Chapter 11, Aztec and Inca

Aztecs

A Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico from the 14th -16th centuries. Known for their powerful empire and sophisticated culture, and capital city of Tenochtitlan.

Ayllus

Traditional, extended family or kin group that serves as a basic unit of self-sustaining social units' and structure, land ownership, and community organization.

Calpulli

Clans in Aztec society, later expanded to include residential groups that distributed land and provided labor and warriors.

Cannibal kingdom

A kingdom that specializes in the practice of cannibalism, for sacrifice, rituals, or for a source of protein.

Chichen Itza

A large small city Mayan kingdom. They accoustomed captives into their own society. Organzied an empire that brought political stability to northen Yucatan, who it lost its empire to.

Chinampas

Beds of aquatic weeds, mud, and earth placed in frames made of cane and rooted in lakes to create "floating islands"; system of irrigated agriculture utilized by Aztecs.

Flowery Death

Death while taking prisoners for sacrifice. Promised eternity. Also given to women who died in childbirth.

Huitzilopochtli

Aztec tribal patron god; central figure of cult of human sacrifice and warfare; identified with old sun god.

Indians

Misnomer created by Columbus referring to indigenous peoples of New World; implies social and ethnic commonality among Native Americans that did not exist; still used to apply to Native Americans.

Mita

Labor extracted for lands assigned to the state and the religion; all communities were expected to contribute; an essential aspect of Inca imperial control.

Nahuatl

Mesoamerican language of the Aztecs

Pachacuti

Ruler of Inca society from 1438 to 1471; launched a series of military campaigns that gave Incas control of the region from Cuzco to the shores of Lake Titicaca.

Pochteca

Special merchant class in Aztec society; specialized in long-distance trade in luxury items.

Quetzalcoatl

Toltec deity; Feathered Serpent; adopted by Aztecs as a major god.

Split inheritance

Inca practice of descent; all titles and political power went to successor, but wealth and land remained in hands of male descendants for support of cult of dead Inca's mummy.

Tambos

Way stations used by Incas as inns and storehouses; supply centers for Inca armies on move; relay points for system of runners used to carry messages.

Inca Socialism

A view created by Spanish authors to describe Inca society as a type of utopia; image of the Inca Empire as a carefully organized system in which every community collectively contributed to the whole.

Temple of the Sun

Inca religious center located at Cuzco; center of state religion; held mummies of past Incas.

Tenochtitlan

Founded c. 1325 on marshy island in Lake Texcoco; became center of Aztec power; joined with Tlacopan and Texcoco in 1434 to form a triple alliance that controlled most of central plateau of Mesoamerica.

Tlaloc

Major god of Aztecs; associated with fertility and the agricultural cycle; god of rain.

Toltecs

Succeeded Teotihuacan culture in central Mexico; strongly militaristic ethic including human sacrifice; influenced large territory after 1000 C.E.; declined after 1200 C.E.

Topiltzin

Religious leader and reformer of the Toltecs in 10th century; dedicated to god Quetzalcoatl; after losing struggle for power, went into exile in the Yucatan peninsula.

Tupac Yupanqui

Tenth Sapa Inca of the Inca Empire; led extensive military conquests to extend the Inca Empire across much of Southern America.

Twantinsuyu

Word for Inca Empire; region from present-day Columbia to Chile and eastward to northern Argentina.

Yanas

A class of people within Inca society removed from their ayllus to serve permanently as servants, artisans, or workers for the inca or the Inca nobility.