Aztec

The Aztecs were a group of people who ruled the aptly named Aztec Empire. The Aztec empire occupied most of Mexico, from around Aguascalientes to Guatemala. They were very famous warriors until they got their collective butts kicked by a band of desperate spaniards who had their ships burnt by Hernan Cortez, their leader. They also had horses, gunpowder and metallic armor, so that helped. :-)
That bloody mess was the birth of today's Mexico.

A cute thing is the Aztecs called themselves the Mexica. The Aztecs were a name the other tribes used to refer to this bloody, aggressive empire at its peak (just as the Spanish were.)

Keep in mind the Spanish could not have won as easily without the help of diseases such as Smallpox and the other tribes.

Az"tec (?), a.

Of or relating to one of the early races in Mexico that inhabited the great plateau of that country at the time of the Spanish conquest in 1519.

n.

One of the Aztec race or people.

© Webster 1913.