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Aztec EmpireMēxihcah

MesoamericaHeartland today: Mexico

Before and after

In central Mexico:Came before: Toltec civilization
The Aztecs saw the Toltecs as their cultural ancestors; how much of the Aztec story of Tula is history is debated.

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The Chimú honoured the Moon above the Sun, unlike the Inca who later conquered them.
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The Mexica of Tenochtitlan led a triple alliance that dominated central Mexico by tribute and marriage rather than direct rule, until Spanish forces and their native allies destroyed the capital in 1521.

Also alive at the same time

Key events

Wars

Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
Cortés's expedition and its Indigenous allies
Cortés's expedition, for the Crown of Castile, Tlaxcala, Totonacs of Cempoala, Texcoco (Ixtlilxochitl's faction), Huejotzingo, and Chalco
against
The Mexica of Tenochtitlan and the Triple Alliance
Aztec Empire, Tlatelolco, Tlacopan, Texcoco (Coanacoch's faction), and Xochimilco
Tenochtitlan fell to Cortés's forces and their allies on 13 August 1521; the Spanish crown made central Mexico the colony of New Spain.