The Aztecs Postclassic Period

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The Aztecs Postclassic period Around the year 1300, the Aztecs were the last tribe to arrive in Mesoamerica from the arid northern region. They were a poor and backward people and were not well received by the inhabitants of Toltec origin who had settled in the Valley of Mexico. Legend has it that the Aztecs wandered for many years in search of a sign, an eagle and a serpent fighting on a cactus, to show them where to found their city. Huitzilopochtli as shown in the Borgia Codex. They began their travels in Aztlán (in Náhuatl, The Place of the Herons, or The Place of Whiteness), without managing to settle even on the poorest lands of the Valley. Finally, in 1325, they founded their city, Mexico-Tenochtitlan. Once they had settled, the Aztecs lived for several decades under the dominion of the powerful lord of Azcapotzalco, whom they served as paid soldiers. By 1430, the Aztecs had assimilated the features of the most advanced cultures in the Valley and had become an efficient military power. They then attacked and defeated Azcapotzalco and became one of the most powerful peoples of the region. They later began a surprising military campaign, which in just 70 years would make their domain the largest empire that had ever existed in Mesoamerica. The Aztecs formed an alliance with the lords of Texcoco and Tacuba and created what is known as the Triple Alliance. Under the command of outstanding military leaders like Moctezuma Ilhuiamina and Ahuitzotl, the Aztecs conquered the center of Mexico, Veracruz, the coast of An Eagle Knight, an Guerrero, part of Oaxaca, and dominated the Soconusco imposing clay sculpture territory on the border with Guatemala. Only a few peoples found at the Main Temple. managed to resist the force of the Mexicas: the Purépechas, the Tlaxcaltecas and certain Mixtec lords. Source: SEP, Department of Education .

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