colonial rule. The basic division the Spanish made was between the Indigenous populations, organized under the República de indios , which was separate from the Hispanic sphere, the República de españoles . The República de españoles included not just Europeans, but also Africans and mixed-race castas . The Spanish recognized the indigenous elites as nobles in the Spanish colonial system, maintaining the status distinction of the preconquest era, and used these noblemen as intermediaries between the Spanish colonial government and their communities. This was contingent on their conversion to Christianity and loyalty to the Spanish crown. Colonial Nahua polities had considerable autonomy to regulate their local affairs. The Spanish rulers did not entirely understand the indigenous political organization, but they recognized the importance of the existing system and their elite rulers. They reshaped the political system utilizing altepetl or city-states as the basic unit of governance. In the colonial era, altepetl was renamed cabeceras or "head towns" (although they often retained the term altepetl in local-level, Nahuatl-language documentation), with outlying settlements governed by the cabeceras named sujetos , subject communities. In cabeceras , the Spanish created Iberian-style town councils, or cabildos , which usually continued to function as the elite ruling group had in the Preconquest era. [ 14 ] [ 15 ] Population decline due to epidemic disease resulted in many population shifts in settlement patterns and the formation of new population centers. These were often forced resettlements under the Spanish policy of congregación . Indigenous populations living in sparsely populated areas were resettled to form new communities, making it easier for them to be brought within range of evangelization efforts, and easier for the colonial state to exploit their labor. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] ^ Mundy 2015 , passim . ^ Rodríguez-Alegría 2017 . ^ Mundy 2014 . ^ Matthew & Oudijk 2007 . ^ Lockhart 1992 . ^ McCaa 1995 . ^ Kubler 1942 . ^ a b McCaa 1997 . ^ Sanders 1992 . ^ Whitmore 1992 . ^ Morfín & Storey 2016 , p. 189. ^ Chipman 2005 , pp. 75–95. ^ Himmerich y Valencia 1991 , pp. 195–196. ^ Lockhart 1992 , pp. 30–33. ^ Ouweneel 1995 . ^ Haskett 1991 . ^ Gibson 1964 , passim .

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Legacy Aztec archeological sites are excavated and opened to the public and their artifacts are prominently displayed in museums. Place names and loanwords from the Aztec language Nahuatl permeate the Mexican landscape and vocabulary, and Aztec symbols and mythology have been promoted by the Mexican government and integrated into contemporary Mexican nationalism as emblems of the country. [ 1 ] During the 19th century, the image of the Aztecs as uncivilized barbarians was replaced with romanticized visions of the Aztecs as original sons of the soil, with a highly developed culture rivaling the ancient European civilizations. When Mexico became independent from Spain, a romanticized version of the Aztecs became a source of images that could be used to ground the new nation as a unique blend of European and American. [ 2 ] Aztecs and Mexico's national identity Modern Mexico flag, depicting a Mexican eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus devouring a rattlesnake . The design is rooted in the legend of the Aztec people. [ 3 ] Aztec culture and history have been central to the formation of a Mexican national identity after Mexican independence in 1821. In 17th and 18th century Europe, the Aztecs were generally described as barbaric, gruesome, and culturally inferior. [ 4 ] Even before Mexico achieved its independence, American-born Spaniards ( criollos ) drew on Aztec history to ground their search for symbols of local pride, separate from that of Spain. Intellectuals used Aztec writings , such as those collected by Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl , and writings of Hernando Alvarado Tezozomoc , and Chimalpahin to understand Mexico's past. This search became the basis for what historian D.A. Brading calls "creole patriotism". Seventeenth-century cleric and scientist, Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora acquired the manuscript collection of Texcocan nobleman Alva Ixtlilxochitl. Creole Jesuit Francisco Javier Clavijero published La Historia Antigua de México (1780–1781) in his Italian exile following the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767, in which he traces the history of the Aztecs from their migration to the last Aztec ruler, Cuauhtemoc. He wrote it expressly to defend Mexico's indigenous past against the slanders of contemporary writers, such as Pauw, Buffon, Raynal, and William Robertson . [ 5 ] Archeological excavations in 1790 in the capital's main square uncovered two massive