Latin America PERSIAN Chart
(Post-classical)
by Lauren Blumenfeld
Political
•Mayas- Chichen Itza, Izamal and Mayapan were all prominent cities in Yucatan; during early postclassical period, Chichen Itza was dominant in Yucatan; during late postclassical period, Chichen Itza fell and Mayapan grew and the Maya lowlands became fragmented while maritime trade grew; Chac Xib Chac ruled Chichen Itza and Hunac Ceel ruled Mayapan; fight between Chichen Itza and Izamal which ended in the defeat of the Itza clan from Chichen and Yucatan who left and settled in Guatemala; after Chichen Itza fell, Mayapan was ruled by a dominant family, the Cocoms; the Cocom family insisted the Mayan leaders in the provinces live at Mayapan which formed the “League of Mayapan”; in 1441 the Cocoms were defeated by the Xiu clan and the Cocoms and their followers were forced out of Mayapan; with the League of Mayapan broken, the Maya state returned to rival and separate provinces that had many civil wars; collapse of the Maya cities in the 8th century
•Aztecs- political power shifted to the valley of Mexico to the shores of the large group of lakes in the basin; the winners over the power and control over the lakes called themselves Mexica; the winners constructed a great empire; created an imperial state; at first divided into small political units ruled by their military power and connection to Toltec culture; the true power was Azcapotzalco which was challenged by Texcoco; Culhuacan created alliances by marrying its royalties to more powerful states; a lot of competing powers and changing alliances; Aztecs disliked by other powers of the area for their forward military group, even though their skills were attracted as allies; at first meandered around the lakes, settling then being forced out by more dominant powers; tough and strong warriors; acted as mercenaries then allies and took lands and tribute from conquered lands; arose as a independent power by 1428; Tenochitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan joined in a triple alliance to control much of the region in 1434; seven calpulli formed to make some organization; the calpulli were kinship and residential groupings; a chosen nobility ruled each city-state; The Great Speaker, emperor of Tenichitlan had much private wealth and public power; The Great Speaker’s court was grand, he was elected between siblings of the royal family; governing council had say as did rulers of the triple alliance; most of the power was held by the Aztec ruler and his chief advisor
•Incas- bureaucratic control over diverse cultured peoples and a highly organized state; the split of the big “horizon states” some smaller regional states maintained some power; time of war between rival local chiefdoms and small states; kingdom on the coast, Chimor and its capital Chan-Chan was most powerful; lived around Cuzco by 1350 and under the rule of their ruler Pachacuti, started series of military alliances and campaigns which gained them control over the are from Cuzco to Lake Titicaca; armies always on the march to gain control over a large territory; Topac Yupanqui overcame Chimor and extended Inca control to what is now Ecuador; armies reached Maule River against resistance from the Araucanian Indians; Huayna Capac restrained battles and clashes on the frontiers; empire ruled by the Inca who is considered almost a god; emperor ruled from Cuzco; the high priest was commonly a close relative of the emperor’s; land divided into four provinces which each was ruled by a governor; local rulers called curacas stayed in their positions as long as they remained loyal to the Incas; ethnic headmen left but the Inca administrators from the nobility were over them; demanded land and labor from subject peoples; conquered people were put into Inca armies
•Aztecs- political power shifted to the valley of Mexico to the shores of the large group of lakes in the basin; the winners over the power and control over the lakes called themselves Mexica; the winners constructed a great empire; created an imperial state; at first divided into small political units ruled by their military power and connection to Toltec culture; the true power was Azcapotzalco which was challenged by Texcoco; Culhuacan created alliances by marrying its royalties to more powerful states; a lot of competing powers and changing alliances; Aztecs disliked by other powers of the area for their forward military group, even though their skills were attracted as allies; at first meandered around the lakes, settling then being forced out by more dominant powers; tough and strong warriors; acted as mercenaries then allies and took lands and tribute from conquered lands; arose as a independent power by 1428; Tenochitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan joined in a triple alliance to control much of the region in 1434; seven calpulli formed to make some organization; the calpulli were kinship and residential groupings; a chosen nobility ruled each city-state; The Great Speaker, emperor of Tenichitlan had much private wealth and public power; The Great Speaker’s court was grand, he was elected between siblings of the royal family; governing council had say as did rulers of the triple alliance; most of the power was held by the Aztec ruler and his chief advisor
