History of ancient Mexico, Mesoamerica Toltec, Maya, Aztec, Olmec, Zapotec history

mesoamerica is a historical and cultural region mostly located within modern-day Mexico as well as El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Nicaragua and Bellies around 7,000 years ago farmers in this region became quite proficient in the cultivation and harvesting of corn which became the staple crop in the region they also farm chilies beans tomatoes squash and kokoa the Olmecs who were first discovered from their many large carved stone el matted heads they left behind we're the first to develop a written language in the Americas large cities pyramids ritual ballgames chocolate drinking in a complex calendar and pantheon of animal gods were all features of the Olmec culture which would be passed on the successor miss of American civilizations more than any other material object the Olmecs prized jade above all else they created expansive trading networks hundreds of miles to the north and south to obtain this precious mineral the Olmec civilization was destroyed in just a mysterious as a manner as they appeared a successor civilization maintaining their culture in a diminished fashion endured for several hundred more years in the northwest but as the Olmecs faded away several prominent civilizations began their ascent along the old Olmec trading network to the south the zapotec arose from a union of three distinct populations whom after waging war on each other for hundreds of years either banded together or united forcibly by one of these groups forming the basis of the zapotec empire on a mountaintop bust riding the three valleys a magnificent capital city was built at its height the Empire ruled over 1,000 cities and towns administered from 15 Palace complexes the Zapotecs developed an early calendar system and as many scholars have postulated the earliest glyphic script in the new world beginning possibly before 600 BC and directly related to all other major scripts in the region the zapotec stand out in Mesoamerican history has been the longest continuous civilization in the region their Empire's capital for well over a millennium fell into disuse and gradual abandonment after 1000 AD although their empire would deteriorate after a long period of intermittent decline in foreign domination they would continue to exist as a smaller Kingdom until the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century to the zapotec southeast the pre-classic Maya developed large urban cities monumental architecture a Mayan script and political institutions including divine kingship in contrast to the unity of the Zapotecs the Mayas would primarily compete with and wage war on other rival mine kingdoms to the north the city of Teotihuacan began to dominate beginning as a religious Center it attracted a flood of migrants from all over the region the metropolis had a staggering population of over a hundred thousand and perhaps as much as 250,000 making it one of the most populous cities on earth Etha time in contrast to nearly all ancient metropolis around the world the citizens of Teotihuacan enjoyed permanent stone dwellings often large spacious multifamily apartments among the city's population there were many foreign quarters in the city including a Zapotec district whom the Teotihuacan is appear to have enjoyed good relations with around 550 ad virtually all the temples atop the pyramids and palaces in the city were burnt and or destroyed although initially archaeologists had surmised this was due to a foreign invasion the fact that the rest of the stone houses where the city's vast population lived seems to have remained unscathed and inhabited for a few hundred more years seems to indicate that the destruction may have been caused by an internal mass uprising against the city's religious and political leadership as the Teotihuacan faded from history a tribe from the north moved to the same region initially appearing to be a vassal state of the teotihuacans and then they seem to have been involved with Terra Khan's eventual collapse they were the Toltecs this were like people founded a capital Tula they are not known as the builders of the greatest cities like the teotihuacans or the innovators like the Zapotecs are Olmecs but they should be known as perhaps the greatest conquerors of the Americas but back to them in a moment to the south as the Totti wa khan's fell so did the zapotec empire and they would be dominated by one of their vassal states the mix tanks and for centuries this highly populated area of Mesoamerica would be consumed by their rivalry as one would gain the upper hand and then the other in the east the pre-classic Maya suffered a Dark Age depopulation and the mysterious abandonment of their cities following this was a period where the emerging Maya states seem to have been under the influence of Teotihuacan who installed puppet rulers for a short time and then the Maya embarked upon a Golden Age of advancement in mathematics city planning and scientific achievement often compared to Renaissance Italy and classical Greece with multiple city-states engage in a complex network of alliances and enmities just as with classical Greece and Renaissance Italy a few powerful city-states were able to control the region and beyond during this period copán and Palenque remained independent and prosperous during this period but just as with Athens and Sparta Naples and Milan two dominant powers emerged in the classical Maya world calakmul the populist snake kingdom dominated the northern Mayan States while Tikal dominated the southern states their political economic and military means Tikal also found in it are sponsored several colonies over