American Civilizations

- The Toltecs arose to power around 900.

The Toltec capital was Tula. The Toltecs built pyramids and temples and carved tall pillars in the shape of armed warriors.  The Toltecs were warlike people whose empire was based on conquest. They worshipped a fierce war god who demanded human sacrifice and bloo. However, sometime after 1000, Topiltzin, a Toltec ruler, tried to change the Toltec religion. He tried to end human sacrifice and encouraged the people to worship Quetzalcoatl, a different god from their current one. Followers of the war god rebelled, which could have led to the Toltec decline. This forced Topiltzin and his followers into exile on the Yucatán Peninsula. After the exile, Toltec power began to decline. By the early 1200s, their reign ended. However, even though the Toltecs, themselves, were gone, they left behind a legend of Quetzalcoatl that would haunt another civilization in the Valley of Mexico, the Aztecs.