Meanwhile the exiles from Huehue Tlapallan were tarrying at Tulancingo, where they had arrived toward the end of the seventh century,[IV-7] and where—contrary to the advice of their prophet Hueman, if we may credit the tradition—weary with their long wanderings, they lived from sixteen to twenty years in a house which they built sufficiently large to accommodate them all. During their stay they sent out parties to make settlements in the adjoining territory, as had been their custom wherever they had stopped in their long migration. Finally they listened to the counsels of the venerable Hueman, and, still under the command of their seven chiefs, transferred their home to Xocotitlan on the river Quetzalatl, since called Tula, Tullanatl, or Montezuma, where they founded the city of Tollan,[IV-8] where now stands the little village of Tula, about thirty miles north-west of the city of Mexico. According to Brasseur the Otomí city that stood here before the coming of the Toltecs was called Mamhéni. It cannot be supposed that the Otomís yielded up their fertile valley to the strangers without a struggle; but the relation of this struggle like that of many a subsequent one in which the Toltecs must have engaged in order to establish and maintain their power, seems to have been intentionally omitted in the native annals as recorded by the Spanish writers.
During the first six years of their stay in the valley of the Quetzalatl, the Toltecs gave their attention to the building of the new city, and the careful cultivation of the surrounding lands; at least such is the account given by Ixtlilxochitl and those who have followed him; but, according to Brasseur's interpretation, they spent the six years in the conquest of the province and siege of the ancient city which they re-named Tollan. Up to this time the exiles from Huehue Tlapallan had lived under the command of the rebel princes Chalcaltzin and Tlacamihtzin with their five companions acting as chiefs of the different families,[IV-9] but all acting under the directions of Hueman the prophet. The great age attributed to both prophet and chiefs, who for over a century at the least had directed the wanderings of their people, does not, of course merit serious discussion, since it cannot be literally accepted. The most natural, yet a purely conjectural, interpretation of the tradition is that a line or family of chieftains is represented by its founder or by its most famous member; and that by Hueman is to be understood the powerful priesthood that ruled the destinies of the Toltecs, from the earliest days to the fall of their empire. The government was a theocratic republic, each chief directing the movements of his band in war and, so far as such direction was needed, in peace, but all yielding, through fear of the gods or veneration for their representatives, implicit obedience to the counsels of their spiritual leader in all matters of national import. But in the seventh year after their arrival in Tollan, when the republic was yet in a state of peace and prosperity, undisturbed by foreign or internal foes, the chiefs convened an assembly of the heads of families and the leading men. The object of the meeting was to effect a change in the form of their government, and to establish a monarchy. The motive of the leaders, as represented by the tradition, was a fear of future disturbances in a commonwealth governed by so many independent chieftains. They recommended the election of an absolute monarch, offering to surrender their own power and submit to the rule of whatever king the people might choose. The members of the convention acquiesced in the views of the chieftains, and approved the proposed change in their form of government. An election being next in order, a majority expressed their preference for one of the seven chiefs to occupy the new throne.
A MONARCHY ESTABLISHED.
At this stage of the proceedings Hueman addresses the meeting; though entertaining the highest opinion of the character, ability, and patriotism of the candidates proposed, he deems it his duty to oppose their election. He reminds the people that the main object of the proposed change was to secure a peaceable and independent possession of their new country; that the Chichimecs had pursued and already caused them much trouble; that much was to be feared from their confirmed hostility; that their foes were not far distant, and would very likely invade the country at no very distant day. He recommended as the most efficient means of avoiding future strife, that an embassy with rich presents be sent to the Chichimec monarch, asking for a son or other near relative who should be crowned king of the Toltecs. An express stipulation must, however, be required on the part of the Chichimec king that the Toltecs should ever be a perfectly free and independent people, owing no allegiance whatever to the Chichimecs, although the two powers would enter into an alliance for mutual defense and assistance. The advice of the aged and venerated counsellor was of course accepted without objection; in fact, as pictured by the Spanish writers, Toltec history is for the most part but a record of sage counsels of wise rulers cheerfully acquiesced in by an appreciative and obliging people. Ambassadors of the highest rank, laden with gifts of value, were dispatched by the shortest routes to the court of Huehue Tlapallan—notwithstanding the implied vicinity of some Chichimec nations—where Icauhtzin[IV-10] occupied the throne. The mission was entirely successful. The second son of the king, still a young man, whose name in his own country is unknown, was with the required stipulations, brought back by the embassy and crowned at Tollan under the name of Chalchiuh Tlatonac,[IV-11] 'shining precious stone.'
