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The Aztecs [a] (/ ˈ æ z t ɛ k s / AZ-teks) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica from the 14th to the 16th centuries.
The Aztecs were conquered by Spain in 1521 after a long siege of the capital, Tenochtitlan, where much of the population died from hunger and smallpox. Cortés, with 508 Spaniards, did not fight alone but with as many as 150,000 or 200,000 allies from Tlaxcala , and eventually other Aztec tributary states.
The Otomi were blacksmiths and traded valuable metal items with other indigenous confederations, including the Aztec Triple Alliance. Their metal crafts included ornaments and weaponry, although metal weaponry was not as useful as obsidian weaponry (obsidian being sharper than a modern-day razor, abundant, and light in weight).
The earliest, and most basic, form of agriculture implemented by the Aztecs is known as " rainfall cultivation." The Aztecs implemented terrace agriculture in hilly areas, typically in the highlands of the Aztec Empire. Terracing allowed for an increased soil depth and impeded soil erosion. Terraces were built by piling a wall of stones ...
Mexica children were forcibly taken to newly established Christian schools where they were indoctrinated into Christian beliefs and Spanish culture, and the surviving Mexica men and women were sent to work in newly-established Spanish estates, known as haciendas, as well as mines and other civil projects, such as digging canals.
The word Aztec in modern usage would not have been used by the people themselves. It has variously been used to refer to the Aztecs or Triple Alliance, the Nahuatl-speaking people of central Mexico prior to the Spanish conquest, or specifically the Mexica ethnicity of the Nahuatl-speaking tribes (from tlaca). [7]
In order to trade "primitive coins" were used such as cacao seeds and Quetzal feathers. The Aztec economic system based on this simple way of trading was highly efficient and maintained great stability and ensured the welfare of the majority of the population of the empire. [4]
The Totonacs were one of the peoples that were politically subjugated by the Aztecs and word was immediately sent to the Aztec Emperor (in Nahuatl, Tlatoani) of Tenochtitlan Motecuhzoma II. Going inland the Spaniards encountered and fought with Totonac forces and Nahua forces from the independent Altepetl of Tlaxcallan .