Cosijopii I also Cosiiopii I (December 30, 1502–1563) was the last sovereign of the Kingdom of Zaachila, that was named by the Aztecs as Teotzapotlan. Such kingdom was located in the west side of the current Mexican state of

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

and during the last period reached the Pacific coast of the current Chiapas and Guatemala, the Zaachila Kingdom fell after the Spanish colonization. Cosijopii was the son of

Cosijoeza Guxi Chikoeza, Kosi'ioeza ( Zapotec: Guxi Chikoeza or Kosi'ioeza) (c. 1450–1529) was a Coquitao (King in Zapotec) of Zaachila (the kingdom not to be confused with the homonymous city), its name in Zapotec means "Storm of obsidian knives" or " ...

, Zapoteca king, and Coyolicaltzin, daughter of Aztec

tlatoani ''Tlahtoāni'' ( , "ruler, sovereign"; plural ' ) is a historical title used by the dynastic rulers of (singular ''āltepētl'', often translated into English as "city-state"), autonomous political entities formed by many pre-Columbian Nahuatl- ...

Ahuízotl Ahuitzotl (, ) was the eighth Aztec ruler, the '' Huey Tlatoani'' of the city of Tenochtitlan, son of princess Atotoztli II. His name literally means "Water Thorny" and was also applied to the otter. It is also theorized that more likely, the ...

. His siblings were Bitoopa, Natipa, Pinopia, Cosijopi, and Donají. Cosijopii succeeded his father Cosijoeza to the throne in 1529. Cosijopii moved his capital from

Zaachila Zaachila (the Zapotec name; Nahuatl: ''Teotzapotlan''; Mixtec: ''Ñuhu Tocuisi'') was a powerful Mesoamerican city in what is now Oaxaca, Mexico, from the city of Oaxaca. The city is named after Zaachila Yoo, the Zapotec ruler, in the late 14 ...

city to

Guiengola Guiengola is a Zapotec civilization, Zapotec archeological site located north of Tehuantepec, and southeast of Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Oaxaca city on Federal Highway 190. The visible ruins are located between a hill and a river, each carries the name o ...

at some point in the mid-sixteenth century. His sister, Donají Sicasibí was kidnapped by the

Mixtecos The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are Indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec culture ...

and taken to

Tehuantepec Tehuantepec (, in full, Santo Domingo Tehuantepec) is a city and municipality in the southeast of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is part of the Tehuantepec District in the west of the Istmo Region. The area was important in pre-Hispanic per ...

. He formed an alliance with the Spanish, commanded by

Pedro de Alvarado Pedro de Alvarado (; 1485 – 4 July 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, ''conquistador'', ''adelantado,'' governor and Captaincy General of Guatemala, captain general of Guatemala.Lovell, Lutz and Swezey 1984, p. 461. He participated in the c ...

when he arrived in Tehuantepec, and together they fought the Mixtecos. According to the

Catholic Encyclopedia ''The'' ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'', also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedi ...

, Cosijopii II subsequently "embraced the Catholic Faith," baptized as Juan Cortés Sicasibí. Between 1543 and 1555 Don Juan Cortés Sicasibí built the Convent of Santo Domingo in Tehuantepec.

References

1502 births 1563 deaths People from Oaxaca Zapotec people People from New Spain {{mesoamerica-stub