The young king, by reason of his fine personal appearance, his character, intelligence and amiability, seems to have greatly pleased from the first the people over whom he was called to rule. The events related above, the settlement at Tollan and the connection of the first king, must be attributed to the first quarter of the eighth century, between 710 and 720.[IV-12] Immediately after the accession of the young monarch, a law was established by him and his counsellors to the effect that no king should reign more than fifty-two years, but at the expiration of this term should abdicate in favor of his eldest son,[IV-13] whom he might, however, still serve as adviser. Should the king die before the allotted time had elapsed, it was provided that the state should be ruled during the unexpired term by magistrates chosen by the people. In addition to the inherent improbability of such extraordinary legislation, it should be noted that subsequent events, even as related by Ixtlilxochitl, do not in all cases agree with it. Its meaning can only be conjectured; it is noticeable, however, that the time allotted to each reign was exactly a cycle of fifty-two years, and it is not altogether unlikely that a custom prevailed of alluding in the pictured annals to each cycle by the name of the most famous king whose reign fell within the period. The next event, and the only one particularly recorded in the reign of Chalchiuh Tlatonac, was his marriage. Realizing the importance of providing for heirs that the dynasty might be perpetuated, he left the choice of a wife entirely to his subjects, much to their satisfaction, as indicating a desire on the part of royalty to please the people. The choice fell upon a beautiful daughter of Acapichtzin. The latter had himself been a favorite candidate for royal honors when a kingdom was first proposed, and was thus rewarded by seeing his daughter raised to the dignity of first Toltec queen. The Olmec, Xicalanca, and other Toltec nations had voluntarily given their allegiance to the monarch of Tollan, who reigned long and prosperously for fifty-two years, when he died and was buried in the chief temple in 7 Acatl, or about 771 A.D.[IV-14]
THE KINGDOM OF TOLLAN.
Thus in the record preserved by the Spanish writers, all participation in the new monarchy by other Chichimec Toltec tribes than those in and about Tollan, is altogether ignored. The Olmecs and other pre-Toltec nations are represented as having voluntarily offered their allegiance, new towns founded by colonists sent out from Tollan and Tulancingo became of course tributary to the new kingdom, and it is even admitted that powerful Chichimec nations were established not far distant, and were regarded with some anxiety in view of probable future events until the danger was averted by the selection of a Chichimec prince as king, and the consequent transformation of their rivals into allies. The absence of any further mention of these allied and friendly nations throughout the whole period of Toltec history is certainly most extraordinary, and might be sufficient in itself to arouse a suspicion that in the records from which this account was drawn the kingdom of Tollan was given unmerited prominence, while its allies and rivals were intentionally denied their share in the glories of the Toltec empire. This suspicion seems to be to a considerable extent confirmed by the two Nahua documents already referred to.[IV-15] These authorities relate substantially the same course of events as the others, and refer them to approximately the same date; they tell us of the original theocratic republic ruled by independent chieftains who were subordinate to a central sacerdotal power; the determination finally reached to adopt a monarchical form of government; and the choice of a king, who does not seem to have been one of the tribal chieftains. But they attribute these acts to several more or less closely allied nations, of which that established at Tollan was only one, and not the chief. The sacerdotal supremacy attributed to the priesthood of Tollan under the name of Hueman, was really exercised by the priests of the sun at Teotihuacan; there were the deliberations