Tepanec people

The Tepanecs, or Tepaneca, had arrived in the Valley of Mexico in the late twelfth or early thirteenth centuries.

Welcomed to the Valley of Mexico by Xolotl, the god with associations to both lightning and death, the Tepanecs, as well as the Acolhua and other tribes speaking the Nahuatl language and sharing the same general pantheon, with local and tribal variations, have settled on the west shores of Lake Texcoco.

Under their tlatoani, Acolnahuacatl, the Tepanec had taken over Azcapotzalco from the indigenous inhabitants.

Azcapotzalco and ...

…Culhuacan on the south shore are the two most powerful of the many city-states in the Valley of Mexico.

Culhuacan, by tradition founded by the Toltecs under Mixcoatl as the first Toltec city, had survived the fall of Tollan in the late twelfth century and maintained their prestige.

Others city-states of the Valley of Mexico are Chalco, …

…Tlacopan, and …

…Xochimilco.

The Xochimilcas, who had penetrated into the heart of Mesoamerica, had established the ceremonial center of Cuailama in the tenth century (today Santa Cruz Acalpixca).

A number of pre-Hispanic hieroglyphs in the nearby mountain range have been found which are believed to be related to ceremonial rituals.

Xochimilcas, whose territory includes the Xochimilco lake shore and the isles of Tláhuac and Mixquic towards the mountain range of Ajusco-Chichinauhtzin.

The Xochimilcas are the probable founders of the city of Xochimilco and inventors of the chinampa, possibly as an improvement to a technique previously introduced by the Nahuatlacas tribes.

Often referred to as "floating gardens," chinampas are stationary artificial islands that use small, rectangle-shaped areas of fertile arable land to grow crops on the shallow lake beds in the Valley of Mexico.

Azcapotzalco, the capital of the Tepanec empire, founded in the thirteenth century in the west of Lake Texcoco, had maintained a dominant hegemony with the Aztecs, who had arrived in 1299, settling on the Chapultepec Hill.

At Acolnahuacatl's death, his son Tezozomoc, has taken his place.

An extraordinary warrior-commander with a genius for political intrigue, he will forge the first major statelike society in the Basin of Mexico since the decline of Teotihuacán.

During the long reign of Tezozomoc, who may be the most important and crucial post-classical period figure, Azcapotzalco will reach its greatest splendor.

The Mexica are by the late fourteenth century paying tribute to Tepanec ruler Tezozomoc, principally in the form of warrior formations that participate in campaigns of conquest under Tepanec command.

The Tepanecs of Azcapotzalco had soon expelled the Mexica from Chapultepec.

In 1299, Culhuacan ruler Cocoxtli had given them permission to settle in the empty barrens of Tizapan, where they were eventually assimilated into Culhuacan culture.

In 1323, the Mexica had been shown a vision of an eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus, clutching a snake in its talons, as an indication that this was the location where they were to build their home.

In any event, the Mexica had eventually arrived on a small swampy island in Lake Texcoco where they had founded the town of Tenochtitlan in 1325.

In 1376, the Mexica had elected their first Huey Tlatoani, Acamapichtli, who was living in Texcoco at the time.

For the past twenty years, the Mexica have been a tributary of Azcapotzalco, which has become a regional power, perhaps the most powerful since the Toltecs, centuries earlier.

Tezozomoc, the Tepanec ruler of Azcapotzalco, has reigned since the 1370s.

According to the The Crónica Mexicayotl, a chronicle of the Aztec empire written in the Nahuatl language by Fernando Alvarado Tezozómoc around 1598, Tezozomoc had made all five of his sons tlatoque (rulers), installing Aculnahuacatl Tzaqualcatl at Tlacopan, Quaquapitzahuac at Tlatelolco, Epcoatl at Atlacuihuayan, Tzihuactlayahuallohuatzin at Tiliuhcan, and Maxtla at Coyoacan, a major center of trade on the southern shore of Lake Texcoco.

The Otomi-speaking Acolhua, with Tepanec help, had expelled Chichimecs from Texcoco in or about 1337, and Texcoco had become the Acolhua capital city, taking over that role from Coatlinchan.

Techotlalatzin, the son of Quinatzin II, is the first ruler of the Acolhua to actively adopt the prevailing culture of the Valley of Mexico, including the Nahuatl language.

Techotlalatzin has been able to build a small Acolhua-dominated domain on the eastern side of Lake Texcoco, although this domain is apparently under the influence or even loose control of the Tepanec empire of his contemporary, Tezozomoc of Azcapotzalco.

The Tepanac ruler, Tezozomoc, allows Mexica troop levies to wage war on their own and to enjoy an income of tribute progress as endeavors progress with the kingdom.

Tezozomoc, a son of Acolnahuacatzin and Cuetlaxochitzin, has several sons, all of whom he makes rulers: Aculnahuacatl Tzaqualcatl, of Tlacopan; Quaquapitzahuac, of Tlatelolco; Epcoatl, of Atlacuihuayan; Tzihuactlayahuallohuatzin, of Tiliuhcan; Maxtla, of Coyoacán.

He had approved the choice of King Huitzilihuitl in 1403 and given him his daughter Ayauhcihuatl in marriage, notwithstanding the opposition of his son Maxtla.

He had declared war against the king of Texcoco, Techotlalatzin, and being defeated sued for peace; but after the latter's death he had continued the war against his successor, Ixtlilxochitl I, whom he defeats and assassinates in 1419, usurping the crown of Texcoco.