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.

Battle of Otumba → involvedEntity → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Mesoamerica → knownFor → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
subject surface form: Cartas de Relación
Itzcoatl → memberOf → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec Triple Alliance
Triple Alliance → memberOf → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Estadio Azteca → namedAfter → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
Tlaxcala → opposed → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Mexica → partOf → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
Texcoco polity → partOf → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec Triple Alliance
Tlacopan polity → partOf → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec Triple Alliance
Tlacopan polity → partOf → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Tlatelolco → partOf → Aztec Empire ⓘ
tlatoani → partOfSystem → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec Triple Alliance
Nahua → preColumbianCivilization → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Central Mexico → preColumbianCulture → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec
Cuitláhuac → religion → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec religion
Tlacopan polity → tributarySystem → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Cempoala → tributaryTo → Aztec Empire ⓘ
former Lake Zumpango → usedBy → Aztec Empire ⓘ
subject surface form: Former Lake Zumpango
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
former Lake Chalco → usedBy → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec civilization
Nahuan languages → usedIn → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Valley of Mexico → wasCenterOf → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztec Triple Alliance
Valley of Mexico → wasCenterOf → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Tlaloc → worshipPeriod → Aztec Empire ⓘ
Huitzilopochtli → worshipedBy → Aztec Empire ⓘ
this entity surface form: Aztecs