Subject States and Tribute Provinces: The Aztec Empire in the Northern Valley of Mexico

AbstractThe Aztec empire was composed of at least two kinds of entities, subject states and tribute provinces, and these were administered through at least two separate hierarchies. Imperial tribute, which was extracted from the common people, was not delivered through the same channels as those through which subject rulers interacted with their imperial overlords. This arrangement enabled the latter to deal with the subject rulers not as tribute-givers, but as allies and colleagues, while extracting a heavy tribute from their commoner subjects. In the core area of the Aztec empire, which included the northern Valley of Mexico, the boundaries of the subject states and tribute provinces did not coincide, and this contributed to the economic and political integration of the core area. The tribute provinces consisted only of those communities within a region that gave tribute to the empire, and the elimination of such obligations after the Spanish conquest effectively liquidated the tribute provinces.