Historical Terms – XV

The Americas and the World
Indian: misnomer created by Columbus when referring to indigenous New World peoples; still used to describe Native Americans.
Toltecs: nomadic peoples from beyond the northern frontier of sedentary agriculture in
Mesoamerica; established capital at Tula following migration into central Mesoamerican plateau; strongly militaristic ethic, including cult of human sacrifice.
Aztecs: the Mexica; one of the nomadic tribes that penetrated into the sedentary zone of the Mesoamerican plateau after the fall of the Toltecs; established empire after 1325 around shores of Lake Texcoco.
Tenochtitlan: founded circa 1325 on a marshy island in Lake Texcoco; became center of Aztec power.
Huitcilopochtli: Aztec tribal patron god; central figure of human sacrifice and warfare;
identified with old sun god.
Calpulli: clans in Aztec society; evolved into residential groupings that distributed land and provided labor and warriors.
Chinampas: beds of aquatic weeds, mud, and earth placed in frames made of cane and rooted in lakes to create “floating islands”; system of irrigated agriculture used by Aztecs.
Pochteca: merchant class in Aztec society; specialized in long-distance trade in luxury items.
Inca socialism: an interpretation describing Inca society as a type of utopia; image of the Inca empire as a carefully organized system in which every community collectively contributed to the whole.
Twantinsuyu: Inca word for their empire; region from Colombia to Chile and eastward
into Bolivia and Argentina.
Inca: group of clans (ayllu) centered at Cuzco; created an empire in the Andes during the 15th century; also title of the ruler.
Pachacuti: Inca ruler (1438-1471); began the military campaigns that marked the creation of an Inca empire.
Topac Yupanqui: Inca ruler (1471-1493); extended his father’s conquests; seized the northern coastal kingdom of Chimor and pushed into Equador.
Huayna Capac: Inca ruler (1493-1527); brought the empire to its greatest extent.
Split inheritance: Inca practice of ruler descent; all titles and political power went to successor, but wealth and land remained in hands of male descendants for support of dead Inca’s mummy.
Temple of the Sun: Inca religious center at Cuzco; center of state religion; held mummies of past Incas.
Curacas: local rulers who the Inca left in office in return for loyalty.
Tambos: waystations used by Incas as inns and storehouses; supply centers for Inca armies; relay points for system of runners used to carry messages.
Quipu: system of knotted strings utilized by the Incas in place of a writing system; could
contain numerical and other types of information for censuses and financial records.