Editing Aztec warfare (section)

{{Short description|Warfare of the Mesoamerican civilization}}
{{for|the Aztec Warfare wrestling match|Lucha Underground tournaments}}
[[File:Central Mexico, Tetzcoco?, Aztec, Post-Classic Period - Figure of a Warrior - 1984.37 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|thumb|327x327px|Gold-silver-copper alloy figure of an Aztec warrior, who holds a dartthrower, darts, and a shield]]
'''Aztec warfare''' concerns the aspects associated with the [[military]] conventions, forces, [[weapon]]ry and strategic expansions conducted by the [[Mesoamerican chronology|Late Postclassic]] [[Aztec]] civilizations of [[Mesoamerica]], including particularly the [[military history]] of the [[Aztec Triple Alliance]] involving the [[city-state]]s of [[Tenochtitlan]], [[Texcoco (Aztec site)|Texcoco]], [[Tlacopan]] and other allied [[polity|polities]] of the central Mexican region. This united the Mexica, Apulteca, and Chichimeca people through marriages.

The Aztec armed forces were typically made up of a large number of [[commoner]]s (''yāōquīzqueh'' {{IPA|nah|jaː.oːˈkiːskeʔ|}}, "those who have gone to war") who possessed extensive military training, and a smaller but still considerable number of highly professional warriors belonging to the nobility (''[[Pipiltin|pīpiltin]]'' {{IPA|nah|piːˈpiɬtin|}}) and who were organized into warrior societies and ranked according to their achievements. The Aztec state's primary purpose was political expansion and dominance of and exaction of tribute from other city-states, a purpose that relied on constant warfare. [[Aztec society]] was also centered on [[war]]fare: every Aztec male received basic military training from an early age and one of the few possible opportunities of upward [[social mobility]] for commoners (''[[Macehualtin|mācehualtin]]'' {{IPA|nah|maːseˈwaɬtin|}}) was through military achievement, especially the taking of captives (''māltin'' {{IPA|nah|ˈmaːɬtin|}}, singular ''malli'').<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Carrasco |first1=Pedro |title=The Civil-Religious Hierarchy in Mesoamerican Communities: Pre-Spanish Background and Colonial Development |journal=American Anthropologist |date=1961 |volume=63 |issue=3 |pages=483–497 |doi=10.1525/aa.1961.63.3.02a00020 |jstor=667723 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/667723 |issn=0002-7294}}</ref> Thus only specifically chosen men served in the military. The [[Human sacrifice in Aztec culture|sacrifice]] of [[Prisoner of war|war captives]] was an important part of many of the Aztec religious festivals. Warfare was thus the main driving force of both Aztec economy and [[Aztec religion|religion]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brumfiel |first=Elizabeth |title=Chapter 11 Aztecs hearts and minds Empires: in Perspective from archaeology and history |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2001}}</ref>