Aztec Empire

E18773
Mesoamerican civilization empire pre-Columbian state

The Aztec Empire was a powerful Mesoamerican civilization centered in Tenochtitlan that dominated central Mexico through military conquest, tribute, and a rich religious and cultural tradition until its fall to Spanish invaders in the early 16th century.

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Observed surface forms (8)

Surface form Occurrences
Aztec civilization 19
Aztec 9
Aztec Triple Alliance 7

Statements (66)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Mesoamerican civilization ⓘ
empire ⓘ
pre-Columbian state ⓘ
agriculturalTechnique chinampas ⓘ
alsoKnownAs Aztec Empire ⓘ
surface form: Mexica Empire

Triple Alliance ⓘ
calendarType tonalpohualli ⓘ
xiuhpohualli ⓘ
capital Tenochtitlan ⓘ
commonerClass macehualtin ⓘ
conqueredBy Hernán Cortés ⓘ
surface form: Hernan Cortes

Spanish Empire ⓘ
conquestYear 1521 ⓘ
culturalPractice calendar system combining 260-day and 365-day cycles ⓘ
ritual warfare (xochiyaoyotl) ⓘ
currency cacao beans ⓘ
cotton cloth ⓘ
dominantLanguage Nahuan languages ⓘ
surface form: Classical Nahuatl
economyBasedOn agriculture ⓘ
tribute ⓘ
educationInstitution calmecac ⓘ
telpochcalli ⓘ
eliteClass pipiltin ⓘ
endYear 1521 ⓘ
foundedBy Tenochtitlan ⓘ
Texcoco ⓘ
Tlacopan polity ⓘ
surface form: Tlacopan
foundingEvent formation of the Triple Alliance ⓘ
governmentType monarchy ⓘ
tributary empire ⓘ
influencedBy Teotihuacan civilization ⓘ
Toltec civilization ⓘ
knownFor complex tribute system ⓘ
human sacrifice ⓘ
military conquest ⓘ
monumental architecture ⓘ
lastRuler Cuauhtémoc ⓘ
surface form: Cuauhtemoc
legalCodeRecordedIn Codex Mendoza ⓘ
legalSystem codified laws ⓘ
locatedIn Central Mexico ⓘ
Mesoamerica ⓘ
mainCity Tenochtitlan ⓘ
Texcoco ⓘ
Tlacopan polity ⓘ
surface form: Tlacopan
mainLake Lake Texcoco ⓘ
mainTemple Templo Mayor ⓘ
majorRuler Ahuitzotl ⓘ
Itzcoatl ⓘ
Moctezuma I ⓘ
Moctezuma II ⓘ
neighboringPolity Tarascan (Purépecha) civilization ⓘ
surface form: Tarascan state
pantheonIncludes Huitzilopochtli ⓘ
Quetzalcoatl ⓘ
Tezcatlipoca ⓘ
Tlaloc ⓘ
partOf Postclassic period of Mesoamerica ⓘ
populationEstimate several million subjects ⓘ
primarySource Florentine Codex ⓘ
religion Aztec religion ⓘ
socialStructure highly stratified society ⓘ
startYear 1428 ⓘ
tributeFrom Tlaxcala ⓘ
surface form: Tlaxcala (attempted, but resisted)
tributeSystem regional tribute provinces ⓘ
warriorOrder Eagle warriors ⓘ
Eagle warriors ⓘ
surface form: Jaguar warriors
writingSystem pictographic writing ⓘ

Referenced by (79)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Aztec Empire → alsoKnownAs → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Mexica Empire
Triple Alliance → alternateName → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec Triple Alliance
Triple Alliance → alternateName → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Mexica Triple Alliance
this entity surface form: Aztec
La Malinche → associatedWith → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Texcoco polity → associatedWith → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Lake Texcoco → associatedWithCulture → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
Battle of Otumba → belligerent → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Tenochtitlan → capitalOf → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Templo Mayor → civilization → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Tlacopan polity → civilization → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
Tlaxcala → conflictWith → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec Triple Alliance
Cempoala → conqueredBy → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Ahuitzotl → country → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Cuauhtémoc → country → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Moctezuma II → country → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Tenochtitlan → country → Aztec Empire ⓘ
La Noche Triste → countryAtTheTime → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Battle of Otumba → countryAtTime → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Itzcoatl → countryOfCitizenship → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Cuitláhuac → countryRuled → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Ahuitzotl → culture → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec
Cerro de la Estrella → culture → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
Codex Boturini → culture → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec
Codex Mendoza → culture → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec
Cuauhtémoc → culture → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec
Cuitláhuac → culture → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec
Huitzilopochtli → culture → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec
Moctezuma II → culture → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
Monolith of Tlaloc → culture → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
Piedra del Sol → culture → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
Quetzalcoatl → culture → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec culture
Tlaloc → culture → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec
Aztec Hall → dedicatedTo → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
Mexica → dominantPowerIn → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
Americas → hasIndigenousCivilization → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
Triple Alliance → hasPart → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
former Lake Chalco → historicalPeriod → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Valley of Mexico → historicallyHosted → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
this entity surface form: Aztecs
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
Olmec civilization → influenced → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
Toltec civilization → influenced → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
Mixtec civilization → interactedWith → Aztec Empire ⓘ