held; and there probably did the first king receive the rites of coronation. The leading nation in Anáhuac at the time was that of the Chichimec Culhuas under Mixcohuatl Mazatzin; those at Tollan and Quauhtitlan, and perhaps others whose name has not been preserved, having been less powerful allies. The choice of the chiefs fell upon Nauhyotl, or Nauhyotzin, as the first Toltec king, and having been crowned probably at Teotihuacan, he established his capital at Culhuacan, then, as for a long time after the metropolis of Anáhuac, in 11 Calli, or 721 A.D. Of Nauhyotl's family and previous rank nothing is known. Whether he was a prince high in rank in a foreign land, identical with the Chalchiuh Tlatonac of Ixtlilxochitl, or, as Brasseur conjectures, sprung from the union of a native princess of the pre-Toltec tribes and a Chichimec Culhua chief, we have no means of determining. He was the first, so far as can be known, to assume the titles Tlatoani and Topiltzin,[IV-16] both of which endured to the time of the Conquest, the former signifying 'lord' or 'monarch,' and implying the highest rank in matters temporal, as the latter in matters spiritual, corresponding very nearly with that of 'pope' in Catholic countries. The close connection between church and state in all the Nahua nations has been frequently pointed out in this work; as the Abbé Brasseur says, "the empire and the priesthood were one, and the ritual was the base of the throne. In order to firmly establish the monarchy, and ensure the fruits of their conquests, the Toltecs must rule not only the bodies but the conscience of their subjects. Where persuasion and the imposing spectacle of religious ceremonies were of no avail, violence and terror were resorted to, and insensibly the peoples of Mexico adopted the civilization of their masters together with their superstitious rites."[IV-17]
KINGDOM OF QUAUHTITLAN.
In 725 Chicon Tonatiuh, assumed the title of Tlatoani and became king of Quauhtitlan, probably in some degree subordinate to the king at Culhuacan. The first mention by these authorities of a king in Tollan is to the effect that Mixcohuatl Mazatzin was called to that throne in 752. Meantime one of Mixcohuatl's sons, named Texcatlipocatl, afterwards deified as Tezcatlipoca, had founded the dominion of Tezcuco, and another son, named like his father Mixcohuatl, but better known and afterwards worshiped as Camaxtli, had continued the conquests of the Mixcohuas on the eastern plateau of Huitzilapan, or Tlascala.[IV-18] In 753 Chicon Tonatiuh, who had died two years before, was succeeded in Quauhtitlan by Xiuhnel; the new king was murdered soon after by his subjects, or as the tradition has it, was stabbed through the liver by a native woman in whose arms he was sleeping. A revolt followed, by which the Toltec power in that province was temporarily overthrown by the aboriginal inhabitants, whoever they may have been. In 767 Nauhyotl, king at Culhuacan, died and was succeeded by Totepeuh, identical with Mixcohua Camaxtli, also known as Nonohualcatl, and whose father was at the time reigning at Tollan. Early in the reign of Totepeuh a wide-spread war is vaguely reported as having been waged chiefly in the regions outside the valley. In this war the original inhabitants of the country, the Toltec tribes already settled there, and newly arrived Chichimec bands are vaguely mentioned as the combatants; Xochitzin, a beautiful princess possessed of supernatural powers, or at least holding communication with the gods and regarded as an oracle, was the prime mover in this war; Huactli was the most prominent leader, in full sympathy apparently with the Toltec sovereign; and at the end of the strife Huactli married Xochitzin and became king of the re-established dominion of Quauhtitlan in 804. Thirteen years later after a long reign Mixcohuatl Mazatzin, king of Tollan, died. He had been a very famous warrior, one of the most prominent of all the Toltec chieftains in Anáhuac, and was in after years worshiped as one of the gods of war.[IV-19] His successor was Huetzin, whom Brasseur conjectures to have been a son of the late king and identical with Tezcatlipoca.
THE TEOAMOXTLI, OR DIVINE BOOK.