9781422286838

Ancient Land with a Fascinating Past: The History of Mexico

failures may have led the population to turn on its leaders and destroy religious sites. From A . D . 900 to the arrival of the Spanish early in the 16th century, war was a constant feature of Mexican culture. While priests and other religious leaders had ruled earlier cultures, military kings began to take control of the various groups of Indians. The different groups struggled among themselves for control of the land and people. The Toltecs were the next tribe to establish a large empire in Mexico. Between A . D . 900 and 1200, the Toltecs controlled land from Hidalgo north to Zacatecas, south to Guatemala, and east to the pyramids of Chichén Itzá. An uneasy peace existed between the Zapotecs and Mixtecs of Oaxaca, the Tarascans of Michoacán, and the Huastecs of northeast Mexico. The capital city of their empire was Tula, in the present-day state of Hidalgo.

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Ruins of a ball court in the Mayan city of Uxmal. The ancient people of Mesoamerica played a ballgame that required players to put the ball through a stone hoop to score. The games were often part of a larger ritual that probably included human sacrifice.