tribute under the aztecs and incas - Pascack Valley Regional School ...

TRIBUTE UNDER THE AZTECSAND INCASAztec warriors, extending their rule outward from Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), conqueredthe other city-states of Central Mexico between c.E. 1420 and 1480. When the Spaniardsarrived in 1519, the Aztecs governed an area inhabited by about 18 million people.Despite their recent military success, the Aztecs, when they first appeared on the historicalscene about 1250, were regarded as uncouth barbarian invaders from the north. Theywere not responsible for creating civilization in Central Mexico but were its inheritors.Before the Aztec appearance, the rulers of Teotihuacan (c.a 1-900) and the subsequentToltec Empire (c.E. 1000-1200) established the essential features of civilization.Cultivation of maize was highly developed, particularly through the use of irrigationchannels. Surplus production was obtained from local villages through a tribute systemthat funneled grain and other products to central government warehouses. This surplussupported a hierarchy of officials who not only ran the government but also devisedcalendars, built monumental shrines, created a religious literature, and led ritual observancesthat bound society together. Although these societies succumbed to barbarianinvasions, civilization itself did not disappear.After the demise of the Toltec Empire, civilization in Central Mexico consisted ofcompeting city-states scattered around Lake Texcoco in the Central Valley. When theAztecs conquered these city-states, they repeated the experience of pervious intruders~Specifically, the Aztecs took control of a centuries-old tribute system. Spanish observerGonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Vald~s (1478-1557) described that system and thepoverty it caused. Secondly, because they were unwelcome conquerors, the Aztecsdevised a politico-religious system that was based on terror. They demonstrated theirpower by obtaining human sacrificial victims for their war god Huitzilipochtli. The statueof Hoitzilipochtli’s mother, Coatl~icue, expressed this style of rule.The Inca Empire was formed at approximately the same time as the Aztec Empire.Incan military conquests began in 1438 when Incan armies subdued their home area ofCuzco in the highlands of southwestern Peru and ended with the conquest of Quito[Ecuador] in the 1520s. By the early 16th century, the Incan Empire stretched from Quitoin the north to Chile in the south. The majority of the empire’s 6 million inhabitants livedFrom Benjamin Keen, ed. and trans., Latin American Civilization, Vol. 1, 3rd ed. (Boston:Houghton Mifflin, 1974), 19-22. O~’iginally fbund in Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes, Histo*iaGeneraly Natural de Las India.s, Vol. X (Asuncion,’ Paraguay: 1944-1945), 110-114.Selections taken from Visita hecha a la p*vcinda de Chuquito ])or Garci Diez de San Miguel ~vl el ago1567, paleography by Waldemar Espinoza Soriano, (Lima: Ca.sa de la Cuhura, 1964), 20-22, 86. Translationfrom the Spanish by Erwin Grieshaber.

Chapter 4~ / Tribute Under the Aztecs and In as’,ASAZTECS(Mexico Citw. conqueredn the Spaniardsby about 18 million peoDe.histori~from the north. Theybut were its inheritors.1-900) and the subsefeaturesof civilizationthrough the use of irngationgh a tribute systemwarehouses. This surplusbut also aev~sedand led ritual obsersuccumbedto barbarianMexico consisted ofalley. When the’ ~ruders.system. Spamst~ observersystem an(~ theconquerors, the Aztecs’ demonstratecl theirJitzilipochtli. The s~atuele.Empire.area ofconquest of Quitore stretched from QuitoIlion inhabitants lived1, 3rd ed. (Boston:/ Valdes, Historla86, Transla-in the areas of present-day Peru and 13olivia. Three hundred years earlier, the Incas werea small village community competing with other villages in the highlands of Cuzco.During the expansionary period, the Incas employed their traditional highland socialpractices as the model for imperial organization. The ayllu, the smallest Andean socialunit, functioned on the basis of communal ownership of land, communal work prac~rices, and strong traditions of mutual aid for those unable to work. But ayllus, for manygenerations before the Incas began their imperial expansion, were also part of largerunits, or chiefdoms. The organization of the chiefdom reflected a strong awareness of theeconomic potential of diverse ecological zones in the Andean area and revealed howthe patterns of obligations to the chief enabled maximum exploitation of these