To return to the conquests of Axayacatl, this king completed the reduction of the Toluca valley, and reconquered the region of Cotaxtla which had revolted, so that his successor Tizoc, who seems also to have sent an expedition to the Mixtec country, was able to lay claim to an empire extending over the valleys of Toluca and the Rio de las Balsas, and the highlands of Mixteca, Huaxteca, Orizaba, Cotaxtla and Teotitlan. Axayacatl died in 1469, and Tizoc in 1482, and Auitzotl became the Aztec ruler. He continued the strenuous foreign policy of his predecessors, and proved a vigorous conqueror, though he was passionate and often cruel in administration. His armies conquered many cities in the Zapotec country, including Mitla (1494), Teozapotlan (1495) and Tehuantepec, and after seizing Tonala, the key to the country further south and east, pursued their victorious course through Soconusco, via Mapaxtepec, Escuintla and Huiztla, as far as Huehuetlan. Other expeditions penetrated Chiapas, and even subdued certain cities in Guatemala. Probably however there was nothing like an effective occupation of the country beyond the city of Oaxaca, where a Mexican colony was established. In particular Chiapas can never be said to have been conquered. Still, in this reign the Aztec power reached its furthest extent, and the influence of Tenochtitlan was felt from the Panuco valley to northern Guatemala, and from Tuxpan to Acapulco. In the city itself Auitzotl completed the great pyramid-temple to Uitzilopochtli, the tribal god of the Aztec, which his predecessor had commenced, and also constructed an aqueduct which supplied water from Coyoacan. A severe inundation took place in his reign, and as he was escaping from the lower floor of a building which had become flooded, he struck his head against the lintel, causing an injury from which he eventually died. Montecuzoma, the second of that name, succeeded in the year 1502; Nezahualpilli was still ruling in Tezcoco, but Chimalpopoca of Tlacopan had died in 1489 and Totoquiuatzin the second was now the ruler there. Montecuzoma had been trained as a priest as well as a soldier, and though his military abilities enabled him to maintain the empire much in the same condition as he received it, he was particularly superstitious and amenable to sacerdotal influence. Abroad he quelled a rebellion among the Zapotec and Mixtec, and carried on operations in Soconusco and Vera Cruz. Nearer home he seized the opportunity of a quarrel between the Tlaxcalans and Uexotzinca to espouse the cause of the latter and to carry on a vigorous campaign against the former. For many years the Aztec had been able seriously to obstruct Tlaxcalan trade with the coast, so much so in fact that salt was a rarity in that province, but Montecuzoma made an energetic attack upon their territory. Undismayed, the Tlaxcalans fortified the approach to their dominions with a wall six miles long, and succeeded in withstanding the invasion and even in inflicting defeats upon their foes. Meanwhile Nezahualpilli, ruler of Tezcoco, died in 1515, and his son Cacamatzin was elected in his place. A younger son, Ixtlilxochitl, laid claim to the power and succeeded in attracting a number of supporters. He was still haunting the neighbouring mountains and carrying on a guerilla warfare with the confederate troops when the arrival of the Spaniards in 1519 brought the development of aboriginal American civilization to an abrupt close. Montecuzoma had emphasized the aristocratic aspect of Mexican government, and under him the court ceremonial had been greatly elaborated. He surrounded himself with a state, and the rich tribute which now poured into Tenochtitlan enabled him not only to undertake many important works for the beautifying of the city, but to model his personal service on a scale which surpasses even the “Arabian Nights.” The magnificent “calendar-stone,” figured on [Pl. VIII, 1], p. 74, was brought by him from Coyoacan to serve probably as a sacrificial altar to the sun in the enclosure of the great temple of Uitzilopochtli. He was a strong personality, and though his superstitious training led him to adopt a fatally hesitating policy when the Spaniards landed, he displayed under all circumstances a personal courage and dignity which lend additional pathos to his fate.
