Aztecs, Mayans and Incas - Literature review Example

Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas The Aztecs, Mayans, and the Incas are the ancient empires that existed a long time ago. The three are discussed in this paper. Aztecs The Aztec Empire existed back from 1400s to the time that the Spanish arrived at Mexico around 1519 AD. The Aztecs society mostly centered alongside their gods and religion and they used to build large pyramids as places of worship for their gods and venues to sacrifice to their gods during the times of war (Conklin 10). The capital of the Empire was Tenochtitlan that was established in the year 1325 on an island in the Texcoco Lake with a population of around 200000 people. Timeline of the Aztec Empire The Aztecs left their homeland in Aztlan in northern Mexico and made their journey to the south in 1100. These people moved many times until they settled in the city of Tenochtitlan after around 225 years of wandering. The Aztecs arrived at the city of Mexico in 1200 and 1250, they settled in Chapultepec but left after being forced the Culhuacan tribe (Conklin 22). In the year 1325, the city of Tenochtitlan was found later turning out to be the capital city of the Aztec Empire. At around 1350, the Aztecs began to build canals and causeways around Tenochtitlan. In 1375, the first ruler of the Aztecs who was dominant by the name, Acamapichtli came into power. The people always referred to their ruler as their speaker (Holzmann and Holzmann 32). In 1427 and 1428, Itzcoatl became the fourth speaker of the Aztecs empire, and the Aztec empire was formed with an alliance Texcocans and the Tacubans respectively. The rule of the Aztec Empire came into height during the rule of Montezuma I in 1440 who greatly expanded the empire (Jennings 67). Many activities happened in the empire during the 14th century including a lot of wars and change in the regime with a lot of involvement in the spiritual issues by the priests. In the year 1522, the Spanish had already taken over the empire and began rebuilding the city of the Tenochtitlan. Mexico City emerged as the rebuilt city, which later became the capital of New Spain (Holzmann and Holzmann 29). The government of the Empire The Empire was made up of city-states, and the center of each of the city-states was marked by a large city that ruled the whole area. The Emperor or Huey Tlatoani The government of the Aztec Empire was more like the monarchies where the king acted as the primary ruler. They called their kings by the name Huey Tlatoani who had the ultimate power over the land. The people of the Empire felt that their leader was chosen by the gods and had been given the divine rights to rule. The ruler had the powers to decide when to go to war and what the tribute the part that they ruled would pay the Aztecs (Jennings 34). A new emperor was chosen by the high ranked nobles in the empire when a king died, and the new king was to be a relative to the dead king and it was not necessarily to be his son. The nobles sometimes had to make a choice between the brothers of the late king who they felt was necessary and could make. Aztec Emperors The most famous leaders of the emperor were, Acamapichtli the first king, Itzcoatl the fourth emperor, Montezuma 1 became the dominant leader who formed the triple alliance and expanded the kingdom. Then came Montezuma II, who was the ninth emperor of the Emperor and extended the empire to the greatest size and the Spanish later killed him (Jennings 56). Other government officials The second in command in the Aztec government was known as the Cihuacoalt, who was in charge of the day-to-day running of the empire. Next in command was the Council of Four that comprised of the most powerful generals and men who stood a chance to become the next king if anything the sitting king died. They acted as the chief advisors of the emperors and helped them in making significant decisions. Some of the other leaders were the priests, judges, and the military leaders (Holzmann and Holzmann 78). Law The empire had some very sophisticated laws in those times. The rules included laws against murder, stealing, drunkenness, and property damage. They had a system of judges who determined punishments and guilt and different court levels all the way to the Supreme Court (Macdonald 35). Interesting Facts about Aztec Daily Life In the empire, the elderly and the vulnerable persons were taken care of by the influential in the society and they were highly respected in the community. There were very definite guidelines on how the people in the society were to dress and anyone who broke the law of dressing faced a death sentence (Baquedano and Zabé 63). The children and mostly the sons of the nobles went to separate schools where they learned the advanced subjects like law, engineering and writing. In the emperor, slaves were treated fairly well and were in a position to buy their way out of slavery. Mayans The civilization of the Maya started as early as 2000 BC and had a viable influence in Mesoamerica for more than 3000 years until the arrival of the Spanish at the area in 1519 AD. They were