Aztecs, Mayans, Incas, and early Africa

Introduction

Maya never politically unified. Rival kingdoms competed for regional control. Much like Mycenaean era greeks

Mayan civilization

Located in today’s Mexico, at Yucatan Peninsula

Mayan politics

Established hereditary monarchy. A king ruled a region. Many Mayan kings. 2 women known to have ruled Mayan kingdoms.

Mayan economy

Main food staples were corn and beans squash. Traded with Teotihuacan and neighboring tribes

Mayan religion

Polytheistic. Sacrificed victims usually captured nobility from other areas. 

Priests

• the most powerful people in the Maya civilization next to the king.

• Maya believed that their priests could talk to the gods. Priests approved all major decisions for the society

Mayan society

• Organized in the Patrilineal family system.

• Women played central roles in religious and economic life of every home.

Maya cities

• Cities were centers of religion and learning. 

Every city had an impressive palace for its ruler

• a marketplace

• an open-air plaza

• at least one huge pyramid, a large temple, and one  ball court similar to the stadiums we have today. 

Two of the largest cities

• Tikal located in the present-day country of Guatemala

• Copan located in the present-day country of Honduras

Mayan Inventions

• Developed hieroglyphic writing similar to Egyptians.

• Built observatories to study the heavens

• Invented a number system that included zero

Mayan calendars

Created calendars based on the movements of the sun

Ritual calendar

Solar calendar 

Long count calendar 

Art/ Architecture/ Entertainment

• Large Pyramids dominated buildings

• Art reflected kings and warriors at war

• Game like soccer popular entertainment

Natural barriers

• Highlands of modern day Guatemala 

• Hot coastal plain along the Pacific Coast

• the tropical rainforest of the Yucatan Peninsula 

• These natural barriers helped to protect the Maya civilization for 1300 years much like India in the old world!

Mayan education

The Maya studied art, mathematics, architecture, drama, medicine, and music.

Mayan military

• Fought to capture slaves rather than territory. 

• Kings and nobles participated in warfare

• Captured elites sacrificed, commoners enslaved.

End of the Maya

The major cities were abandoned around 1300…internal struggles or external attacks or both

Aztec postclassic period

Started 500 years before Columbus arrived in the area

• Time of population growth 

• Intensification of agriculture 

• Increased warfare and size of armies

• Development of political institutions that controlled large territories 

• Aztecs and Incas major states. 

Toltecs

• Created first conquest state based on military power

• Capital city Tula est. 968 CE 

• Topiltzin, king and priest of cult of Quetzalcoat, exiled to the East.

• *Arrival of Europeans seen by some as return of their king

Mexica 1325-1520

• Group who would later be known as Aztecs

• Northern people pushed south after fall of Tula.

• First served as serfs and mercenaries around Lake Texcoco

Altepetl

• political organization of the Mexica.

Calpolli

• the base of the Altepetl system

• Each provided services to the leaders of the Alteptl above

Aztec Politics

• Decentralized- relied on tribute states

• Monarch determined by council of wealthy powerful aristocrats

• Theocracy

• Capital of the Aztec empire Tenochtitlan

• Formed empire by ruthless military conquest of smaller groups

Aztec Technology

• included obsidian blades and axes, blow guns with poison tipped darts

Aztec economics

• Long distance trade was included lightweight goods like gold, feathers, animal skins and cacao.

• Local agricultural economy included corn, beans and squash supplemented a diet of insects and worms

Tribute system 

• imposed on conquered peoples.

• 1/4 of food requirement of Aztecs gained by tribute.

• Trade missions were also used to spy on other areas in preparation for attacks

Aztec economy

2/3 of population worked in agriculture.

• Swamps drained

• Irrigation and container gardens used

Chinampas

artificial islands invented by aztecs used to create year-round agriculture.

Aztec Religion

• Two major gods

• The two gods of Aztecs symbolized basis of economy and society: war and agriculture.

Huitzilopochtli

• Southern Hummingbird god of war and the sun. 

• Required a daily diet of human hearts.

Tlaloc

• Rain god 

Aztec human sacrifice

• Public sacrifices maintained power of monarch by preventing rebellion, deviancy and opposition.

• Main belief held was if sacrifices were not made to Huitzilopochtli, the sun would not rise

• Enslaved people could be sacrificed in religious ceremonies 

Aztec society

• Gender complementary  social system at lower levels.

• Positions held by men and women who helped each other. 

Aztec class system

• Nobles - priests, warriors, and officials

• Merchants - craftsmen, traders

• Commoners - farmers and laborers

• Slaves 

Inca geography 

Isolated and mountainous 

Inca Economics

• Agriculture produced grains and potatoes

• Limited space limited production and population

• And meat like Guinea pigs 

Inca Society 

• Ayllu – extended family structure system. 