stone sculptures, buried immediately after the fall of Tenochtitlan in the conquest. Unearthed were the famous calendar stone, as well as a statue of Coatlicue. Antonio de León y Gama 's 1792 Descripción histórico y cronológico de las dos piedras examines the two stone monoliths. A decade later, German scientist Alexander von Humboldt spent a year in Mexico. One of his early publications from that period was Views of the Cordilleras and Monuments of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas . [ 6 ] Humboldt was important in disseminating images of the Aztecs to scientists and general readers in the Western world. [ 7 ] In the realm of religion, late colonial paintings of the Virgin of Guadalupe have examples of her depicted floating above the iconic nopal cactus of the Aztecs. Juan Diego , the Nahua to whom the apparition was said to appear, links the dark Virgin to Mexico's Aztec past. [ 8 ] When New Spain achieved independence in 1821 and became a monarchy, the First Mexican Empire , its flag had the traditional Aztec eagle on a nopal cactus. [ 9 ] This emblem has also been adopted as Mexico's national coat of arms , and is emblazoned on official buildings, seals, and signs. [ 10 ] Tensions within post-independence Mexico pitted those rejecting the ancient civilizations of Mexico as a source of national pride, the Hispanistas , mostly politically conservative Mexican elites, and those who saw them as a source of pride, the Indigenistas , who were mostly liberal Mexican elites. Although the flag of the Mexican Republic had the symbol of the Aztecs as its central element, conservative elites were generally hostile to the current indigenous populations of Mexico or crediting them with a glorious pre-Hispanic history. Under Mexican President Antonio López de Santa Anna , pro-indigenist Mexican intellectuals did not find a wide audience. With Santa Anna's overthrow in 1854, Mexican liberals and scholars interested in the indigenous past became more active. Liberals were more favorably inclined toward the Indigenous populations and their history, but considered a pressing matter being the "Indian Problem". Liberals' commitment to equality before the law meant that for upwardly mobile Indigenous, such as Zapotec Benito Juárez , who rose in the ranks of the liberals to become Mexico's first president of Indigenous origins, and Nahua intellectual and politician Ignacio Altamirano , a disciple of Ignacio Ramírez , a defender of the rights of the indigenous, liberalism presented a way forward in that era. For investigations of Mexico's indigenous past, however, the role of moderate liberal José Fernando Ramírez is important, serving as director of the National Museum and doing research utilizing codices, while staying out of the fierce conflicts between liberals and conservatives that led to a decade of civil war. Mexican scholars who pursued research on the Aztecs in the late 19th century were Francisco Pimentel , Antonio García Cubas , Manuel Orozco y Berra , Joaquín García Icazbalceta , and Francisco del Paso y Troncoso contributing significantly to the 19th-century development of Mexican scholarship on the Aztecs. [ 11 ] Monument to Cuauhtémoc , inaugurated 1887 by Porfirio Díaz in Mexico City The late 19th century in Mexico was a period in which Aztec civilization became a point of national pride. The era was dominated by liberal military hero, Porfirio Díaz , a mestizo from Oaxaca who was president of Mexico from 1876 to 1911. His policies opening Mexico to foreign investors and modernizing the country under a firm hand controlling unrest, "Order and Progress", undermined Mexico's indigenous populations and their communities. However, for investigations of Mexico's ancient civilizations, his was a benevolent regime, with funds supporting archeological research and for protecting monuments. [ 12 ] "Scholars found it more profitable to confine their attention to Indians who had been dead for a number of centuries." [ 13 ] His benevolence saw the placement of a monument to Cuauhtemoc in a major traffic roundabout ( glorieta ) of the wide Paseo de la Reforma , which he inaugurated in 1887. In world fairs of the late 19th century, Mexico's pavilions included a major focus on its indigenous past, especially the Aztecs. Mexican scholars such as Alfredo Chavero helped shape the cultural image of Mexico at these exhibitions. [ 14 ] The Mexican Revolution (1910–1920) and the significant participation of Indigenous people in the struggle in many regions, ignited a broad government-sponsored political and cultural movement of indigenismo , with symbols of Mexico's Aztec past becoming ubiquitous, most especially in Mexican muralism of Diego Rivera . [ 15 ] [ 16 ] In their works, Mexican authors such as Octavio Paz and Agustin Fuentes have analyzed the use of Aztec symbols by the modern Mexican