also organized into very powerful city-states like the Tikal, Caracol, and the Chichen Itza (Jennings 62). Their location was in Central America in todays southern Mexico location, and they used to build many cities with large stone structures. They are today famous for the many pyramids that they built for their gods. They were the first Americans to develop an advanced written language and excelled in mathematics, astronomy, art, and architecture. The Mayas’ timeline is divided into three periods discussed below, Pre- classic period of the Mayans This time existed from 2000 BC to 250 AD when the Maya civilization began its golden era with many developments taking place during this period. It started with the formation of the Maya region by the farming villages in 2000 BC and ended after the first pyramid was built in 100 BC after the Mayan people did a lot (Larsen, Tunell, Vasconcelles, and Wally 18). The Classic Period This period started from 250 AD to around 900 AD and is considered to be the golden age of the Maya city-states. This period was characterized by most of the cultural and artistic achievements of the era and the region. From 400 AD, many developments were done including the development of the first dominant city-state; formation of the alliance, some cities lost their status among other changes. In 9000 AD, southern lowland cities collapsed, and one city was abandoned (Larsen, Tunell, Vasconcelles, and Wally 22). The reason to the collapse of Maya classic period remains to be a mystery to almost all the archeologists up to date. Post- classic period This period existed from 900 AD to 1500 AD, and it discussed the striving of the northern part of Yucatan Peninsula after the collapse of the Southern city-states. From 925 AD through 1517 AD, there were plenty of activities in the Mayan territory with Chichen Itza becoming one of the powerful city-states, people rebelling against the rule of Mayan and the abandoning of the city in 1400, and lastly the arrival of the Spanish in the emperor (Baquedano and Zabé 56). The colonial period This time existed in 1500 AD and ended in 1695 AD. The period is marked by the arrival of Hernan Cortes, later the founding of the city of Merida by the Spanish and lastly the discovery of the ruins of Tikal by the Spanish priest after being lost in the jungle. Interesting Facts about Maya Daily Life Some of the features that the Mayas considered as beautiful to have include, crossed eyes, prominent noses and crossed eyes. It went to an extent where some people in some areas considered making their noses large to appear beautiful. They also liked wearing large headdresses and harts and the taller the hat, the more important the person was in the society (Macdonald 76). The Mayan farmers did not have metal tools or beasts to help them on their farms and instead used simple farm tools that they made from their hands. The society also played ball as a religious game where the losers would be offered as sacrifices to the gods. They also had different dancing styles and some are still practiced to date (Larsen, Tunell, Vasconcelles, and Wally 40). Interesting Facts about Maya Government and Kings The oldest son of the kings family usually inherited the kings position, and if there was no son, the oldest brother took the position. The taxes to support the king and his royalties were collected from the commoners. The land law was useful to all the people including the royalties, and it was more severe to them than to the commoners. The citizens were not allowed to wear any clothes or do anything related to the royalty and doing these things was highly punishable (Larsen, Tunell, Vasconcelles, and Wally 56). Incas The empire had its headquarters in Peru and ruled the South America West Coast from 1400s until 1532 when the Spanish arrived. Sapa Inca was the name given to the emperor of Inca, and the first of the leaders was Manco, who founded the Kingdom of Cuzco. The Spanish conquered the Inca in 1533, and the Empire at this time was highly weakened by diseases like smallpox and civil war (Conklin 120). The capital of the Inca Empire was the city of Cusco. Pre-Inca Empire The people in the region began farming around 2500 AD with potato growing and led to the formation of small villages. Chavin civilization started on the northern side of Andes highlands in 900 BC followed by the building of the city temple for the next 50 years that followed. There is the failing of the Chavin civilization after the formation of the Paracas civilization in 700 BC. What follows is the flourishing of the Nazca civilization in 100 BC, and the pasca civilization collapses. With so many falls and rise of new empires, the Spanish popped in and executed the last of the Inca emperors named Tupac Amaru marking the end of the Inca Empire (Conklin 87). Facts about the Daily living of a Commoner in Inca society Many of the men in the Inca Empire walked around carrying a small bag with coca leaves that were associated with good luck and were termed as good luck charm. From the age of 14 years, noblemen were expected to put on large gold plugs and the size of the plug