The Spanish discovered the Aztec people while they were a flourishing civilization, leading to the development of numerous ethnographic works that depict the Aztec society and lifestyle as well as the recovery and translation of many Aztec documents and records that archives every aspect of Aztec life from religion and traditions to conquest and warfare. In The Essential Codex Mendoza by Frances F. BerdanandPatricia Rieff Anawalt, The Aztecs are identified as "one of several Nahuatl-speaking ethnic groups inhabiting the Valley of Mexico during the Late Postclassic period (ca. A.D. 1250-1519)." Although they are famously addressed as Aztecs, they called themselves Mexica.
The Origins of the Aztecs
The origin story of the Aztecs can be told form two very different perspectives: the Aztecs' perspective and the archeologists' lens. The Aztecs _or the Mexica as they called themselves_ believed that their god Huitzilopochtli (God of war, sun and human sacrifice in Aztec tradition, he is also depicted as an amalgamation of a hummingbird and an eagle) is said to have been the one who led the Aztecs through their great migration from Aztlan to the valley of Mexico. During their whole migration, his image in the form of a hummingbird was carried by priests on their shoulders, and the god himself used to speak to them in the night time giving them instructions. Following him, the Aztecs founded their capital, Tenochtitlán (modern day Mexico City) in 1325 CE in an island surrounded by a lake in the valley of Mexico. The Archeologists, however, provide scientific explanation as to where the Aztecs came from. It is generally believed that the origins of the Aztecs are obsecure, experts estimate that they migrated from northern modern day Mexico or southern US, and were a part of the humans migration from Asia to North America.
Aztec Society
From a an archeological point of view, The Mexica’s political and social institutions were likely in a state of constant transformation, adapting to changing circumstances and their rapid cultural development as a result of their continuous exposure to other rival Mesoamerican cultures. Consequently, any specific description of these institutions would reflect only a particular period in their history. Nevertheless, because archaeological evidence on the subject is extremely limited, the chronology of Mexica political and social development can only be reconstructed in broad terms. With that said, The Mexica people were a very hierarchical society. Nobles were the most priviledged people in the city with agency and autonomy and had the most leverage to easily mobilize and use resources. People in the bottom of the social pyramid, however, were not destined to stay there forever; these people could climb the ranks of society and claim a better life.
The Aztecs belonged to the clans called "Capulli," which consists of people related by blood and carried out specific economic activities. Each capulli was governed by a group of senior members called the "Tlatocan," who made major decisions on behalf of the group. In spite of the domination of other groups over the Aztecs, they selected Acamapichtli as the leader from 1367 till 1387 AD. They established the warriors among these ruling families and gave this group the name "Pipiltin." After the death of Acamapichtli, his son succeeded him to become the chief, starting the Eagle Clan, which continued for 125 years up to the downfall of Aztecs at the hands of Spaniards.
The Aztec aristocrats were composed of priests, warriors, and judges. They received their training in the Calmécac, which taught them discipline and skills. Below the aristocrats were the traders. One of the things they traded was obsidian, such as Sierra de Pachuca, which has green coloring. Since they traded with other lands, they were used as spies by the empire as it expanded. The term used to refer to these traders is Pochteca. Although they became wealthy, they were not allowed to have the same clothing or standing as the aristocracy. Those who did not belong to other groups would face capital punishment for having the same dress as the nobleman.
