Download Aztec and Inca Comparison

COMPARING
THE AZTEC AND INCA
Similarities
Political…
• Expansionist States
• represented imperial stage of
development for respective
region
• Leaders were semi-divine or
representatives of gods
• Local leadership allowed, as
long as sovereignty recognized
• Governed trade networks to
some degree
Technology & innovation…
• Methods of agriculture
(Chinampas - Terrace farming)
• Road networks
• No Wheel
Social Organization & Values …
• built on traditions of previous peoples in the region
• power to nobility over time
Often served as administrative bureaucrats
• Calpulli similar to ayllu
• Patriarchy; women had inheritance rights
• Polytheistic; human sacrifice (smaller in Inca); sun god key,
temples served by priests
PRE COLUMBIAN
SOCIETIES OF
AMERICA
Mesoamerica
South America
Productivity/Organization :
• Potato, quinoa, maize
• Lacked distinct merchant class; few specialized crafts
• Land Ownership…
• Practice of split inheritance caused need for new lands
• Didn’t recognize concept of private property
• Significant degree of centralization; large class of
bureaucrats, hierarchy—State owned property
• Usually demanded labor not tribute (service, not tax)
Religion:
• Religion had strong moral quality and Incan rulers were
mummified
Language:
• Quipu –no system of writing
• Common language –Quechua; greater degree of uniformity
Productivity Focus:
• Trade and markets far more developed—metallurgy and textiles—
potecha (highly regulated)
• State controlled mixed economy
• Cacao beans and gold dust used for currency as well as barter system
• Maize was main crop
Government Organization:
• Separate city-states; Tenochtitlan was the heart of the empire; built on
lakes (Venice)
• City-state rulers chosen by the nobility; Great Speaker (ruler of
Tenochtitlan) was first among equals (increasingly became living god)
• Emperor chosen by council of nobles and priest to serve as civil and
religious leader—really election between siblings
• Left local governance in hands of the conquered peoples; much smaller
bureaucracy; paid tribute based on how they were conquered
• Military conquest related to religious beliefs of bloodletting (human
sacrifice)—means of political terror
Social Organization:
• Became a more stratified society; as nobility became more powerful
WHAT IS SIGNIFICANT
ABOUT THE
COMPARISON?
Analytical & Comprehensive
Aztec
1.
2.
3.
Inca
AZTECS & INCAS
While both empires achieved imperial control
by way of militaristic means, the methods
employed to maintain order within their
respective regions differed. The Aztecs
utilized a tribute system, while the Incas
encouraged assimilation through religious
means.