The POLITICAL organization of the Toltecs

Politics have always been a key factor in any society, it is very important to know the organization of living to understand how ancient civilizations worked. One of the great Mesoamerican civilizations were the Toltecs, always one of the peoples who most influenced the later Aztec empire. To know in depth the politics of these towns, in this lesson from a Teacher we are going to learn What was the political organization of the Toltecs like?.

Index

1. The society of the Toltecs
2. How was society divided in Toltec culture?
3. The political life of the Toltecs

The toltec culture It was an important civilization in the cultural area known as Mesoamerica, being one of the most relevant towns in the region. The Mesoamerican area is known as one of the most important cultural areas in the history of humanity, being a small area in which people as important as the Mayan culture or the important empire existed. Aztec.

Placing them chronologically, we must say that the time of greatest importance of the Toltecs was in what is known as

One of the most interesting facts about the Toltecs is that they were one of the most important military cultures in the Mesoamerican area, being one of the first peoples who considered the military factor more important than the religious one. Obviously this affected his way of seeing politics, with people who dedicated themselves to war having a lot of relevance in it.

One of the most important elements when talking about the political organization of the Toltecs is to comment on their power structure, since it is key to see the different positions that existed and understand what role each group of people had in power.

The Toltec form of government was monarchical and militaristic, That is to say, the head of the civilization was a king, who, in addition, was very attached to military life. Like all Mesoamerican civilizations they also had a theocratic form of government, so the religion of the toltecs It was very important in the way of governing, and a series of rules had to be followed.

• He head of the power structure of the Toltecs was the king, chosen from among the best soldiers, being an important military leader who had won numerous battles. The figure of the king was very linked to religion, so sometimes the Toltec kings even received the name of gods.
• Below the king was the military aristocracy, important war leaders of Toltec society, known for their great victories on the battlefield. This aristocracy had an important role in decision-making, and were possible replacements if the king died. It was common for some of these military leaders to govern over small regions conquered by them, with considerable autonomy from the king.
• Below the military ruling class were the priests, which at first did not have much power, but over the years they gradually became more relevant in the Toltec political field. The priests had a special importance in the administrative area, being something that the military leaders were not interested in, and that therefore the priests took care of to have greater power.

To continue with this lesson about what the political organization of the Toltecs was like, we must talk about political activity.

The political life of the Toltecs encompassed different elements, but the main one was that of military life, since the main political activity of the Toltecs was plan possible attacks to other nations, in their quest to conquer all possible territories.

Linked to this were political activities aimed at the economy, since the Toltecs understood that they must have a strong economy if they wanted to maintain a good way of life. Even so, economic activities were closely linked to war activities, since the Toltecs They considered that conquering other regions gave them the possibility of more land and more labour.

For all this, most of the politicians were the military, being the ones who best understood how the conquests worked and being the ones who planned the numerous political movements aimed at taking the nearby regions. Next to them were the priests, whose political activity focused on administering the new territories that were being conquered.

If you want to read more articles similar to What was the political organization of the Toltecs like?, we recommend that you enter our category of History.

• Armillas, P. (1950). Teotihuacán, Tula and the Toltecs. The post-archaic and pre-Aztec cultures of central Mexico. Excavations and studies, 1922-1950. RUNA, archive for the sciences of man, 3.
• Navarrete, F. (2011). Chichimecas and Toltecs in the Valley of Mexico. Nahuatl culture studies, 42, 19-50.
• Seneff, A. R. (1994). Ethnocentrism and Toltec Chichimeca History. Nahuatl Culture Studies, 24, 125-137.