According to Ancient history Encyclopedia
“An empire is a political construct in which one state dominates over another state, or a series of states. At its heart, an empire is ruled by an emperor, even though many states in history without an emperor at their head are called "empires".
At its core, an empire is the domination of one state by another.”
The Comanche epitomized domination over others by driving out the Apache, and continuous raids on Spaniards and Mexicans. The Comanche became an empire by being effective equestrians, raiders, and effective use of European technology.
“A major backbone of the Comanche are horses and equestrianism. But beneath that mechanic advantage lay a more elemental one: horses were a conduit for channeling the sun’s energy. Horses converted plant life into immediately available muscle power, saving their masters a crucial step in their endless quest for energy. When Comanches embraced full-time equestrianism, they harnessed, more directly than anyone before, the vast pool of solar energy stored in the plains grasses for human use. So appealing was this new solar economy that Comanches drastically downsized their age-old gathering economy.”(Hamaleinen, 180)
Horses were a large part of the reason they could minimize their impact on bison population. The Comanche could carry large quantities of dried meat and efficiently hunt bison. Comanche only hunted only twice a year: in early summer and in late. Horses were a major resource due to them being useful for war, trade and transporting goods. The horse was useful for trade because they could trade horses for European weapons. The horse played a major role in raiding which