The Tarascan state is a state in pre-Columbian Mexico, roughly covering the geographic area of the present-day Mexican state of Michoacán, parts of Jalisco, and Guanajuato.
At the time of the Spanish conquest, it is the second-largest state in Mesoamerica.
The state is founded in the early fourteenth century and loses its independence to the Spanish in 1530.
In 1543 it officially becomes the governorship of Michoacán, from the Nahuatl name for the Tarascan state, Michoacán ("place of those who have fish").The Tarascan state is constituted of a network of tributary systems and gradually becomes increasingly centralized, under the control of the ruler of the state, called the cazonci.
The Tarascan capital is located at Tzintzuntzan on the banks of Lake Pátzcuaro, and, according to Purépecha oral tradition, had been founded by the first cazonci Tariácuri and dominated by his lineage, the "Uacúsecha" ("Eagles" in Purépecha language).The Tarascan state is contemporary with and an enemy of the Aztec Empire, against which it fights many wars.
The Tarascan state blocks Aztec expansion to the northwest, and the Tarascans fortify and patrol their frontiers with the Aztecs, possibly developing the first truly territorial state of Mesoamerica.Due to its relative isolation within Mesoamerica, the Tarascan state has many cultural traits completely distinct from those of the Mesoamerican cultural group.
It is particularly noteworthy for being among the few Mesoamerican civilizations to use metal for tools and ornamentation, and even weapons.
