Many people celebrate and appreciate the Western civilization and its achievements but don’t recognize the significance of the Aztecs and the Inca civilization which have ruled the Central Americas from the 1200s -1500s. But with this comes the great question, were the Aztecs or the Inca more advanced and powerful? Based on my research, I came to the conclusion that the Aztec Empire is more advanced than the Inca Empire because of their religion, maintenance in power and military.
One of the reasons the Aztecs were more advanced and more powerful than the Incas is because of their religion. The Aztecs believed that everyone had to do their own duty to “maintain order in the universe” (Aztec Empire) and a simple mistake could lead to disasters. The Aztecs were highly devoted to religion and believed that the Gods sacrificed themselves many times to create the Earth and the People. So to pay back the Aztec Gods, they created many “rituals and ceremonies, some featuring human sacrifice.” (Aztec Empire: The Importance of Religion) Because of religion, Aztecs created one of the worlds most known structure that is stable to this day and it shows their knowledge of architecture. They called the temples Teocalli, meaning house of God, and used it the “temples to worship and pray, and make offerings to the gods to keep them strong and in balance.” (Aztec Temples). The religion gave balance to the people and stabilized the Empire. The Incas, on the other hand, believed that the world was created in Lake Titicaca and their religion really had no influence in their day to day lived other than their ceremonies.
Another reason the Aztecs were more powerful and advanced than the Incas was because of their maintenance in power. The Aztecs were in existence from 1345 to 1521 while the Inca civilization was shortly lived between 1438 to 1532. The way the Aztecs rules empires was simple. Tenochtitlan had the military power and when they conquered new territories, they let the local government stay in place, but would be forced to pay tribute to the Triple Alliance. Ruling through a local government made sure that the people were happy and that “there would be stability and continuity.” (The Aztec Empire). The Aztecs conquered cities and because of that, they had “power in pockets over an area.” The Incas did not “collect any tribute from their conquered subjects in the form of money (there wasn’t any in Andean society) or in kind” and instead, they demanded labor from them, through the mit’a system. (Inca Civilization). First off, the Aztecs rule the empire a lot more than the Incas ruled their empire. When Aztecs conquer neighboring tribes, they don’t touch the local government for the happiness of the people. When the people are happy, it creates fewer uprisings against the government thus making it last longer and more successful. When the Incas conquered other tribes, they demanded labor in their own cities. When the conquered are doing labor for the city, the uprisings are a lot easier and creates a weak and unstable government.
Finally, the Aztecs were more advanced and powerful than the Incas because of their military power. Military power is the heart of a strong Empire/Civilization. The Aztecs had a better military than the Incas. “The Aztecs engaged in warfare (yaoyotl) to acquire territories, resources, quash rebellions, and to collect sacrificial victims to honor their gods.” (Aztec Warfare) All males were expected to participate and fight in battles. The Aztecs often conquered other cities as well which proves that they had a great military. The “military commander-in-chief was the king himself” The Warriors were trained from the young age in special military compounds where they learned tactics and weapon usage. The Incas had a different military. They most often had hand-to-hand combats which were bloody and less tactical than the Aztecs. Their weapons were “throwers, arrows, javelins, slings, the bolas, clubs, and maces with star-shaped heads made of copper or bronze.”(Inca Warfare)
In Conclusion, the Aztec Empire is more advanced than the Inca Empire because of their religion, maintenance in power and military. The Aztecs were more religious and were more devoted to their religion than the Incas were. The Aztecs also maintained power better and more than the Aztecs through the tactical way of treating conquered territories. Finally, the Aztecs had a better military than the Incas through dedication to the military.