continued to be bigger and bigger over time (Holzmann and Holzmann 65). People worked for the government as soldiers in order to pay their taxes, and the government had inspectors who were supposed to keep an eye to the commoners. The inspectors went to the extent of inspecting the cleanliness of the commoners’ houses. The commoners were not allowed to travel with the empire, but the rich and those in the government were permitted to travel with them. During the arrival of the Spanish in Peru, the size of the Inca Empire was huge, and it stretched for over 2000 miles from north to the south and had an estimated population of 10 million people. The people of Inca for this reason needed an organized and sophisticated government to keep their empire intact (Macdonald 55). Monarchy A single leader referred to as the Sapa Inca that means the sole ruler and was the single most powerful individual in the land and each, ruled the Inca monarchy and everyone reported to him. His wife was referred to as the coya (Knoblock 40). Inca Government Organization In the government of the Inca Empire, several officers were below the Sapa Inca in power. Most of these people were relatives of the Sapa Inca and comprised of the arts of the Inca class. Below the sapa, Inca was the viceroy who used to work as the closest advisor of the Sapa Inca and had to be from one of the close relatives. Below the viceroy was the high priest, was a very powerful man, and was said to be probably the second from sapa Inca due to the role he played in the empires religion (Macdonald 23). Next in the government were the governors of a Quarter; the empire was divided into four quarters ruled by the governor who went by the name Apu. Sapa Inca also had a council of real that formed part of his advice team. The council was made up of royal men in most cases (Roberts 54). For the maintenance of law and order in the empire, there were inspectors in the empire. These inspectors made sure that all the people paid their taxes in accordance with the ways of the Inca. There were inspectors who also watched over the people, and they were given the title tokoyrikoq. There were also the military generals and the heads of them all was a close relative of the Sapa Inca. These entire leaders were known as the Apukuna (Baquedano and Zabé 23). Interesting Facts about the Government of the Inca Empire In each ayllu in the empire, a selected tax collector collected was employed. Despite the fact that the Inca had good roads between the states, the commoners were not in any case allowed to travel on these roads and the army with the punishment of killing any trespassers guarded them. After war, the conquered tribes were authorized to remain in their original homelands, and if any was considered rebellious, they were moved to different areas of the empire (Baquedano and Zabé 25). The Inca roads made a significant part of the Inca government due to their role in communication. The craftsmen in the Inca Empire were responsible for making objects like gold, copper and silver. The stonemasons made building stones using hammers and wet sand polishing, and the made bricks did not need mortar to keep them together (Macdonald 43). All the stages of those in the empire were highly organized, and life was divided into stages and each stage was assigned a different task. Adult people did the easiest of the work and kids together with the old did the simplest tasks. All the people in the empire formed an extent family known as the Ayllus and a man called Curaca ruled each. Theoretically, Sapa Inca owned all the land and the wealth in the empire (Baquedano and Zabé 45). He gave farmers land to grow their crops too, and they had to work for him in return. He reserved some land for the priests, temple, and himself. The farmers had to pay some tax by working in the Sapas grounds and the temples land. They sometimes had to work on construction jobs to raise money pay the taxes (Macdonald 32). Works Cited Baquedano, Elizabeth, and Michel Zabé. Aztec. New York: DK Pub., Inc, 2011. Print. Baquedano, Pope E, and Michél Zabé. Azteken, Inka & Maya. München: Dorling Kindersley, 2011. Print. Conklin, Wendy. Mayas, Incas, and Aztecs. Huntington Beach N.p., n.d. Print. Holzmann, John, and Sarita Holzmann. Introduction to World History: Instructors Guide and Notes. Littleton: Sonlight, 2009. Print. Jennings, Gary. Aztec. New York: Forge, 2006. Print. Larsen, Linda J, Ken Tunell, Keith Vasconcelles, and Barbara M. Wally. Mayans, Aztecs, and Incas. Huntington Beach: Teacher Created Materials, 1996. Print. Macdonald, Fiona. Ancient Americas: Explore the Aztec, Maya, Inca, North American Indian and Arctic World. London: Lorenz, 2003. Print. Phillips, Charles, and David M. Jones. The Aztec & Maya World: Everyday Life, Society and Culture in Ancient Central America and Mexico, with Over 500 Photographs and Fine Art Images. London: Lorenz Books, 2005. Print. Knoblock, Kathleen. Primary Source Fluency Activities. Huntington Beach, CA: Shell Education, 2007. Print. Roberts, Timothy Roland. Gods Of The Maya, Aztecs, And Incas. [New York]: MetroBooks, 1996. Print. Read More