Indigenous societies in the Americas (c.750–1500)

The 1428 alliance of three city-states — Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan — that together conquered and ruled central Mexico, with Tenochtitlan as the dominant partner.

The huey tlatoani, meaning 'great speaker.' He was chosen from the royal family by a council of nobles, not simply the eldest son, and combined military, political, and religious roles.

Calpulli were kinship-based neighbourhood wards, each with its own leader who collected tribute, organized labour, and ran a local school, connecting ordinary families to the central state.

He was presented as chosen by the god Huitzilopochtli and responsible for feeding the sun with sacrifices, so obeying him was framed as a religious duty, not just a political one.

A ritualized, limited war fought against nearby states mainly to capture prisoners for sacrifice and to train warriors, blurring the line between warfare and religious practice.

Raised, highly fertile artificial garden-plots built up from lake mud in the shallow waters around Tenochtitlan, allowing several harvests a year and feeding a huge city population.

Whether the empire was a fully centralized, unified state, or a looser network of tribute-paying provinces that kept their own rulers and customs and could break away — most historians favour the second view.

Tribute was paid in specific goods (cotton, cacao, feathers, food, warriors) fixed by conquest agreements and recorded in tribute registers like the Codex Mendoza, not in a single universal currency.

A hereditary class of professional long-distance merchants who traded luxury goods, sometimes acted as spies and diplomats, and grew wealthy enough to worry the nobility.

An exchange of obligations between rulers and communities — for example allied city-states supplying troops and labour in return for a share of tribute and protection — rather than a one-way demand.

Aztec law punished drunkenness, adultery, and theft severely (even by nobles), and judges operated in structured courts — showing the state relied on formal rules, not just force.

Because conquered states were left largely self-governing as long as tribute was paid, some historians argue this made the empire efficient but unstable, since Cortes could exploit resentment and gather thousands of Indigenous allies.

'He who speaks' — the title of the Aztec ruler, who claimed a link to the gods.

The single, semi-divine emperor of the Inca empire — the supreme authority over all conquered peoples.

A Maya 'holy lord' — the divine king of an individual Maya city-state (e.g., Tikal, Calakmul).

An Inca kinship group that jointly owned land, shared farming and herding duties, and owed labour (mit'a) as a unit.

An Aztec neighbourhood-clan that held farmland communally, ran its own school and temple, and sent tribute/soldiers to the capital.

The Inca system of rotational labour tax — households owed work (farming, building, army service) instead of paying in goods.

The Inca policy of forcibly resettling conquered populations and replacing them with loyal settlers, to prevent rebellion.

Scheduled Aztec battles, chiefly against Tlaxcala, fought mainly to capture prisoners alive for religious sacrifice rather than to seize land.

Aztec: kept local rulers in place but demanded tribute, backed by fear of renewed attack. Inca: used mitmaq resettlement and a road network to physically integrate and monitor conquered land.

Conquer a neighbour, then extract tribute from it, loot immediate plunder and redistribute it to nobles/soldiers, then use captives as enslaved labour or (for the Aztec) sacrifice victims.

1428 — the alliance of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan, which launched the rapid phase of Aztec imperial expansion.

Some argue women held real economic/religious power (owning property, becoming priestesses, running markets); others stress political and military power stayed almost entirely male, so the system was not fully equal.

Dozens of independent city-states, never unified under one ruler or empire.

The Maya writing system combining logograms and syllable signs, used mainly by elite scribes.

Kings claimed divine ancestry and performed rituals (like bloodletting) to mediate with the gods, making their rule seem essential and unquestionable.

Carved stone stelae showing rulers in ceremonial dress, dated with the Long Count calendar.

Farming depended on reliable rainfall for maize, so rain and maize were worshipped as gods central to survival.

Tikal and Calakmul.

Lake-sediment records showing severe, repeated droughts from the late 8th century CE.

Drought reduced maize harvests, which increased competition between city-states, which increased warfare and undermined faith in sacred kingship.

Because dozens of separate city-states meant no coordinated response was possible when crises (drought, war, overpopulation) hit at once.

Environmental view stresses drought reducing food supply; political view stresses fragmented city-states unable to respond together — the strongest essays combine both.

Murals depicting battle, sacrifice, and courtly life, giving historians visual evidence of Maya society.

A Maya calendar system counting days continuously from a fixed starting point, used to date monuments.