Aztecs were Native Americans who had a large empire in the region in Mexico in fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The Aztec empire was destroyed completely when Spanish conquered it in 1521.
The Aztec people were ruled by an emperor they called huay tlatoani, meaning great speaker. The emperor had great powers but consulted a council of nobles before taking major decisions. The emperor selected people for high offices based on the service rendered by them.
Aztecs maintained military units throughout its empire to keep it secure. They waged wars to expand their empire and to take prisoners for sacrifices to gods. Conquered towns paid heavy taxes in form of goods to the Aztec empire.
The Aztec society was divided in four classes: (1) nobles, (2) commoners, (3) serfs and (4) slaves. Families of Nobles and commoners owned land. Serfs worked on lands of Nobles. Slaves were considered property of their owners but their children were born free.
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