Aztecs

Aztecs were Indigenous peoples of central Mexico, especially the Mexica, who founded Tenochtitlan and built a powerful tributary empire before the Spanish conquest.

Mexica: The Nahuatl-speaking people who founded Tenochtitlan and led the Aztec Empire. The Mexica were the empire’s ruling people and the group most often meant by “Aztecs.”
Aztec Empire: The Aztec Empire was a tributary political order dominated by the Mexica and their allies. It describes the system of rule built by the peoples grouped under “Aztecs.”
Nahuatl: Nahuatl is a Uto-Aztecan language spoken historically across central Mexico and still used today. It was the language of the Mexica and many other communities called Aztec.
Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire: The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was the campaign that brought Tenochtitlan down in 1521. It ended Mexica imperial rule through war, alliances, and epidemic disease.
Aztlan: Aztlan is the ancestral homeland named in Mexica migration traditions. Mexica origin stories describe a migration from Aztlan to central Mexico.
Tribute in the Aztec Empire: Tribute in the Aztec Empire consisted of goods and labor exacted from subject communities. Tribute supplied Tenochtitlan with wealth without replacing local governments everywhere.
Nahua peoples: Nahua peoples are Indigenous communities in Mexico whose languages belong to the Nahuan branch of Uto-Aztecan. The Mexica were one Nahua people among many, not the whole Nahua world.
Hernán Cortés: Hernán Cortés was a Spanish conquistador who led the expedition against the Mexica Empire. His forces pursued conquest while relying heavily on Indigenous allies.
Tenochtitlan: Tenochtitlan was the island capital of the Mexica, founded in Lake Texcoco in 1325. The Mexica founded their capital before expanding into an empire.
Aztec warfare: Aztec warfare used organized armies, alliances, and campaigns to conquer and discipline rival polities. Military campaigns expanded the empire and enforced its demands.

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NahuasCompared with: Aztec and Nahua overlap in historical contexts but are not interchangeable labels.