Aztec Empire

Triple Alliance (Aztec Empire) Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān
1428–1521
The place-name glyphs for Texcoco, Tenochtitlan and Tlacopan, the three founding altepemeh and traditional co-rulers of the Aztec Triple Alliance
Maximum extent of the Aztec Empire
Capital	Mexico-Tenochtitlan (de facto)
Common languages	Nahuatl (lingua franca) many others
Religion	Aztec state religion
Government	Hegemonic military confederation of allied city-states
Huehuetlatoani of Tenochtitlan
• 1427–1440	Itzcoatl (Alliance founder)
• 1520–1521	Cuauhtémoc (last)
Huetlatoani of Tetzcoco
• 1431–1440	Nezahualcoyotl (Alliance founder)
• 1516–1520	Cacamatzin (last)
Huetlatoani of Tlacopan
• 1400–1430	Totoquihuaztli I (Alliance founder)
• 1519–1524	Tetlepanquetzaltin (last)
Historical era	Pre-Columbian era Age of Discovery
• Foundation of the alliance[1]	1428
• Spanish conquest	August 13, 1521
Area
1520[2]	220,000 km2 (85,000 sq mi)
Population
• Early 16th century[3]	5–6 million
Currency	Quachtli (pay with cotton cloth by quantity) and cocoa bean as commodity money
Preceded by Succeeded by Tenochtitlan Tlatelolco Tlacopan Azcapotzalco Colhuacan Tetzcoco Chalco Xochimilco Xoconochco Coixtlahuaca New Spain (Spanish Empire)
Today part of	Mexico
Full list of monarchs near bottom of page.[4]

Aztec Empire
Mythology
Military Codices
History
La Noche Triste
Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
Engineering
Education
Religion
Cuisine
Calendar
Architecture
v t e

The Aztec Empire or the Triple Alliance (Classical Nahuatl: Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān, [ˈjéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥]) was an alliance of three Nahua city-states: Mexico-Tenochtitlan, Tetzcoco, and Tlacopan. These three city-states ruled that area in and around the Valley of Mexico from 1428 until the combined forces of the Spanish conquistadores and their native allies who ruled under Hernán Cortés defeated them in 1521.

The alliance was formed from the victorious factions of a civil war fought between the city of Azcapotzalco and its former tributary provinces.^[4] Despite the initial conception of the empire as an alliance of three self-governed city-states, the capital Tenochtitlan became dominant militarily.^[5] By the time the Spanish arrived in 1519, the lands of the alliance were effectively ruled from Tenochtitlan, while other partners of the alliance had taken subsidiary roles.

The alliance waged wars of conquest and expanded after its formation. The alliance controlled most of central Mexico at its height, as well as some more distant territories within Mesoamerica, such as the Xoconochco province, an Aztec exclave near the present-day Guatemalan border. Aztec rule has been described by scholars as "hegemonic" or "indirect".^[6] The Aztecs left rulers of conquered cities in power so long as they agreed to pay semi-annual tribute to the alliance, as well as supply military forces when needed for the Aztec war efforts. In return, the imperial authority offered protection and political stability and facilitated an integrated economic network of diverse lands and peoples who had significant local autonomy.

Aztec religion was a monistic pantheism in which the Nahua concept of teotl was construed as the supreme god Ometeotl, as well as a diverse pantheon of lesser gods and manifestations of nature. The popular religion tended to embrace the mythological and polytheistic aspects, and the empire's state religion sponsored both the monism of the upper classes and the popular heterodoxies. The empire even officially recognized the largest cults such that the deity was represented in the central temple precinct of the capital Tenochtitlan. The imperial cult was specifically that of the distinctive warlike patron god of the Mexica Huītzilōpōchtli. Peoples were allowed to retain and freely continue their own religious traditions in conquered provinces so long as they added the imperial god Huītzilōpōchtli to their local pantheons.