areas. Inthe highlands (altiplano!, staple products consisted of potatoes, quinua [a type of grainthat only thrives in highland areas and is also known as altiplano riceJ, and llamaand alpaca products. In lower areas on the Pacific coast and in semitropical valleys offthe eastern escarpment of the Andean range, staple products consist of maize, cotton,fruits, and coca (used for chewing and in rituals). The economic goal of a highland chief~dom was to control as many ecological zones as possible from high to low. Anthropologistsdescribed this economic strategy as "verticality." This same goal lay behind theIncan system of governance. The noteworthy characteristics of the Inca Empire, includingforced migrations of people and road and bridge building, served not only to unite theempire but also to produce and distribute goods from all ecological zones. In contrastto the Aztec tribute system that in Operation emphasized strict control of conqueredpeople and swift punishment for nonpayment, the Incan tribute system emphasizedthe elevation of a traditional highland practice (economic strategy of verticality) to theimperial level.The Kingdom of Chuquito was a pre-lnca chiefdom located in the highlands onthe western shore of Lake Titicaca that was incorporated into the Inca Empire. A Spanishgovernmental inquiry of 1567 clearly showed how the traditional patterns of obligationsowed to the chief contributed to exploitation of various ecological zones. In order toverify accounts, Spanish officials took testimony not only from the chief but also fromhis subjects. Although the chief’s (or cacique’s) authority dominated the relationshipbetween chief and worker, the chief nevertheless recognized his obligation to pay hisworkers, and workers openly expressed their anger if not properly paid.AZTEC TRIBUTE: OBSERVATIONS OFGONZALO FERNANDEZ DE OVIEDO Y VALD~.SThe Indians of New Spain, I have been told by reliable persons who gained theirinformation fl’om Spaniards who fought with Hernando Cortes in the conquest ofthat land, are the poorest of the many nations that live in the Indies at the presenttime. In their homes they have no furnishings or clothing other than the poorgarments which they wear on their persons, one or two stones for grinding maize,some pots in which to cook the maize, and a sleeping mat. Their meals consistchiefly of vegetables cooked with chili, and bread. They eat little--not that theywould not eat more if they could get it, for the soil is very fertile and yields bountifulharvests, but the common people and plebeians suffer under the tyranny of

300 Section Three / The Postclassical Period, 500-1500 ¢&: Expansions and Contactstheir Indian lords, who tax away the greater part of their produce in a manner thatI sha!l describe. Only the lords and their relatives, and some principal men andmerchants, have estates and lands of their own; they sell and gamble with theirlands as they please, and they sow and harvest them but pay no tribute. Nor is anytribute paid by artisans, such as masons, carpenters, feather-workers, or silversmiths,or by singers and kettle-drummers (for every Indian lord has musicians inhis household, each according m his station). But such persons render personalservice when it is required, and none of them is paid for his labor.Each Indian lord assigns to the common folk who come from other parts ofthe country to settle on his land (and to those who are already settled there) specificfields, that each may know the land that he is to sow. And the majority of themhave their homes on their land; and between twenty and thirty, or forty and fittyhouses have over them an Indian head who is called tiq~itlato, which in tt~e Castiliantongue means "the finder (or seeker) of tribute." At harvest time this tiq~itlato,inspects the cornfield and observes what each one reaps, and when the reaping isdone they show hint the harvest, and he counts the ears of corn that each hasreaped, and the number of wives and children that each of the vassals in his chargepossesses. And with the harvest before him he calculates how many ears of corneach person in that household wil! requite till the next harvest, and these he givesto the Indian head of that house; and he does the same with the other produce,namely kidney beans, which are a kind of srnall beans, and chili, which is their pepper;and chia, which is as fine as mustard seed, and which in warm weather theydrink, ground and made into a solution in water and used for medicine, roastedand ground; and cocoa, which is a kind of almond