How did the Aztec Empire grow and become powerful?

Soon after the Aztecs arrived in the Valley of Mexico in the A.D. 1100s, they controlled all the land in central Mexico between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean, all within 100 years.

The Aztecs were such a powerful civilization that they conquered many lands because they were so warlike. Tenonchtitlan, their city, was a very peaceful place, but the Aztecs themselves were a warlike people.