Mongols vs. Aztecs Comparison Essay

Starting as a small nomadic group, the Mongols were able to build up a great empire that was feared by most. The group lasted from 1206-1368 and ranged from Southeast Asia to Eastern Europe. Originally called the Mexica, the Aztecs, arrived in Mexico in the mid-1200s. The Aztecs spoke Nahuatl and had their capital city of Tenochtitlan. Both started in the same time period and had many similarities as well as differences. The two empires were similar in some ways; they treated their women and children similarly.
Therefore, The Aztecs and the Mongols were more similar than they were different. The Aztecs and Mongols were different on the basis of religion. For example, the Mongols were accepting of all religions and the Aztecs sacrificed people. They also had different foundations, with the Mongols being nomads and the Aztecs baing agriculturally based. Therefore, The Aztecs and the Mongols were more similar than they were different.
The women in both Mongol and Aztecs societies were treated much better than women in other civilizations at the time. Even though Aztec women couldn’t engage in combat, the could own land, remarry, and divorce their husbands. Women owning land was basically unheard of at this time, this meant that in comparison to most other societies, Aztec women were more equal to Aztec men. Mongol women, unlike women from other societies, were taught how to fight just in case the Mongols were attacked and they were needed. They were expert horseback riders and knew how to shoot bows. Women also participated in family decisions and did heavy labor just like men did.

They dismantled the yurts, which were tents in which the pastoral nomads lived, and milked the animals to make butter and cheese. The young boys in Mongol society started to ride from a very young age. They started riding goats and then advanced to small stocky ponies. The young boys learned to use a bow, and then eventually small battle axes for close combat. As they grew up they participated in battle until they were fully integrated into society. Aztec boys’ hands were wrapped around a tiny bow and arrow to symbolize that they would become a warrior when they grew up. Both societies also gave respect to their young children. By not casting them aside and waiting for the young boys to grow up, they wisely taught the boys that fighting would happen and that it was a very normal thing.
The Aztecs’ religion was mostly based on one thing, sacrifice to their gods. The Aztecs believed blood to be the purest and most precious thing that they could offer to their gods. When they engaged in battle, they would capture prisoners of war to bring back to their temples so they could be sacrificed. If they stopped offering blood to the gods, the Aztecs believed that the world would end. Of course, this isn’t true, but they had no way of knowing this. Out of fear, they kept killing people and giving their blood to the gods to keep the world working. The Mongols, on the other hand, did not think this.
They were accepting of all religions and practices as long as the people paid them. The demanded a small tax in order to let people continue their religious actions. In the end, they converted to shamanism with their leader being a shaman or a religious expert who was believed to be able to communicate with the gods. This conversion didn’t necessarily mean that all the others practicing religions converted as well, but many did.
The Mongols started off as a small group of nomads, which are groups of people who move from place to place in search of food, water, and pasture for their animals, usually following seasons, who lived in the grasslands, also known as the steppe. The wore furs and skins of animals and ate mostly animal products. Eventually, they settled down and created an empire that overpowered and destroyed so many others, by