•Incas- bureaucratic control over diverse cultured peoples and a highly organized state; the split of the big “horizon states” some smaller regional states maintained some power; time of war between rival local chiefdoms and small states; kingdom on the coast, Chimor and its capital Chan-Chan was most powerful; lived around Cuzco by 1350 and under the rule of their ruler Pachacuti, started series of military alliances and campaigns which gained them control over the are from Cuzco to Lake Titicaca; armies always on the march to gain control over a large territory; Topac Yupanqui overcame Chimor and extended Inca control to what is now Ecuador; armies reached Maule River against resistance from the Araucanian Indians; Huayna Capac restrained battles and clashes on the frontiers; empire ruled by the Inca who is considered almost a god; emperor ruled from Cuzco; the high priest was commonly a close relative of the emperor’s; land divided into four provinces which each was ruled by a governor; local rulers called curacas stayed in their positions as long as they remained loyal to the Incas; ethnic headmen left but the Inca administrators from the nobility were over them; demanded land and labor from subject peoples; conquered people were put into Inca armies
Economy
•Mayas- trade was vital to cities; economy relied on the trade of corn, squash, and beans; traded for any basic needs; small trade between farming families; extensive trade across the Mayan region; rise of merchants eased growth of the middle class; cacao beans were luxury items and were used as currency; most important goods were salt, obsidian, jade, cacao, and Quetzal feathers; large trading city centers such as Tikal were places where traders retrieved merchandise to sale in smaller towns and cities
•Aztecs- built chinampas (brilliant system of irrigated agriculture) for agriculture; the chinampas consisted of beds of aquatic weeds, mud and earth placed in frames of cane and fixed on the lake floor; they formed artificial floating islands that were about 20 feet long and 100 to 300 feet wide; the confined building allowed the water to get to all the plants; constructions gave higher yield of corn crops (four yields were possible); production by the peasantry and tribute provided basic foods; private elites and nobles had estates worked on by servants and slaves from conquered peoples; every community had occasional markets that sometimes occurred every 5 and 13 days; at the markets variety of goods traded; cacao beans and gold dust occasionally used as currency; most trade done by barter; merchant class, or pochteca, worked the daily market of Tlatelolco which was known for long-distance trade for luxury goods; markets were constantly regulated by inspectors and judges; state redistributed many goods and tributes; nobility received a lot and the commoners much less; a state-controlled mixed economy
•Incas- demanded tribute in labor on the lands appointed by the state; all resources claimed by state and then redistributed; mita were labor turns where communities took turns working on state and church lands like building projects and mining; goal of each community was self- sufficiency of goods; communities relied on state for goods it could not obtain easily; emphasis on self-sufficiency and state regulation on production and distribution limited trade; absence of a merchant class; split inheritance- all political power given to successor and all land, wealth, possessions and palaces went to male descendants
•Aztecs- built chinampas (brilliant system of irrigated agriculture) for agriculture; the chinampas consisted of beds of aquatic weeds, mud and earth placed in frames of cane and fixed on the lake floor; they formed artificial floating islands that were about 20 feet long and 100 to 300 feet wide; the confined building allowed the water to get to all the plants; constructions gave higher yield of corn crops (four yields were possible); production by the peasantry and tribute provided basic foods; private elites and nobles had estates worked on by servants and slaves from conquered peoples; every community had occasional markets that sometimes occurred every 5 and 13 days; at the markets variety of goods traded; cacao beans and gold dust occasionally used as currency; most trade done by barter; merchant class, or pochteca, worked the daily market of Tlatelolco which was known for long-distance trade for luxury goods; markets were constantly regulated by inspectors and judges; state redistributed many goods and tributes; nobility received a lot and the commoners much less; a state-controlled mixed economy
