WHI-Chap6/21-"tribute empire"
A "tribute empire" is one in which the ruling city or ruling government demands a tribute from the people they have conquered. A perfect example of a "tribute empire" is the Aztec empire.
The Aztecs created an alliance in their empire between them and the cities of Texcoco and Tlacopan. This alliance was to ensure that their new subjects paid the due tribute. Tribute was usually in the form of food crops and manufactured items like textiles, rabbit-fur blankets, embroidered clothes, and jewelry. Sometimes these annual obligations were incredibly oppressive towards the subject peoples, they had to produce so much that they had little time to produce goods for themselves. Through this tribute the capital controlled the people's activities and became incredibly wealthy.
T&E p.542
