INDIAN KING, DRAWN FROM CLAVIGERO, RAMIREZ MS., AND FATHER DURAN.
The Toltec soldiers wore a quilted cotton tunic that fitted closely to the body and protected also the shoulders and thighs; their offensive weapons consisted of spears, light javelins, and clubs studded with steel, silver, or gold nails. They used a copper currency, which a short while ago was still found among the Tutupecans.[70]
These quotations, which might be multiplied, clearly prove that the Toltecs migrated south, following the coasts of both oceans; that they ceased to exist as a nation after the disruption of their empire; but that their scattered remnants carried on the work of civilisation in Central America, on the high plateaux, and in Anahuac; evidenced in the strong resemblance that the civilisations of these various regions bear to one another.
We will close this chapter with a few words about the Chichemecs, who occupied the valley after the Toltecs. Their emperor Xolotl made Tenayuca, to the west of Lake Texcuco, his capital, and despatched four chiefs, with a strong escort, to explore the country in every direction. They were absent four years, and in their report (1124) they stated that they had met with some Toltecs in the region formerly held by them; but that the greater proportion had founded important colonies in the far-off provinces of Tehuantepec, Guatemala, Tecocotlan, and Tabasco. Nopaltzin, the son of this emperor, sent likewise emissaries from Teotihuacan, whose report was to the effect that they had found a few Toltecs scattered in five different places, who told them of their hardships, adding that most of their fellow-citizens had gone farther west and south.
From these quotations it is clearly seen that the date of the oldest edifices in Tabasco cannot be anterior to the beginning of the twelfth century;[71] that Toltec influence was felt simultaneously on the high plateaux and in Central America, shown by the flourishing small Toltec state of Colhuacan, where King Architometl (1231) had revived those arts and sciences his ancestors had initiated, and which, since their extermination, had fallen into utter decay. This king succeeded so well in his enlightened policy that his country became an intelligent centre, which proved so beneficial to the barbarous Chichemecs.
Nopaltzin, following the example of Xolotl, compelled those of his subjects who still lived in caverns to build houses, live in communities, cultivate the land, and feed on prepared viands. He invited jewellers and lapidaries from Colhuacan to teach his people, instituting prizes for those who became proficient in mechanical arts, and also for those who made astrology, historical paintings, and the deciphering of ancient manuscripts their particular study.[72] And, lastly, in the closing words of Veytia’s account, he says: “Among the documents I possess for the completion of my work are several bearing on the Mexicans. I found no difficulty in reading the paintings and maps; but although they are systematically classified as regards events posterior to their arrival in the valley, it is very different with their antiquities, their origin, and their wanderings; their documents relating to this period being more rare and obscure than those of the Toltecs.”[73]
Having proved, and we think we have proved, the diffusion of Toltec arts and industries among the primitive populations of America, we will proceed to Teotihuacan.
MURAL PAINTING OF TOLTEC HOUSE. (See p. [105], Toltec House.)