Chalcas
The Chalcas were a group of tribes or cities ( Confederación Chalca ) in pre- Hispanic Mexico that were able to resist the Aztec expansion for a long time. Their settlement area was the area around the - now disappeared - Chalco Lake in the southeast of today's state of México in the area around the cities of Chalco and Tlalmanalco .
history
Like many other tribal groups or peoples in the region, the Chalcas traced their origins back to the mythical place Chicomóztoc , which would be located somewhere north of the high valley of Mexico and which some equate with Tollan ( Tula ). In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Chalcas fought with the neighboring Aztecs in the so-called flower wars ( Nahuatl : xochiyaoyotl ), which were not aimed at conquering a territory or other material booty, but only served to procure prisoners of war to be sacrificed to the gods should be offered. In 1465, the Aztec ruler Montezuma I (ruled 1440–1469) finally succeeded in subjugating the Chalca region; his later successor Tízoc (ruled 1482–1486) put the leaders ( tlatoani ) back into their offices in the year of his death. Hernán Cortés found committed allies in the Chalcas during the conquest of the Aztec Empire between 1519 and 1521.
literature
- National Autonomous University of Mexico (ed.): Las Fundaciones de Chalco: La confirmación de un altépetl complejo . S. 343 ff . ( PDF [accessed June 26, 2015]).
Web links
- Los Chalcas, history (spanish)