state, critiquing the way it adopts and adapts indigenous culture to political ends, yet they have also in their works made use of the symbolic idiom themselves. Paz for example critiqued the architectural layout of the National Museum of Anthropology , which constructs a view of Mexican history as culminating with the Aztecs, as an expression of a nationalist appropriation of Aztec culture. [ 17 ] Aztec history and international scholarship President Porfirio Díaz in 1910 at the National Museum of Anthropology with the Aztec Calendar Stone . The International Congress of Americanists met in Mexico City in 1910 on the centennial of Mexican independence. Scholars in Europe and the United States increasingly wanted investigations into Mexico's ancient civilizations, starting in the nineteenth century. Humboldt had been extremely important in bringing ancient Mexico into broader scholarly discussions of ancient civilizations. French Americanist Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg (1814–1874) asserted that "science in our own time has at last effectively studied and rehabilitated America and the Americans from the [previous] viewpoint of history and archeology. It was Humboldt [...] who woke us from our sleep." [ 18 ] Frenchman Jean-Frédéric Waldeck published Voyage pittoresque et archéologique dans la province d'Yucatan pendant les années 1834 et 1836 in 1838. Although not directly connected with the Aztecs, it contributed to the increased interest in ancient Mexican studies in Europe. English aristocrat Lord Kingsborough spent considerable energy in their pursuit of understanding ancient Mexico. Kingsborough answered Humboldt's call for the publication of all known Mexican codices, publishing nine volumes of Antiquities of Mexico (1831–1846) that were richly illustrated, bankrupting him. He was not directly interested in the Aztecs, but rather in proving that Mexico had been colonized by Jews. [ citation needed ] However, his publication of these valuable primary sources gave others access to them. [ citation needed ] In the United States in the early 19th century, interest in ancient Mexico propelled John Lloyd Stephens to travel to Mexico and then publish well-illustrated accounts in the early 1840s. The research of a half-blind Bostonian, William Hickling Prescott , into the Spanish conquest of Mexico, resulted in his highly popular and deeply researched The Conquest of Mexico (1843). Although not formally trained as a historian, Prescott drew on the obvious Spanish sources, but also Ixtlilxochitl and Sahagún's history of the conquest. His resulting work was a mixture of pro- and anti-Aztec attitudes. It was not only a bestseller in English, but it also influenced Mexican intellectuals, including the leading conservative politician, Lucas Alamán . Alamán pushed back against his characterization of the Aztecs. In the assessment of Benjamin Keen , Prescott's history "has survived attacks from every quarter, and still dominates the conceptions of the laymen, if not the specialist, concerning Aztec civilization". [ 19 ] In the later 19th century, businessman and historian Hubert Howe Bancroft oversaw a huge project, employing writers and researchers, to write the history the "Native Races" of North America, including Mexico, California, and Central America. One entire work was devoted to ancient Mexico, half of which concerned the Aztecs. It was a work of synthesis drawing on Ixtlilxochitl and Brasseur de Bourbourg, among others. [ 11 ] When the International Congress of Americanists was formed in Nancy, France in 1875, Mexican scholars became active participants, and Mexico City hosted the biennial multidisciplinary meeting six times, starting in 1895. Mexico's ancient civilizations have continued to be the focus of major scholarly investigations by Mexican and international scholars. [ citation needed ] Language and placenames Metro Moctezuma , with a stylized feathered crown as its logo The Nahuatl language is today spoken by 1.5 million people, mostly in mountainous areas in the states of central Mexico. Mexican Spanish today incorporates hundreds of loans from Nahuatl, and many of these words have passed into general Spanish use, and further into other world languages. [ 20 ] [ 21 ] [ 22 ] In Mexico, Aztec place names are ubiquitous, particularly in central Mexico where the Aztec empire was centered, but also in other regions where many towns, cities, and regions were established under their Nahuatl names, as Aztec auxiliary troops accompanied the Spanish colonizers on the early expeditions that mapped New Spain. In this way even towns, that were not originally Nahuatl speaking came to be known by their Nahuatl names. [ 23 ] In Mexico City there are commemorations of Aztec rulers, including on the Mexico City Metro , line 1, with stations named for Moctezuma II and Cuauhtemoc. Cuisine See