Of Zapotec and Mixtec history, apart from that of Mexico, we know practically nothing. We hear of a mythical Mixtec king named Dzahuindanda, who possessed a magic sack which he was wont to take to a desolate mountain and shake, after appropriate incantations, producing thereby as many soldiers as he required. Less legendary are the Zapotec Zociyoeza and his son Zociyopi, the former of whom ruled at Teozapotlan, the latter at Tehuantepec. Zociyoeza in fact opposed the Mexican advance, and held out against the invading troops for four years entrenched in Quiengola, until at last he was able to conclude an honourable peace. Between the Mixtec and Zapotec, hostilities seem to have been not uncommon, and from a story told by Burgoa it would appear that the Zapotec did not form a very large state. The principal ruler was the chief of Teozapotlan, but his resources could not have been great, since he asked a Mixtec king for troops to defend his city while he was absent upon a campaign against the Mixe in Tehuantepec. The same author relates that after being successful in his operations the chief rashly laid claim to certain Mixtec territory, a demand which resulted in the seizure by the Mixtec of a large slice of the Oaxaca region, and the founding of the Mixtec town of Xoxocotlan.
The history of the Pazcuaro plateau seems to have been very similar to that of the Mexican valley. Originally the shores of the lake were occupied by a population of agriculturists and fishers, probably akin to the pre-Toltec inhabitants around the lake of Tezcoco. Upon them descended, from the hills around Zacapu, certain tribes of wandering hunters led by a tribal hero Ticatamé. The new-comers mingled and intermarried with the original population and adopted their habits, but friction arose, Ticatamé was killed and the idol of the immigrants, Curicaveri, was captured. Sicuirancha, son of Ticatamé, called upon the god for aid, the foe were smitten with a pestilence and the idol recaptured. In course of time the immigrants became a ruling class, and to the whole population the name Tarascan was given, from Taras, another hunting-god who was identified with the Chichimec Mixcoatl. It is possible that this ruling class was originally of Chichimec stock, and its descent upon Pazcuaro was part of that general movement southward which took place among the hunting tribes of the north towards the end of the Toltec rule. If this is so they must have abandoned their own language in favour of the tongue of the original agricultural population with whom they intermarried. It is interesting to find in Michoacan a definite story of a Toltec immigration. A body of Toltec, specified as skilled workers in gold, stone and feather-work, are said to have travelled from Vera Cruz via Tehuacan, Coyoacan and Tenochtitlan to Xiuhquillan (Tzitzipu, on L. Pazcuaro), where they settled. The Tarascan of later date bore a high reputation as stone-cutters, mosaic-workers and feather-workers, and this fact, together with the presence in Michoacan of a peculiar class of pottery with polychrome champ-levé ornament, which is also characteristic of the pre-Aztec remains of the valley, suggest that Toltec influence had in fact penetrated into Michoacan.
Totonac history is as deficient as that of the Zapotec. Tradition related that they were immigrants into the country where they were found by the Spaniards, and lived there for about six and a half centuries in complete independence. Less than two centuries after their immigration, certain “Chichimec” tribes of lower culture settled on their north-western borders, and in course of time considerable intercourse, and even intermarriage, sprang up between them. Eventually civil war broke out among the Totonac, much of the country was laid waste and sections of the population emigrated from the district. It is quite possible that the “Toltec” who are said to have found their way to Michoacan may have been a body of Totonac emigrants who left their country at this period. The result of the civil strife was that a great portion of Totonac region fell under “Chichimec” domination. Three kings of this nationality held sway, until, in the reign of the last, the Aztec conquered the country and reduced it to the status of a province as related above.
Much light is shed upon the interrelation of the various tribes who combined to form the population of Mexico by the study of their various gods; and since religion formed the mainspring not only of all public but also of private life, it will be as well to deal as shortly as possible with this complicated subject before proceeding to discuss the manners and customs of the pre-Spanish inhabitants and their archæological remains which have been found scattered throughout the country.
Photo Prof. Seler
Mexico Museum
MEXICO
Colossal Stone Figure of Coatlicue