• Patriarchal

• Curaca were administrators and priests who served the Inca 

• Similar to Altepetl of Aztecs 

Inca economics

• Mita system was a tribute system of work organized within the ayllu (villages)

• Labor - was divided according to gender 

• Quipu – No written language, but a string/knot information transmission system was used for record keeping by administrators 

Inca religion

Polytheistic, shamanistic, animistic

• Cult of the Puma 

• Human sacrifice included children as highest offering 

• Coca leaves chewed by religious/civic leaders

• Mummified leaders like the Egyptians

llamas and alpacas

• valued for wool, food, transportation.

• Made possible long distance trade

Carpa nan

25,000 miles of roads constructed with captive labor

Inca politics

• Moche civilization - Oligarchy - rule by a few.

• Highly centralized

Pre-Incan societies

• Wari (500-900) and Tiwanaku (400- 1200) - two cities that came before Incan civilization

Incas

• Ensured loyalty of defeated regions by forcing heirs of defeated rulers to live in the royal court.

• Cuzco - capital city was laid out in the shape of a Puma. 

• Centrally located between coastal and rainforest people

Inca decline

• Conquistador Francisco Pizarro attacked empire in 1532

Brought Guns, germs and steel 

• by 1533 the core of empire conquered.

• Holdouts lasted until 1572

Machu Pichu

• Lost city of the Inca

• High in the Andes 

• 1420-1532 occupied 

• Discovered in 1911 

Early African sahara

• Arid climate

• The Sahara is the size of China 3.6 mil sq miles

• Only 800 sq miles has water at oases.

• Few societies 

• Some nomadic communities

• Small trade routes crossed desert

Camel

• The Arabian camel using the Somali heavy load saddle provided a means for more travel across the sea of sand

• Travels 100 miles without water

• Drinks 50 gallons of water in 3 minutes

Trans - Saharan trade

• By 1200 there were 9 major trade routes 

• 7 major routes North to South

• 2 major routes East to West

Commodities traded

• Gold

• Ivory

• Slaves

• Salt

• Horses

• Textiles

• Cola nut

Impact of trade in Africa

• Wealth accumulates in the kingdoms of Ghana then a developing Mali to it’s East 

• Arab traders bring Islam

• knowledge is shared in mosques

Evolution of states 

• Ghana - earliest kingdom in West Africa

• Wars with rival trade states leads to collapse and rise of Mali 

• Mali traded in gold and taxed all imports coming into region.

• With Islamic advisors it rises as Ghana withers

Timbuktu

• Capital of Mali

• Most people farmers of rice and sorghum 

• Becomes center of Muslim religious life and learning in region 

• By the 1500’s books brought the highest prices in the market places

expanding role of the state

• States like Mali administer and maintain trade through Islamic advisors

• Create a common currency exchange- shells,cloth, gold, glass beads, salt

• Protect region and trade routes with army paid by taxes

• Create first imperial economy in sub-Saharan Africa

Sundiata 

• Legend passed down by Griots 

• “Lion Prince” of Mali

• Father ruled Guniea, died and rival groups invaded killing family

• Sundiata - a cripple allowed to live

• Became a feared warrior and exiled

• 1235 returns and reclaims throne

Mansa Musa

• Grand Nephew of Sundiata 

• In 1300’s Current Mansa disappears in Atlantic voyage and he gains throne 

• 1324 takes pilgrimage to Mecca with 100 camels loaded with gold to give away- causes gold value to drop for 10 years 

• Over 1000 slaves and soldiers displayed wealth of Mali 

• Best known for spreading Islam and building mosques

• Mali declines within 100 years of his death

Great Zimbabwe

• 1400, peak period of city

• Population of 18,000 largest in southern Africa 

• Farming and cattle herding society 

• Like Mali, economic and political power was based on exportation of gold, copper and salt but on a smaller scale 

Fall of great Zimbabwe

• Fall of kingdom due to cattle overgrazing and deforestation due to mining. 

• Ecological crisis 

• When agricultural base collapsed, so did mining operations and people scattered

Ethiopia and Education

• Before Islam spread literacy in sub-Saharan Africa, Christian Ethiopia was the only literate society.

• Remember - Christian missions are like Islamic mosques as centers of literacy and knowledge

• Ethiopia surrounded by Islamic states will develop after Europeans enter Indian Ocean 

Songhay Kingdom

• Replaced Mali as powerhouse in West Africa

• Empire included former lands of Ghana and Mali

• Became wealthier than Mali

• New center of Islamic faith and learning

Impact of trade on state development

• Trade built states

• States grew trade by administering, taxing and protecting it. 

• Trade brings outside knowledge in and displays regional wealth and knowledge 

• Islam spreads along trade routes increasing followers, wealth and knowledge

Mississippian government and society 

Rigid class structure 

• Chief (Great sun) - ruled each large town 

• Priests and nobles 

• Farmers, hunters, merchants, artisans 

• People/prisoners of war. 

Matrilineal society - social standing determined by women side of the family 

Mississippian culture decline

People abandoned cahokia around 1450, and other large mississippian cities by 1600. Nobody knows the real reason why. 