The stereotypical image of an Aztec is usually depicted as the complete marginalization of women and focuses on masculine characters with great aura; from intimidating warriors to famous kings and pious priests, using their dominion of influence to the maximum to win wars and subdue enemies, in a great feat of violence and Voraciousness. This, however, is less common in special texts, as Caroline Dodds Pennock argues that In general, Aztec gender systems seemed to combine parallelism with elements of hierarchy, and perhaps it would be correct to claim that roles of males and females were “equivalent,” rather than equal. While men had control over majority of roles that were generally seen as markers of power – politics, warfare, priesthood, and state administration, female rights were real in Aztec society. Women were influential as healers, midwives, matchmakers, educators, and priestesses as well as administrators in their regions, craftspeople, traders, and marketplace inspectors (who maintained proper trading, established prices, allotted tribute, and provided the army with supplies). Both genders inherited power and possessions from parents, regardless of the sex of those parents, while all adult women possessed full citizenship rights, being individuals who were allowed to appeal to courts, possess properties, and initiate divorces. Furthermore, in Tenochtitlan, women apparently avoided sole responsibility of taking care of children who has traditionally defined existence of a woman, and taking care of children became common activity.
The Religion
Aztec religion was characterized by polytheism that was grounded in the idea of equilibrium in cosmos and constant interaction between the powers of creation and destruction in the universe. According to Aztecs, there were four previous epochs in history of the earth which each ended up with a catastrophe. The gods sacrificed their lives in order to bring the current status quo, and that meant humans had to preserve it by continuous sacrificial offerings since they owed their existence to deities. Ritual of gift offerings, bloodletting and human sacrifices were necessary elements of religion which were made to satisfy important gods like Huitzilopochtli, and Tlaloc, Rain god, in order to prevent apocalypse and assure agricultural prosperity. Additionally, religion was tightly intertwined with the physical aspect because its practice strictly followed dual calendar system and included ritual and daily activities prescribed by the calendar. Moreover, the idea of afterlife in Aztec society was unique in the sense that it did not depend on moral behavior of an individual during his/her lifetime but on the way he/she died, as warriors and women dying in childbirth gained highest heavenly honors.
The Aztec Imperial Expansion
The remarkably swift emergence, expansion, and eventual collapse of the Aztec Empire stands as one of the most extraordinary episodes in human history. The Aztec Empire emerged due to military alliances, conquests, and construction of a large tribute system to generate wealth. The group initially known as Mexica who spoke Nahuatl language moved and settled to valley of Mexico forming capital city of Tenochtitlan in 1325 on an island in lake Texcoco. From this settlement period up until 1428 the group had not attained supremacy over other neighboring groups. However, in 1428 the alliance known as Triple Alliance was formed comprising three city-states including Tenochtitlan with its neighbors of Texcoco and Tlacopan and succeeded in defeating their oppressive Tepanec overlords. Becoming the most dominant group among the three the expansion of the empire of Tenochtitlan continued with conquests of other groups in Mesoamerica for resources and sacrificial captives of victims to gods. Unlike other groups the Aztecs did not exercise political and cultural domination but rather established a hegemonic empire in which defeated rulers were retained in their positions in the regions only when paying huge tribute. Thus in 1519 just before the emergence of the Spanish in America the Aztecs empire was at its highest level of dominance.
The Fall of the Empire
The fall of the Aztecs resulted from an extremely harmful combination of European military force, the use of indigenous rebellions, and disease. When Spanish conqueror Hernán Cortés landed in Mesoamerica in 1519, he took advantage of the general dissatisfaction with the rule of the Aztecs by establishing vital military alliances with the subjugated and hostile city-states, including the Tlaxcalans. Upon landing in Mesoamerica, Cotez deliberately disabled his ships to guarantee the fidelity of his men, a move done before him by Tarik Ibn Zayad when he led the Muslim armies to conquer Iberia. Even though Cortés and his troops were initially received and rewarded in Tenochtitlan by Emperor Moctezuma II, this reception soon turned into hostilities culminating in the death of the emperor and the temporary withdrawal of the Spaniards. The deadliest weapon brought by the Spanish to Mexico was the smallpox, which struck the densely populated capital, killing large numbers of the local population and disorganizing their military command. Finally, in 1521, Cortés returned with his huge army of indigenous followers to launch a months-long siege of the besieged island, depriving it of any sources of food and water; thus, the capitulation of the last emperor, Cuauhtémoc, in August 1521 became the final act.