Tejupilco de Hidalgo is the seat of
Tejupilco Municipality in the
State of Mexico
The State of Mexico ( es, Estado de México; ), officially just Mexico ( es, México), is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Commonly known as Edomex (from ) to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is ...
, Mexico. It is located approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) southwest of the state capital
Toluca, along
Federal Highway 34. The name Tejupilco comes from
Náhuatl meaning "between the toes". "De Hidalgo" was added to honor Father
Miguel Hidalgo who initiated the
Mexican War of Independence.
While the origins of the original settlers of the area have been forgotten, there are remains of many of their ceremonial centers and tombs atop various hills. The most important of these sites are in Ocotepec, Acatitlán, Acamuchitlán, Bejucos, San Simón, Tejupilco, Nanchititla, Hipericones and
San Miguel Ixtapan. However, it is known that the area had been occupied for centuries by the
Otomi who named the area "Talisca". Most Otomi were driven out by a people called the "Tecos" who were under the dominion of the
Purépecha
The Purépecha (endonym pua, P'urhepecha ) are a group of indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of Michoacán, Mexico, mainly in the area of the cities of Cherán and Pátzcuaro.
They are also known by the pejorative "Tarascan ...
. Father Plancarte says in Book I of the ''Annals of the Museum of Michoacan'' that the Tecos were a group related to the
Mexica
The Mexica (Nahuatl: , ;''Nahuatl Dictionary.'' (1990). Wired Humanities Project. University of Oregon. Retrieved August 29, 2012, frolink/ref> singular ) were a Nahuatl-speaking indigenous people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of ...
s who lived in the
Purépecha kingdom. In 1052, the
Toltecs arrived as refugees after the destruction of their kingdom, as well as the
Matlatzinca Matlatzinca or Ocuiltec may refer to:
* Matlatzinca people Matlatzinca is a name used to refer to different indigenous ethnic groups in the Toluca Valley in the state of México, located in the central highlands of Mexico. The term is applied to th ...
who came later from the
Toluca Valley. By 1476 the
Aztec king
Axayácatl conquered the Matlatzincas and took control of their lands including what is now Tejupilco. After the Spanish Conquest, Andrés de Tapia was assigned to subdue the old Matlatzinca lands where he met no resistance in this area.
The town
The current town of Tejupilco was a village by 1579 which was paying tribute to the Spaniards as late as 1676. In 1734, it was still an overwhelmingly indigenous community with only seven Spanish families recorded there. For most of its pre-municipal history, the town was governed by indigenous leaders subject to Spanish control. In 1874, the town was named head of the district of Tejupilco de Hidalgo, which included the current municipalities of
Temascaltepec
Temascaltepec is a municipality located in the Ixtapan Region of the State of Mexico in Mexico. Temascaltepec has an area of 547.5 km2. It borders the municipalities of Valle de Bravo, Amanalco de Becerra, Tejupilco, San Simón de Guerrero, ...
,
Amatepec, and
Tlatlaya, but in 1881 the seat was transferred to Temascaltepec.
The current population of the town is 22,041.
Economy
Agriculture is the most important economic activity here, using , growing corn, beans, avocados and peaches. Livestock raising includes pigs, goats, sheep and domestic fowl. There is also some logging.
Mining is an important alternative activity as there are mineral and non-mineral deposits here, such as the marble deposit in the community of El Zapote. However, none have seriously been commercially exploited yet. Tourism is another possibility that needs to be explored.
See also
*
San Miguel Ixtapan (archaeological site)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tejupilco De Hidalgo
Populated places in the State of Mexico
Tejupilco
Municipality seats in the State of Mexico