that they use as money, andwhich they grind, make into a solution, and drink; and cotton, in those placeswhere it is raised, which is in the hot lands and not the cold; and pulque, which istheir wine; and all the various products obtained from the maguey plant, ti’omwhich they obtain food and drink and footwear and clothing. This plant grows inthe cold regions, and the leaves resemble those of the cinnamon tree, but aremuch larger. Of all these and other products they leave the vassal only enough tosustain hint for a year. And in addition the vassal must earn enough to pay the tributeof mantles, gold, silver; honey, wax, lime, wood, or whatever products it is customaryto pay as tribute in that country. They pay this tribute every forty, sixty,seventy, or ninety days, according to the terms of the agreement. This tribute alsothe tiqttitlato receives and carr’~es to his Indian lard.Ten days before the close 9f the sixty or hundred days, or whatever is theperiod appointed for the payment of tribute, they take to the house of the Indian!ord the produce brought by the tiquitlatos; and if some poor Indian should proveunable to pay his share of tribute, whether for reasons of health or poverty, or lackof work, the tiquitlato tells the lord that such-and-such will not pay the proportion ofthe tribute that had been assigned to him; then the lord tells the tiq~itlato totake the recalcitrant vassal to a tia~g~e’z or market, which they hold every five daysin all the towns of the land, and there sell hint into slavery, applying the proceedsof the sale to the payment of his tribute ....All the towns have their own lands, long ago assigned for the provision of t-heord~ilobos or ques or temples where they kept their idols; and these lands were and arethe best of all. And they have this custom: At seeding time all would go ibrth at the

." in a manner that~nd some principal men andsell and gamble with theirbut pay no tribute. Nor is anyfeather-workers, or silver-Indian lord has musicians insuch persons render persona!for his labor.come from other parts of. settled there) spe-And the majority of themand thirty, or forty and fiftytiquitlato, which in the Castil-At harvest time this tiquitlato,and when the reaping isears of corn that each hasof the vassals in his chargehow many ears of cornt harvest, and these he giveswith the other produce,is their pepmwarm weatber theyfor medicine, roastedthey use as money, and~, in those placespulque, which is~lant, fromThis plant grows intree, but arevassal only enough toenough to pay the trib-CUSeveryforty, sixty,This tribute alsoor whatever is theof the IndianIndian should prove,overty, or lackproportion ofthe tiquitlato mevery five daysthe proceeds¯ " of thelands were and areforth at thesmnmons of the town council to sow these fields, and to weed them at the propertime, and m cultivate the grain and harvest it and carry it to a house in which livedthe pope and the teupisques, pioches, ex~uthles and piltoutles (o2; as we would say, thebishops, archbishops, and the canons and prebendaries, and even choristers, foreach major temple had these five classes of officials). And they supported themselvesfrom this harvest, and the Indians also raised chickens for them to eat.In all the towns Montezuma had his designated lands, which they sowed forhim in the same way as the temple lands; and if no garrison was stationed in theirtowns, they would carry the crops on their backs to the great city of Temistitan[Tenochtiti~in]; but in the garrison towns the grain was eaten by Montezuma’s sobdiers, and if the town did not sow the land, it had to supply the garrison witt~ food,and also give them chickens and all other needful provisions.INCA TRIBUTE: TESTIMONY OF MARTIN CARI,CHIEF (CACIQUE PRINCIPAL) OF THE LOWERDIVISION (ANANSAYA) OF CHUQUITOAsked what tribute is given to him each year by his subjects, he replied that fromthe town of Chuquito his subjects cultivate in some years 100 topos [a topo is ofindeterminate size but understood to be the minimum land needed for an Incacouple] of land and in other years 70 topos of potatoes, quinua, and canagua[similar to quinua] ... in other towns [located on the western shore of Lake Titicacaand subject to Chuquito] of Acora, Ilave and Yunguyo his subjects cultivate~0 topos each and in the towns of Juli, Pomata and Zepita another 20 toposeach.., in each topo of land one can plant 3 fanegas [fa~ega as a g~in measureis about 1.5 bushels] of seed.., to plant one topo of land 16 Indian males and8 Indian females are employed in plowing in one day.., to seed 5 Indian malesand 8 Indian females are employed in one day.., to clean and weed the cuhivatedplots... 