 |
|
Free Essays > History > The Aztecs And The Incas
The Aztecs And The Incas
Below is free essays on The Aztecs And The Incas by 123Student, your one-stop source for free essays, free college term papers, and free term papers. Look for more free essays and free term papers using the search box above.
Word Count: 972
Page Count: 4 The Aztecs And The Incas
The Aztecs and the Incas
The Aztecs and the Incas are two of the most memorable ancient Indian tribesbecause of their accomplishments and the way that they flourished and became two of themost prominent tribes in the Americas. The Aztecs, also known as the Mexica, dominatedcentral and southern Mexico from the 14th to 16th centuries and are best known forhaving established an empire based on conquest, tribute paying and the religious sacrificeof humans and animals. The Quechian-speaking Incas established an extensive Andeanempire in South America shortly before the conquest of the New World by the Europeans. These two empires arose from lowly beginnings. The Aztecs were forced tooccupy the swampy area the western side of Lake Texcoco after the fall of the Tolteccivilization. They converted their disadvantageous beginning into a powerfully advancedempire within two centuries, partially because of their belief in a legend. The legend goeson to say that they would establish a great civilization in a marshy area where they wouldsee a cactus growing out of a rock and perched on top, an eagle eating a snake. Priestssupposedly saw this in 1325 upon arrival and founded the great city of Tenochtitlan. Asthe Aztecs grew in number, they established superior military and civil organizations. The Incas, on the other hand, had no legend to guide them. They were originally asmall warlike tribe inhabiting the south highland region of the Cordillera Central in Peru.They moved into the valley of Cuzco in at about 1100 and for roughly the next 300 years,raided and whenever possible, imposed tribute on neighboring peoples. Until the middle ofthe 15th century, however, the Incas undertook no imperialistic expansion or politicalconsolidation. The empire reached it’s greatest extent in the reign of Huayna Capac. Bythis time, the Incas controlled a territory roughly the size of the Atlantic Coast states ofthe US. The capital city of the Aztecs was an artificial island, formed by piling up mudfrom the lake bottom, called Tenochtitlan, inhabited by over 100000 people, twice thepopulation of any European city at the time. Tenochtitlan means “Place of the Cactus” andunder Montezuma, it became the most powerful city in Mexico. It had an advanced watersupply system, with public fountains and reservoirs throughout the city. Laid out into agrid pattern, it was divided by canals- “roads” for canoe traffic- and into four districts,each with it’s own temples, schools and markets. The edges of the city had simple housedfor the poor; the center had grand houses for the rich. Markets were held every five daysand people from everywhere came to sell goods, exchange gossip and news. Officerspatrolled the streets and thieves would be tried and punished on the spot. Tenochtitlan wasindeed a very organized city. The Incan empire was an agriculturally based theocracy rigidly organized alongsocialistic lines. The entire domain was also divided into four great regions or quarters andthese regions were subdivided into provinces and various other lesser socioeconomicgroups. While Tenochtitlan had a system of canals and paved roads to keep the citytogether, there was a great network of stone roads connecting all parts of the realm to thecapital city of Cuzco. Trained runners, working in relays, covered up to 400 km a daydelivering messages. Like the Aztecs, who often traveled around their city in canoes, theIncas had Balsa wood boats which provided a rapid means of transportation along riversand streams. Although the Incas had neither horses, nor a system of writing, authorities inCuzco were able to keep in close touch with developments around the empire with thissystem. Communication was also enhanced by keeping numerical records of troops,supplies, population data, and general inventories by means of knotted and colored stringcalled quipus. The imperial administrators had everything under control. While the Incans had no form of writing, the Aztecs used pictographic writing,hieroglyphics, recorded on animal hides. Some of these writings still exist today. Thehieroglyphics can also still be found on the ruins of ancient temples. They used a calendarsystem developed by the earlier Mayan civilization. Both civilizations had numerous gods and paid sacrifices to them. The Incans hadthe gods of sun, stars and weather. Their goddesses were of the earth, moon and sea. Theyhad numerous and elaborate ceremonies and rituals, primarily centered on health andagricultural concerns. Live animals were often sacrificed at important ceremonies; humanswere sacrificed occasionally to the gods. The Aztecs also had gods which ruled over daily life. Among these wereUitzilopochtli, the sun god, Coyolxauhqui, the moon goddess, and Tlaloc, the rain god.Prisoners were often used for less important sacrifices and captured warriors of conqueredtribes were also sacrificed. Note how the Aztecs had a sun god, a rain god, and a moongoddess, and the Incas had a moon goddess, sun god and a weather god, which obviouslyrelates to the rain. Both civilizations used a form of caste system. The Incans had three generalcategories: Incas by blood-relatives of Incans; Incas by privilege-people ruling inconquered lands; and peasants-commoners. The Aztecs had a bit more complicatedsystem: Tlahtoana-rulers; Pipiltin-nobles; Macehualtin-commoners; Mayehqueh-serfsattached to private estates; and Tlatlaclohtin-somewhat like indentured slaves. Both of these societies flourished greatly and fell under the conquest of the NewWorld by the Spaniards. The Aztecs were easily conquered by Cortes in 1521, who wasnaively welcomed by Montezuma, who thought he was the god Quetzalcoatl, “the plumedserpent.” The Spaniards beheaded the last so-called ruler of the Incas, and with his death,the Incan history became part of Peru’s history. Every civilization has parallels, and every civilization has differences. What’s beencovered here is just a small bit of the many similarities and differences that could possiblybe found. Some of the similarities and differences are plainly visible while some are a bitharder to find. There could be more that even the most knowledgeable historians don’tknow about because of one simple aspect- we were never there. No matter how much weknow about any ancient civilization, I believe that for every secret found, ten more arehidden.
© 2006 123Student. All Rights Reserved. 123Student is your one-stop source for free essays, free college term papers, and free term papers. Part of the Free Essay Network.
Related Keywords: Aztecs, Incas, city, god, Tenochtitlan, civilization, system, great, Incans, sun, gods, two, empire, roads, conquest, free essays, free term papers, free college term papers
Back to Top
|
|
|
|
Sponsored by:
Digital Term Papers
Mid Term Papers
Student Papers
Term Papers
Free Essays
Moopuna Term Papers
Free Essays
|