•Incas- demanded tribute in labor on the lands appointed by the state; all resources claimed by state and then redistributed; mita were labor turns where communities took turns working on state and church lands like building projects and mining; goal of each community was self- sufficiency of goods; communities relied on state for goods it could not obtain easily; emphasis on self-sufficiency and state regulation on production and distribution limited trade; absence of a merchant class; split inheritance- all political power given to successor and all land, wealth, possessions and palaces went to male descendants
Religion
•Mayas- believed in recurring cycles of creation and destruction; believed the earth was flat and had four corners; each corner and cardinal direction had a color- red for east, black for west, yellow for south, white for north and green at the center; some thought sky to be many layers and supported by the four corners by gods that had massive strength called Bacabs; others thought the sky was held up by four trees; earth was thought to be resting in a pool of water lilies; heaven thought to have 13 layers with each layer having its own god; the underworld had 9 layers; underworld was believed to be a sad place and the common destination for Maya after death; the sun, Venus, and Moon thought to pass though Underworld as they vanished from the horizon; at least 166 deities, all represented many things; believed Itzamna as a single deity who invented writing and was patron of the sciences and arts; Itzamna’s wide Ix Chel was goddess of childbirth, medicine and weaving; priests worked closely with the calendar and astronomy; Maya rituals revolved around a 260-day calendar; human sacrifice was forced on prisoners, slaves and children; priests along with chacs ran the human sacrifice ceremony while the nacom opened the chest of the victim; believed the dead went to Underworld through a cenote, or cave; it was dreaded to die of natural causes; dead kings thought to go to Underworld then reborn to Sky to become gods
•Aztecs- traditional Mesoamerican deities worshipped (gods of rain, fire, water, corn, the sky and the sun); little distinction between godly world and the natural world; at least 128 deities that were major; all deities had female form; gods had many manifestations like the Hindu deities; all gods had at least five forms associated with the four cardinal directions and the center; yearly festivals involved feasting, dancing, penance, and sacrifice; gods organized into three cults- gods of the fertility and agricultural cycle, creator deities, and warfare and sacrifice; Huitzilopochtli was the Aztec tribal patron was central figure of the cult of warfare and sacrifice; human sacrifice expanded; ritual included ritual cannibalism grew in the militaristic cult; ceremonies corresponded to calendar
•Incas- cult of ancestors was important belief; dead rulers were mummified and treated like middle-men between gods, paraded in public festivals, made offerings, and consulted with oracles; sun was the highest deity; thought themselves to be the sun’s representative on earth; Temple of the Sun in Cuzco confined mummies of the past Incas; did not stop worship of local and regional gods; animism gifted natural phenomena with spiritual power; huacas were holy shrines- included mountains, stones, rivers, caves, tombs, and temples; at huacas sacrifices and prayers were made; temple priests responsible for celebrations and festivals
•Aztecs- traditional Mesoamerican deities worshipped (gods of rain, fire, water, corn, the sky and the sun); little distinction between godly world and the natural world; at least 128 deities that were major; all deities had female form; gods had many manifestations like the Hindu deities; all gods had at least five forms associated with the four cardinal directions and the center; yearly festivals involved feasting, dancing, penance, and sacrifice; gods organized into three cults- gods of the fertility and agricultural cycle, creator deities, and warfare and sacrifice; Huitzilopochtli was the Aztec tribal patron was central figure of the cult of warfare and sacrifice; human sacrifice expanded; ritual included ritual cannibalism grew in the militaristic cult; ceremonies corresponded to calendar
•Incas- cult of ancestors was important belief; dead rulers were mummified and treated like middle-men between gods, paraded in public festivals, made offerings, and consulted with oracles; sun was the highest deity; thought themselves to be the sun’s representative on earth; Temple of the Sun in Cuzco confined mummies of the past Incas; did not stop worship of local and regional gods; animism gifted natural phenomena with spiritual power; huacas were holy shrines- included mountains, stones, rivers, caves, tombs, and temples; at huacas sacrifices and prayers were made; temple priests responsible for celebrations and festivals
