Techotlalatzin (or Techotlala, removing the Classical Nahuatl honorific ''-tzin'') was the ruler (''

tlatoani ''Tlatoani'' ( , "one who speaks, ruler"; plural ' or tlatoque) is the Classical Nahuatl term for the ruler of an , a pre-Hispanic state. It is the noun form of the verb "tlahtoa" meaning "speak, command, rule". As a result, it has been variou ...

'') of the

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...

Mesoamerican Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. Withi ...

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

of Texcoco from 1357 or 1377 until his death in 1409. Techotlalatzin was the first ruler of the

Acolhua The Acolhua are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in or around the year 1200 CE. The Acolhua were a sister culture of the Aztecs (or Mexica) as well as the Tepanec, Chalca, Xochimilca and others. The most important pol ...

who actively adopted the prevailing culture of the

Valley of Mexico The Valley of Mexico ( es, Valle de México) is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with present-day Mexico City and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico wa ...

, including the

Nahuatl language Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have small ...

.Davies (1980, p.129); Smith (1984, p.170). Smith himself further references

Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...

, Juan Bautista de Pomar, and

Chimalpahin Domingo Francisco de San Antón Muñón Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin (1579, Amecameca, Chalco—1660, Mexico City), usually referred to simply as Chimalpahin or Chimalpain, was a Nahua annalist from Chalco. His Nahuatl names () mean "Runs S ...

. The son of Quinatzin, Techotlalatzin was able to build a small

-dominated domain on the eastern side of

Lake Texcoco Lake Texcoco ( es, Lago de Texcoco) was a natural lake within the "Anahuac" or Valley of Mexico. Lake Texcoco is best known as where the Aztecs built the city of Tenochtitlan, which was located on an island within the lake. After the Spanish con ...

, although this domain was apparently under the influence or even loose control of the

Tepanec The Tepanecs or Tepaneca are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in the late 12th or early 13th centuries.The dates vary by source, including 1152 CE in Anales de Tlatelolco, 1210 from Chimalpahin, and 1226 from Ixtlilxochi ...

empire of his contemporary, Tezozomoc of

Azcapotzalco Azcapotzalco ( nci, Āzcapōtzalco , , from '' āzcapōtzalli'' “anthill” + '' -co'' “place”; literally, “In the place of the anthills”) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. Azcapotzalco is in the northwestern p ...

. Techotlalatzin married Tozquentzin, daughter of Acolmiztli of Coatlichan, and was succeeded by his son,

Ixtlilxochitl I Ixtlilxochitl Ome Tochtli (1380-1418) was the ruler (''tlatoani'') of the Acolhua city-state of Texcoco from 1409 to 1418 and the father of the famous "poet-king" Nezahualcoyotl. Early years as ''tlatoani'' Claiming descent from the legendary Ch ...

, who challenged the power of Tezozomoc and lost. Early sources for Techotlalatzin include

Fray Juan de Torquemada Juan de Torquemada (c. 1562 – 1624) was a Franciscan friar, active as missionary in colonial Mexico and considered the "leading Franciscan chronicler of his generation." Administrator, engineer, architect and ethnographer, he is most fam ...

, Juan Bautista de Pomar, and

Codex Xolotl The Codex Xolotl (also known as ''Codicé Xolotl'') is a postconquest cartographic Aztec codex, thought to have originated before 1542. It is annotated in Nahuatl and details the preconquest history of the Valley of Mexico, and Texcoco in parti ...

, although these sources at times present conflicting information (in fact, they are often internally inconsistent).

Notes

References

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External links

* {{s-end Mesoamerican people Texcoco (altepetl) Tlatoque of Texcoco Nahua people 1409 deaths Year of birth unknown