10 Indian females are employed tbr each topo of land in oneday.., to these Indian males and females who work the land it is customary togive meat, potatoes, chu~o [freeze-dried potatoes], maize, quinua, coca, andchicha [maize beer] ... from the town of Chuquito and the other towns subjectto it each year 5 pieces of cloth are" woven from wool supplied to eachtown.., in addition the town of Cbuquito p~:ovides 40 to 50 Indians each year togo with [pack] animals provided by the cadq~e to bring maize from Mo~lueguaand Sama [Peruvian coastal locations] and Capinota and Larecaja [Bolivian vableys] and coca from Cuzco to his home [in Chuquito] ... when d~e 40 Indiansfinish the trip they work no more on that road and others go... the round-triptakes two to three months and the Indians who are sent to these locations aregiven fbr their maintenance chufio, dried meat, quinua and coca and they arealso given wool to exchange for fbod from those parts.., fl’om the town ofChuquito and its subject towns 60 Indians of service are provided each year and10 are employed in guarding animals and 25 are employed in Moquegua workingon maize lands and 15 are employed in guarding lands in Chuquito and 10are employed in service in his home making cloth and taking care of household301

Section Tl~re~ / The Postclassical Period, 500-1500 ¢.E.: Expansions and Con~ctsduties and beyond the 60 already mentioned are 2 more employed in gatheringtbdder and firewood.., as we!l as another 20 who guard sheep.., from the tow~of Juli 10 Indians of service were given to ancestors of the current cacique whoguarded animals on the high plain and this group has now multiplied to 50 or 60Indians including men, women and children and they now not only guard animalsbut also some have been sent to the Yungas [steep valley off the easternAndes] for maize and other necessities.., another 2 Indians [i’om Juli which weregiven to the ancestors have now multiplied to 9 who also guard animals.., thetown of Pomata does not provide one Indian because they do not wish to and thetown of Yunguyo provides I Indian to guard land and the town of Zepita provides1 to guard land and the towns of Acora and Ilave 3 each and all these indianswho serve are given coca, tbod and sheep that they raise for themselves.Asked how many animals these servants guard, he replied 300.Testimony of the Indians of Chuquito about Service to Their Cacique PrincipalAsked what service and tribute they give to the cacique principal of Chuquito, hissubjects answered that they provide 30 Indians for guarding land and another 20for guarding animals and in some years 2 pieces of c’urabi cloth [finest cloth madefrom vicufia wool] and in other years 3 pieces and sometimes even more.., in addition10 pieces of a’uasca [lesser quality cloth for commoners] are provided.., insome years 4 pieces and in other years nothing. ¯. [since] auasca cloth is given voluntarily..,and ti’om the sheep of the community we give the cacique around 30every year or a little more or less because in some years the cacique has guests andwe give him more meat.., we cultivate 150,fi~negas [t~mega as land measure is about1.6 acres] of potatoes and in other years we cultivate the same amount in quinuaand the harvesting and preparing are done by all the members of the community,except the Indians who have been given in service.Asked what don Martin Cari gives to his subjects who serve and guard animalsand land, they replied that those who guard anirnals are given coca, meat and othertbod plus wool so that they can make clothes for themselves and to tbose who servein his house he gives food and wool to make clothes and to those who serve himvery well he gives a live animal and to those who go and cultivate his lands he givesmeat, chicha, potatoes, quinua and other food and to those who are cultivating hisland he gives a good quantity because if he does not give it to them they willbecome angry. "STUDY QUESTIONS1. How did the Aztec tribute system work? What does such a tribute system indicateabout social organization in ancient Mexico?2. What types of work and goods constituted tribute in Chuquito that becamepart of the Incan system? What practices in Chuquito indicated that the relationshipbetween the subjects and the chief were reciprocal?3. Compare the Aztec method of acquiring tribute to the methods used by .the ....chieIs of Chuquito. What are the differences? What might account for thedifferences?