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What Are The Similarities Between The Aztec And Inca Empires

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The Aztec and Inca empires are very similar. The Aztec rise to power and formation of an imperial state was as spectacular as it was rapid. The Aztecs were simply one of the nomadic tribes that used the political anarchy to penetrate the area of sedentary agricultural peoples. They were a group of about 10,000 people who migrated to the shores of Lake Texcoco in the central valley of Mexico around 1325. After the fall of the Toltec Empire, the central valley was inhabited by Chichimec migrants from the northwest and various groups of sedentary farmers. In this period, the area was dominated by several tribes organized into city-states. These political units claimed authority on the basis of their military power and connections to Toltec culture. In the period of warfare, the …show more content…

Conquered peoples were enlisted into the armies under Inca officers and were rewarded with goods from new conquests. In return, the Incas demanded loyalty and tribute. The Incas divided conquered areas into the people, lands for the state, and lands for the sun. The Incas did not demand tribute of any kind but rather exacted labor on the lands assigned to the state and he religion. The Aztec and Inca cultures were based on a long development of civilization that preceded them. Both cultures represented the success of imperial and military organization. Both empires were based on intensive agricultural organized by a state that accumulated surplus production and then controlled the circulation of goods. Both empires recognized local ethnic groups and political leaders and allowed variation from one group to another. As long as Inca or Aztec sovereignty was recognized and tribute paid. They found that their military power was less effective against nomadic people who lived on their frontiers. The empires both were created by the conquest of sedentary agricultural peoples and the extraction of tribute and labor from them. As one can see the Aztec and Inca were very similar

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