Society
•Mayas- sharply divided classes of nobles, commoners, serfs, and slaves; nobility was passed though family lineage; nobles could read and were wealthy and lived in the central and main areas of Maya cities; commoners worked mainly farming and laboring the land and as servants; some upward mobility allowed through classes through military service; commoners not allowed to wear nobility clothing or buy luxury goods; commoners lived on outskirts of cities and towns; commoners worked their own areas of land; land owned by leaders were worked by serfs; active slave trade; commoners and elites owned slaves; slaves were enslaved as punishment for some crimes or debt or were prisoners of war; slavery was not passed on to children; slaves were sacrificed so they could carry on their duty and service after death; if man married a slave, he became slave as well
• Aztecs- nobles held strong position and titles; supreme ruler was the authority of a stratified society; calpulli groups organized society; calpulli governed by councils of family heads; not all calpullis were equal; nobles gained statues from military achievements, marriages, or services to the state; nobles received high offices, private lands; commoners could rise to nobility; most nobles born into class; military divided by ranks; military values incorporated into society like sacrifices; warriors had distinctive rituals; gap between noble and commoners grew; egalitarian values disappeared; clothing, hairstyles, and uniforms all distinctive to social rank; serfs served as workers on lands of the noble; serfs did not own the land they worked as the commoners did; slaves were criminals, captives, or ones who sold themselves to avoid hunger; scribes, artisans, and healers all were necessary to large cities and were a middle group; long-distance merchants formed their own calpulli and occasionally worked as spies for the Aztec military; the violence of competition between classes was less than the competition of corporate groups; women aided in the work of fields; women mainly helped in the household; women were highly recognized for weaving skills; marriages were arranged between lineages; virginity was highly respected; nobles were sometimes polygamist; peasants were monogamous; women were acknowledged, but continued being subordinate to men; social stresses led to the collapse of the Aztec Empire
•Incas- communities produced for self-sufficiency; men were mostly peasants and herders in communities; women worked the fields, wove cloth, and ran the household; property rights amongst the nobility were passed in both the male and female lines; women passed rights to daughters, men passed rights to sons; militaristic values created inequality between men and women; men and women worshiped gods and goddesses but women were fonder towards the moon and the fertility deities; Inca queen represented imperial authority to women; yanas were removed from their ayllus to work as servants, workers, or artisans for the nobility; nobility and especially those related to Inca himself held highest positions; nobility came from 10 royal ayllus; nobles were reputable for dress and custom only nobles were allowed to wear; no merchant class; emphasis on self-sufficiency made trade less important
• Aztecs- nobles held strong position and titles; supreme ruler was the authority of a stratified society; calpulli groups organized society; calpulli governed by councils of family heads; not all calpullis were equal; nobles gained statues from military achievements, marriages, or services to the state; nobles received high offices, private lands; commoners could rise to nobility; most nobles born into class; military divided by ranks; military values incorporated into society like sacrifices; warriors had distinctive rituals; gap between noble and commoners grew; egalitarian values disappeared; clothing, hairstyles, and uniforms all distinctive to social rank; serfs served as workers on lands of the noble; serfs did not own the land they worked as the commoners did; slaves were criminals, captives, or ones who sold themselves to avoid hunger; scribes, artisans, and healers all were necessary to large cities and were a middle group; long-distance merchants formed their own calpulli and occasionally worked as spies for the Aztec military; the violence of competition between classes was less than the competition of corporate groups; women aided in the work of fields; women mainly helped in the household; women were highly recognized for weaving skills; marriages were arranged between lineages; virginity was highly respected; nobles were sometimes polygamist; peasants were monogamous; women were acknowledged, but continued being subordinate to men; social stresses led to the collapse of the Aztec Empire