Chaco and Mesa Verde innovative advancements

• Found their ways to live with scare water and food 

• Chaco built houses using stones and clay that went up to hundreds of rooms 

• Mesa Verde built multi story houses into the sides of cliffs using bricks made of sand stone 

Maya governing structure

• Main form was city states 

• Most rulers were men

• When no male heir available, women would take the throne 

• Fought to gain tribute and captives used as human sacrifices during religious ceremonies 

• Each major king claimed to be descended from a god 

• City states had no army 

Role of religion in Mayan government and culture

• Decided the way Mayans lived 

• Human sacrifice

• ceremonies honoring deities 

• linked with science through astronomy 

Aztec tribute system

• Conquered people forced to pay tribute

• Surrender lands

• perform military services 

Aztec methods of governing

• Theocracy - ruled by religious rulers

• Emperor was divine representative of gods

Pochteca

• Special merchants that traded luxury goods 

Slavery

• Could be enslaved for not paying debts 

• A strategy for punishing people for their crimes 

Women in Aztec society

• Women wove valuable cloth 

• Some worked at home 

• Some worked as priestesses, midwives, healers, or merchants 

• Few noblewomen worked as scribes to royal families 

Aztec society organization 

• Emperor (great speaker) 

• Land owning nobles

• Scribes and healers 

• Craftspeople and traders 

• Peasants and soldiers 

Role of religion In Aztec government and society

• Worshipped hundreds of gods

• Human sacrifice/ feasts

• Believed gods sacrificed themselves first

• Male and female gods

Decline of Aztecs

• Low level of technology 

• Agriculture was inefficient 

• Constant desire for human sacrifice made them expand more than what they could control 

• Extraction of conquered tributes and sacrifice victims inspired resentment and loyalty 

How did the inca rule their extensive territory?

• Split it into four provinces with the governor and bureaucracy 

• conquered people didn’t have to pay tribute 

• Mit’a system

• men between 15-50 did agricultural and other forms of labor 

Religion in Incan empire

• Polytheistic

• priests were always consulted before important actions 

• Human sacrifice to repay the gods

• animism

Achievements of the Inca

• Mathematics (quipu) 

• Waru waru

• Carpa nan

Animism 

• belief that elements of the physical world could have supernatural abilities

Waru waru

• beds with channels that captured and redirected rain to avoid erosion

Carpa nan 

• A massive roadway system with 25000 miles of roads used mainly by government and military

Decline of the Inca

• European diseases

• civil war

• spanish attacks 

How did sub-saharan Africa govern their societies?

• Kin based networks ( families governed themselves) 

• Male head (chief) mediated conflicts and dealt with neighboring groups 

Why did larger kingdoms grow in prominence (mostly after 1000)

• Agricultural surpluses

• control over trans-saharan and ocean trade routes 

Why did the Hausa kingdoms need to rely on the trans-saharan trade network?

• Needed economic prosperity

• needed salt

• needed textiles 

• Easier way to get rich

Ghana government

• Centralized 

• Aided by nobles

• Army equipped with iron weapons 

Ghana economy

• Salt, gold, and ivory 

• Traded for salt, copper, cloth, and tools 

Mali government

• Centralized government 

Mali economy

• Strongest trading society

• Established trade relations with North African and Arab merchants

• Gold trade 

Zimbabwe government

• Economic and political power based on exportation of salt, gold, and copper. 

• Defensive walls used to protect the city 

Zimbabwe economy

• Agriculture

• Grazing

• Trade

• Gold

• Traded with coastal city states

• Indian Ocean trade

Ethiopia Government

• Massive stone wall 30 ft tall, 15 ft thick, surrounding capital city

• Most royal buildings made by stone

Ethiopia economy 

• Nearly 20,000 people resided 

• Capital city abandoned by 1400’s

Chattel slavery 

• People legal property of owner

• Enslavement was permanent 

• Enslaved had no rights

• Children of slaves were automatic slaves 

Domestic slavery

• Enslaved served as cooks, cleaners, or other household workers

• Common in classic Greece, Rome, and middle east 

• Enslavement was often permanent

• Children of enslaved were often enslaved 

• Some laws might permit a master from selling a person 

Debt bondage slavery

• Became enslaved through mutual agreement or debt payment

• Common in east Africa before 15th century and european colonies in Americas

• Some laws might limit how severely a master could punish a person

Zanj rebellion 

1500 slaves captured the city of Barsa and held it for ten years before being defeated 

Music, visual arts, and literature in sub-saharan Africa

• Entertainment

• Used for parties/ceremonies

• Used for funerals and weddings

• Helped communicate with the spirit world

• Served religious purposes

• Helped pass down history for generations

• Preserved known stories and myths 

Cahokia

Large mound in southern Illinois

Great Sun 

Chief ruled each large town 

Matrilineal society

•  Social standing is determined by the women's side of the family. For example- Great Sun dies the TITLE is PASSED to the SISTERS SON not his son.

City-state

Ruled by a king that took over surrounding territories