HISTORY
Uploaded by muqeet on Apr 16, 2016
The Aztecs Civilization
The Aztecs came in the scenario pretty much around the time when the Incas were appearing as the powerful contenders in South America. Around the 1200s and early 1300s, the people in present day Mexico used to live in three big rival cities – Tenochtitlan, Texcoco and Tlacopan. Around 1325, these rivals created an alliance and thus the new state was brought under the rule of the Valley of Mexico. Back then, the people preferred the name Mexica than to the Aztecs. The rise of the Aztecs was within a century of the fall of another influential civilization in Mexico and Central America – the Mayans.
The city of Tenochtitlan was the military power, which spearheaded the conquest of new territory. But the Aztec emperor didn’t rule every city, state directly. Local governments would remain in place, but was forced to pay varying amounts of tribute to the Triple Alliance. In the early 1500s, the Aztec civilization was indeed at the height of its power. But then, Spanish arrived with their expansion plans. This eventually led to a huge battle between the Incas and the alliance of Spanish conquistadors and the native allies they had assembled led by the famous (or rather infamous) Hernan Cortes in 1521. A defeat in this decisive battle eventually led to the fall of once famous Aztec empire.
The Incas Civilization
The Incas was the largest Empire in North America in the Pre-Columbian era. This civilization flourished in the areas of present day Ecuador, Peru and Chile and had its administrative, military and political center located at Cusco which lies in modern day Peru. The Incas had their societies pretty well established, and the empire was in a rapid bloom since it’s beginning.
The Incas were devout followers of the Sun God Inti. They had a king who was referred to as “Sapa Inca” meaning the child of the Sun. The first Inca emperor Pachacuti transformed it from a modest village to a great city laid out in the shape of a puma. He went to expand the tradition of ancestor worship. When the king died, his son would get all the power, but all his wealth would be distributed among his other relatives, who would in return preserve his mummy and sustain his political influence. This significantly led to a sudden rise in power of the Incas. The Incas went on to become...