•Incas- communities produced for self-sufficiency; men were mostly peasants and herders in communities; women worked the fields, wove cloth, and ran the household; property rights amongst the nobility were passed in both the male and female lines; women passed rights to daughters, men passed rights to sons; militaristic values created inequality between men and women; men and women worshiped gods and goddesses but women were fonder towards the moon and the fertility deities; Inca queen represented imperial authority to women; yanas were removed from their ayllus to work as servants, workers, or artisans for the nobility; nobility and especially those related to Inca himself held highest positions; nobility came from 10 royal ayllus; nobles were reputable for dress and custom only nobles were allowed to wear; no merchant class; emphasis on self-sufficiency made trade less important
Innovation
•Mayas- had writing system of hieroglyphics; contains about 550 logograms which represent whole words and 150 syllabograms which represent syllables; 100 glyphs to represent the names of gods; scripts carved in stone and written on bark, wood, jade, ceramics, and a few manuscripts; many syllables can be defined by more than one glyph; script written in paired vertical columns that read from left to right and top to bottom in a zigzag order; devised two calendars- a 260-day religious calendar called tzolkin and the 365-day astronomical calendar called haab; the haab consisted of 18 months each having 20 days and one 5-day month; their great accuracy was their calculation; accomplished calculation without telescopes or measuring instruments; developed their own numbering system; discovered the value of zero; used a vigesimal (20-based) numbering system
•Aztecs- chinampas were a brilliant system of irrigation for agriculture; chinampas made of beds of aquatic weeds, mud and earth placed in frames fixed on the lake floor; the beds formed artificial islands; the narrow islands allowed water to get to all the plants; spoke Natuatl, the language of the Toltecs; most philosophical thought was devoted to creation; Nezhualcoyotl, king of Texcoco, wrote hymns; religious art and poetry were suffused with images of birds, flowers, songs, as well as human hearts and blood; calendar system was religious; religious ceremonies coincided with dates on the calendar; lacked the wheel or animal power; 30 to 40 hours a week went to preparing food due to lack of technology
•Incas- complex system of roads was built with bridges and causeways; way stations, or tambos, placed a day’s walk apart as inns, storehouses, and supply centers for Inca armies; tambos were relay points for messengers throughout the empire; more than 10,000 tambos; no system of writing; no practical use of the wheel; used quipu to record numerical data such as taking censuses and financial records; numerical order was important; complex system of irrigation; 2500 miles of roads including rope suspension bridges
•Aztecs- chinampas were a brilliant system of irrigation for agriculture; chinampas made of beds of aquatic weeds, mud and earth placed in frames fixed on the lake floor; the beds formed artificial islands; the narrow islands allowed water to get to all the plants; spoke Natuatl, the language of the Toltecs; most philosophical thought was devoted to creation; Nezhualcoyotl, king of Texcoco, wrote hymns; religious art and poetry were suffused with images of birds, flowers, songs, as well as human hearts and blood; calendar system was religious; religious ceremonies coincided with dates on the calendar; lacked the wheel or animal power; 30 to 40 hours a week went to preparing food due to lack of technology
•Incas- complex system of roads was built with bridges and causeways; way stations, or tambos, placed a day’s walk apart as inns, storehouses, and supply centers for Inca armies; tambos were relay points for messengers throughout the empire; more than 10,000 tambos; no system of writing; no practical use of the wheel; used quipu to record numerical data such as taking censuses and financial records; numerical order was important; complex system of irrigation; 2500 miles of roads including rope suspension bridges
Arts and Architecture
•Mayas- masters of pottery; mastered the use of the potter’s wheel; some pottery made with the use of molds; many pottery pieces painted with colorful designs, Maya writing, and scenes of Mayan daily life; masters of stone sculpture even without the use of metal tools; many stone carvings on exterior of Maya constructions; art was related to religion; artwork mostly made for religious purposes; constructed from wood and adobe; later used stone to construct and build; pyramidal structures were built in Maya ceremonial centers on a monumental scale; most of stone structures were temples; most Maya cities had ceremonial buildings in its center and around it stone houses with wooden roofs
