The fall of Aztec

The fall of Aztec

On the 17th, a 26-year-old American man named John Allen Chau landed on North Sentinel Island in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of the Indian Ocean and was killed by an arrow shot by a tribal people who had been living on this island for nearly 60,000 years. There is a hot debate around the world over this incident.

The people of this island are one of the few tribes living on the planet and living in a civilized world. Since the 18th century, a large number of outsiders went to North Sentinel Island to contact the residents, but every time the residents resisted with firing arrows.

In 1956, the Indian government banned foreigners from entering the island within 5 nautical miles, in order to guarantee their right to life and preserve their culture. So Chow's death is a tragedy, but the act he entered into the island itself is obviously illegal. The testimony that Chow did not simply go to North Sentinel Island to seek adventure, but to go to Christian missions to the tribes also stirred up controversy.

The government of India is in the process of thinking about how to deal with Chow 's body. Human rights groups claim that "outsiders should not go to North Sentinel Island to search for bodies without tribal consent." This tribe is estimated to be between 50 and 150 people. People who have lived without contact with the outside world have been suffering from the viruses of outsiders who are approaching outsiders. In fact, there was such an example in history.

◇ The empire of gold spreading from 'where God rests'

In the 15th and 16th centuries, the Mexican territory now has a country called 'Aztec' or 'Asteca'. The Aztecs called themselves "Mexica" and built a water city connecting the islands of Lake Texaco in central Mexico. It is the big city of Tenochititlan, which means "where the gods dwell".

Tenochititlan boasted a size that was no different from any city in Europe at the time. Although the techniques of handling metals were not developed, they used stone and wood, but they had a very high level of astronomical knowledge. That's why I used a calendar that does not make a big difference from my current calendar.

They used to sacrifice the heart of man to the sun god. I believed that the sun god lives on human heart and blood. So, every time there was a big event in the country, I sacrificed a lot of people who resisted Aztec to thank God. I used to plunder the surrounding area to get captives and tribute for sacrifice.

◇ Spanish conqueror with God face

Meanwhile, across Europe from the Atlantic Ocean, the competition to win the New World was in full swing. Among them, Spain built colonies in many places, including Cuba, with strong military power. One of the conquerors to explore the New World was Hernán Cortés (Cortés, 1485-1547). He is rumored that "the South American natives have a lot of gold," and he goes to conquer the Aztec empire with hundreds of ships and hundreds of soldiers armed with guns and cannons.

The expedition went through many Aboriginal villages while on the way to Tenochititlan. Indigenous peoples attacked strange expeditions and, on the other hand, gave way peacefully. Some tribes then offered sacrifices for humanitarian service to the Aztec Empire, so they supported the expedition of Cortes who defeated Aztec. Veracruz, now a metropolis in Mexico, is a city founded by expeditions with the help of Aboriginal people.

The expedition defeated the army of the Aztec empire, arrived at the capital, and demanded gold to host Aztec emperor Montesuma II (Moctezuma, 1466-1520) as hostage. But the Aztec warriors fought back and Cortez escaped with a few men.

An epidemic of death in the New World

Successfully escaping, Cortes took the Spanish reinforcements and prepared for the war against the Aztec Empire. At this time, however, the epidemic begins to spread in Aztec Empire. It was presumed to be smallpox. In the old continent, such as Europe, there was an epidemic that had already happened many times, so the people of the expedition did not have a big blow. However, the people of the New World who are suffering from smallpox for the first time died because of lack of immunity. One of them was the Emperor Cuitlāhuac (1476-1520), who succeeded Montesuma II.

Before the arrival of the Cortes expedition, the Aztec empire and the surrounding tribes population estimated to have reached 20 million. But in 1618, about 100 years after the death of Kuitira Raq, the population of Aboriginal people plummeted to 1.6 million.

The people of the expedition are fine even when the epidemic is back, but because the Aztec people are falling, the Aztec people's morale has dropped greatly. In the following year (1521), when the Quitlauid emperor died, the capital city of Tenochititlan was taken down by the expedition, and the last emperor Cuauhtémoc (1495-1521) was captured by the expedition. The expedition said that they had given the treasure hidden away, and they had tortured the last emperor. The young emperor ends his life hanging on to the end of the treasure.

The Aztec empire was large in population and abundant in materials, so it was not an easy opponent who could easily break down Western expeditions with firearms. However, the end of the collapse and the impact of the epidemic. Since the exchange between the old world and the new world has increased, the new world has gradually become immune to the infectious disease.