a widespread area to increase their influence in the region during the Classical Mayan most of the city-states were entangled in a network of alliances and marriages with either calakmul or tikal as the Maya built their cities and waged war on each other in the West the Toltecs were developing a society built around religious war a permanent standing army with different warrior castes was established their armies were disciplined drilled and highly trained forts Garrison's reserve units and supply depots would be hallmarks of toltec warfare that they used a great effect in conquering a swath of kingdoms city-states villages and towns throughout Mesoamerica near the beginning of the 10th century the semi-mythical leader of the Toltecs Kukulcan conquered the Yucatan Peninsula an extended toltec political influence over much of the Mayan world Toltec trading networks and culture spread far to the south and as far north as modern-day Arizona seventy years later the Toltecs lost control of the Yucatan and it descended in a widespread chaos famine and civil war and after a great famine which lasted seven years the Toltec influence further contracted for the next century the Toltecs were plagued with further cycles of famine civil war and widespread uprisings and in a grand finale of chaos the Toltec capital of tula was burned to the ground in 1122 after the collapse of the Toltecs there was a 60% decrease in the population in central Mexico after emerging from that period of chaos the Maya formed the League of my upon the new city-states that emerged to lead it were greatly diminished compared to the great cities of their classical Maya predecessors during the centuries following the collapse of the Toltec Empire many tribes moved from the north into central Mexico one of these was the Mexica according to legend they wandered the earth seeking an eagle with a snake in its beak perched on a prickly pear cactus wherever they saw this would be the sign for where their people would live in the early 14th century they found this sign on an island in Lake Texcoco here they built a magnificent capital city to at LAN with a massive population not seen since the Teotihuacan site this was a well-planned city with crisscross canals separating the marketplaces gardens plazas ball courts sprawling apartments and many temples the Mexica quickly gained control of the other city-states surrounding Lake Texcoco through alliances and conquest although the Aztec empire was initially conceived as and called the Triple Alliance the Mexica of Tenochtitlan quickly became dominant militarily and politically in the 14th century two other powerful states developed in the region the Tarasque ins another northern people who had migrated south and spoke at completely different dialect they quickly gained many allies and were seen as benevolent rulers the clack Scallon state arose which was a republic ruled by a Council of Chiefs which was drawn from all classes of society who had gained their position by service to the state usually through effectiveness and warfare over the next century and a half the Tarasque ins and the Mexico's empires would rapidly grow and they would be in a state of near constant war with one another in the East the Maia Confederation collapsed and the cities went into further decline and abandonment in the South the Zapotecs in the mixed ex finally got along with each other and such was the state in Mesoamerica when the Spaniards arrived in 1519 after landing Cortes or the ships to be scuttled so that the men would no there's no possibility of her treat only conquest and then moved inland there the Spaniards encountered the clock skeletons whom fought to a stalemate with them after three days of battle they were then able to negotiate a peace with the clocks Collins whom were thrilled to find out that the Spaniards were there to conquer the Mexica together with over a hundred thousand clocks called-- allies the Spaniards were able to conquer the Mexica the Spaniards were also aided by the fact that they had brought several diseases from the old world that the Mesoamericans had no immunity to and a Great Plague preceded them wherever they went after and during the conquest of Mexico and then the Yucatan Peninsula the conquistadors were horrified by the human sacrifice that was practiced and sought to wipe it out in all traces of the religion culture and history of Mesoamerica burning many thousands of books with only a small handful surviving till today and that is a brief history of ancient Mexico Mesoamerica region I wanted to focus a lot on the civilizations other than just the Aztec in classical Maya and show how they fit into the entire big picture of Mesoamerican history even then I was not able to cover many of the fascinating kingdoms and cities that existed in this area all too often there are only the Aztecs and the Maya that get covered which are very fascinating civilizations but by no means the only people shaping the history of this region my goal with this video is for you to get a big picture of the whole timeline of this region and if you find any little area or time period interesting then you could do more research from there one thing that makes this area of the world's history so exciting is that there's so much being discovered all the time here and new history is being brought to light almost every year now exciting times I also want to give a big thanks to all my patrons on patreon where you can support this channel and its content and I super appreciate each and every single one of you guys this has been a fami theas like and subscribe to the channel and hit the bell icon to see more videos like this in the future thanks [Applause]