•Aztecs- Nezhualcoyotl, king of Texcoco, wrote hymns; religious art and poetry were suffused with images of birds, flowers, songs, as well as human hearts and blood; Tenochitlan was a grand metropolis with a main zone of palaces and temples; design and construction were superior; houses two stories high built for nobility; impressive gardens, temples, and palaces; structures were outstanding and kept up by each city ward
•Incas- complex system of roads was built with bridges and causeways; way stations, or tambos, placed a day’s walk apart as inns, storehouses, and supply centers for Inca armies; tambos were relay points for messengers throughout the empire; more than 10,000 tambos; complex system of irrigation; 2500 miles of roads including rope suspension bridges; woven cloth had political and religious significance; created amazing pottery and cloth in specialized workshops; metalworking was advanced, with great skills of work with gold and silver; also used copper and bronze for tools and weapons; stonecutting was accurate; large buildings built by large fitting stones without masonry
•Aztecs- Nezhualcoyotl, king of Texcoco, wrote hymns; religious art and poetry were suffused with images of birds, flowers, songs, as well as human hearts and blood; Tenochitlan was a grand metropolis with a main zone of palaces and temples; design and construction were superior; houses two stories high built for nobility; impressive gardens, temples, and palaces; structures were outstanding and kept up by each city ward
•Incas- complex system of roads was built with bridges and causeways; way stations, or tambos, placed a day’s walk apart as inns, storehouses, and supply centers for Inca armies; tambos were relay points for messengers throughout the empire; more than 10,000 tambos; complex system of irrigation; 2500 miles of roads including rope suspension bridges; woven cloth had political and religious significance; created amazing pottery and cloth in specialized workshops; metalworking was advanced, with great skills of work with gold and silver; also used copper and bronze for tools and weapons; stonecutting was accurate; large buildings built by large fitting stones without masonry
Near Geographic
•Mayas- Mesoameria (Mexico and Central America); centered on the Yucatan Peninsula and modern day Guatemala, Belize, some Mexican states, Honduras, and El Salvador; tropical rainforest climate; few navigable rivers for trade and transports; took advantage of natural resources; Maya environment had precious goods used in culture; collapse could possibly be the exhaustion of the environment due to the growing population
•Aztecs- central Mexico in the valley around the shores of a series of lakes; lakes joined by marshes; rich aquatic environment; 400 or the 3000 square miles were under water of the valley; Tenochitlan founded in 1325 when people migrated to the shores of Lake Texcoco; estimated population could have reached 20 million
•Incas- Andean highlands; 3,00 miles in extent; some states along shores of lakes and some along rivers; few large cities in Southern Andean highlands; Lake Titicaca- open region; from Chile to Colombia and eastward across Lake Titicaca and Bolivia and to northern Argentina; around 9 to 13 million people under Inca Empire
•Aztecs- central Mexico in the valley around the shores of a series of lakes; lakes joined by marshes; rich aquatic environment; 400 or the 3000 square miles were under water of the valley; Tenochitlan founded in 1325 when people migrated to the shores of Lake Texcoco; estimated population could have reached 20 million
•Incas- Andean highlands; 3,00 miles in extent; some states along shores of lakes and some along rivers; few large cities in Southern Andean highlands; Lake Titicaca- open region; from Chile to Colombia and eastward across Lake Titicaca and Bolivia and to northern Argentina; around 9 to 13 million people under Inca Empire
Sources
http://www.mayanmagick.com/maya_post_classic_period.html
http://utaspring2009mesoamerica.blogspot.com/2009/05/mayan-trade-and-economy.html
http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/civil/maya/mmc03eng.shtml
http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/exhibits/aztec/maya_social.html
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/mayan.htm
http://thisishonduras.com/The_Maya.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/maya
Stearns, Peter. World Civilizations. 3rd ed. New York, NY: 2003. Print.
Strayer, Robert. Ways of the World. 2nd ed. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. Print.
http://utaspring2009mesoamerica.blogspot.com/2009/05/mayan-trade-and-economy.html
http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/civil/maya/mmc03eng.shtml
http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/exhibits/aztec/maya_social.html
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/mayan.htm
http://thisishonduras.com/The_Maya.htm
http://www.history.com/topics/maya
Stearns, Peter. World Civilizations. 3rd ed. New York, NY: 2003. Print.
Strayer, Robert. Ways of the World. 2nd ed. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2013. Print.