also: Aztec cuisine and List of Mexican dishes Mexican cuisine continues to be based on staple elements of Mesoamerican cooking and, particularly, of Aztec cuisine : corn, chili, beans, squash, tomato, and avocado. Many of these staple products continue to be known by their Nahuatl names, carrying in this way ties to the Aztec people who introduced these foods to the Spaniards and onward to Afro-Eurasia . Through the spread of ancient Mesoamerican food elements, particularly plants, Nahuatl loan words ( chocolate , tomato , chili , avocado , tamale , taco , pupusa , chipotle , pozole , atole ) have been borrowed through Spanish into other languages around the world. [ 22 ] Through the spread and popularity of Mexican cuisine, the culinary legacy of the Aztecs can be said to have a global reach. Today, Aztec images and Nahuatl words are often used to lend an air of authenticity or exoticism in the marketing of Mexican cuisine. [ 24 ] Las Tortilleras , an 1836 lithograph after a painting by Carl Nebel of women grinding corn and making tortillas. Chapulines , grasshoppers toasted and dusted with chilis, continue to be a popular delicacy. Ethnic identity Aztec and Maya were newly listed examples given for American Indian groups in the 2020 United States census , and "Aztec" became the largest American Indian group that respondents identified as having a full background. [ 25 ] [ 26 ] In popular culture The idea of the Aztecs has captivated the imaginations of Europeans since the first encounters and has provided many iconic symbols to Western popular culture. [ 27 ] In his book The Aztec Image in Western Thought , Benjamin Keen argued that Western thinkers have usually viewed Aztec culture through a filter of their cultural interests. [ 28 ] The Aztecs and figures from Aztec mythology feature in Western culture. [ 29 ] The name of Quetzalcoatl, a feathered serpent god, has been used for a genus of pterosaurs , Quetzalcoatlus , a large flying reptile with a wingspan of as much as 11 meters (36 ft). [ 30 ] Quetzalcoatl has appeared as a character in many books, films and video games. American author Gary Jennings wrote two acclaimed historical novels set in Aztec-period Mexico, Aztec (1980) and Aztec Autumn (1997). [ 31 ] The novels were so popular that four more novels in the Aztec series were written after his death. [ 32 ] Aztec society has also been depicted in cinema. The Mexican feature film The Other Conquest (Spanish: La Otra Conquista ) from 2000 was directed by Salvador Carrasco and illustrated the colonial aftermath of the 1520s Spanish Conquest of Mexico. [ 33 ] The 1989 film Retorno a Aztlán by Juan Mora Catlett is a work of historical fiction set during the rule of Motecuzoma I, filmed in Nahuatl and with the alternative Nahuatl title Necuepaliztli in Aztlan . [ 34 ] [ 35 ] In Mexican exploitation B movies of the 1970s, a recurring figure was the "Aztec mummy" as well as Aztec ghosts and sorcerers. [ 36 ] ^ Carrasco 2012 , pp. 121–135. ^ Keen 1971 , pp. 310–370. ^ Minahan, James B. (2009). The Complete Guide to National Symbols and Emblems . ABC-CLIO. p. 718. ISBN   9780313344978 . Archived from the original on 21 April 2023 . Retrieved 22 September 2020 . ^ Keen 1971 , pp. 260–270. ^ Brading 1991 , pp. 450–455. ^ Humboldt 2014 . ^ Quiñones Keber 1996 . ^ Peterson 2014 , pp. 176, 227. ^ Galindo Leal et al. 2017 . ^ Berdan & Anawalt 1997 , p. 3. ^ a b Cline 1973 . ^ Bueno 2016 . ^ Keen 1971 , p. 417. ^ Tenorio-Trillo 1996 . ^ Helland 1990 . ^ Wolfe 2000 , p. 147. ^ Franco 2004 . ^ Keen 1971 , p. 336. ^ Keen 1971 , p. 363. ^ Cáceres-Lorenzo 2015 . ^ Frazier 2006 . ^ a b Haugen 2009 . ^ Van Essendelft 2018 . ^ Pilcher 2017 , pp. 184–185. ^ Van Dam, Andrew (27 October 2023). "The Native American population exploded, the census shows. Here's why" . The Washington Post . Retrieved 29 March 2024 . ^ "Census Bureau Releases 2020 Census Data for Nearly 1,500 Detailed Race and Ethnicity Groups, Tribes and Villages" . Census.gov . Retrieved 29 March 2024 . ^ Cooper Alarcón 1997 . ^ Keen 1971 . ^ Carrasco 2012 , pp. 112–120. ^ Witton, Martill & Loveridge 2010 . ^ Smith, Dinitia (18 February 1999). "Gary Jennings Is Dead at 70; Author of the Best Seller 'Aztec' " . The New York Times . Archived from the original on 13 January 2016 . Retrieved 5 January 2016 . ^ " Aztec series" . Macmillan Publishers . Archived from the original on 22 September 2018 . Retrieved 12 April 2018 . ^ O'Leary, Devin D. (3 May 2007). "The Other Conquest Conquers America" . Alibi . Vol. 16, no. 18. Archived from the original on 12 April 2018 . Retrieved 12 April 2018 . ^ "Films on the Indigenous Peoples of Mexico. Part One: Historical Films" . Native American Films. Archived from the original on 15 October 2018 . Retrieved 12 April 2018 . ^ Mora 2005 , p. 212. ^ Greene 2012 .

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