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| Acolhua | |
|---|---|
| Group | Acolhua |
| Regions | Valley of Mexico, Texcoco (altepetl), Tetzcoco |
| Languages | Nahuatl language |
| Religions | Aztec religion, Mesoamerican religion |
| Related | Chichimeca, Tepanec, Mexica, Tlaxcaltec |
Acolhua The Acolhua were a Nahua-speaking people of central Mexico noted for their role in the political landscape of the Late Postclassic and Early Colonial periods. Centered on the eastern shore of Lake Texcoco at the altepetl of Texcoco (altepetl), they interacted with neighboring polities such as the Tepanec polity of Azcapotzalco, the Mexica of Tenochtitlan, and other polities including Tlatelolco, Tlacopan, and Cholula. Acolhua elites produced notable rulers, chronicles, and legal codices before their institutions were transformed under Spanish Empire administration.
Scholars trace Acolhua origins through migration narratives and archaeological evidence tied to the broader movements of Nahua peoples across central Mexico. Ethnogenesis narratives connect them with migratory groups associated with sites like Chicomoztoc in ethnohistoric sources and later genealogical claims linking lineages to legendary figures recorded by Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl and preserved in manuscripts such as the Codex Xolotl and Codex Boturini. Archaeological sequences at Tula (Mesoamerican site), Teotihuacan, and regional ceramic phases provide material frameworks often compared with ethnohistoric chronicles compiled by Bernardino de Sahagún and inform debates involving historians like Miguel León-Portilla and archaeologists like Eduardo Matos Moctezuma.
The Acolhua polity centered on the altepetl of Texcoco (altepetl), with territorial claims extending across the eastern basin of Lake Texcoco into lacustrine zones near Tepetlaoztoc and settlements such as Chalco, Tetzcotzinco, and Coatepec (place name). Archaeological surveys in the Valley of Mexico map Acolhua habitation patterns alongside sites like Tula Chico, Azcapotzalco, Cuauhnahuac, and Xochimilco (alcaldía), while colonial cadastral documents in the Archivo General de la Nación (Mexico) record landholding attributions involving Acolhua altepetl members. Urban features at Texcoco included palace compounds, ceremonial centers, and hydraulic works comparable to constructions at Tenochtitlan and Cholula.
Acolhua society featured hierarchical noble lineages, dynastic rulership, and bureaucratic offices modeled in part on pan-Mesoamerican institutions referenced in the Huey tlatoani tradition and codified in annals compiled by authors like Ixtlilxochitl. Economically, Acolhua domains engaged in chinampa agriculture, reed harvesting, tribute collection, and artisanal production linked to markets at Tlatelolco and caravan routes reaching Puebla (city), Tula (Mesoamerican site), and Texcoco (altepetl). Political arrangements incorporated marital alliances, hostage exchange, and tributary relationships similar to arrangements recorded for Tepanec overlords at Azcapotzalco and later the Triple Alliance formed by Tenochtitlan, Texcoco (altepetl), and Tlacopan; nobles maintained kinship ties attested in pictorial genealogies and legal disputes adjudicated in institutions discussed by chroniclers such as Diego Durán.
The Acolhua spoke dialects of the Nahuatl language, contributing texts to the corpus of Nahuatl literature preserved in sources like the Florentine Codex and pedigrees in the Codex Xolotl. Their cultural practices included ritual calendars tied to the Tonalpohualli and Xiuhpohualli, temple rites comparable to those at Tenochtitlan and music, poetry, and ballgame traditions akin to performances recorded at Cholula and Mixcoac. Acolhua scribes and artists produced codices and pictorial histories intersecting with works by Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, while ceremonial architecture and hydraulic engineering paralleled projects attributed to rulers such as those commemorated in Tetzcotzinco gardens and in descriptions by chroniclers like Bernardino de Sahagún.
Acolhua relations with neighboring powers were dynamic: they were vassals and rivals of the Tepanec polity centered at Azcapotzalco and later integral partners in the formation and administration of the Triple Alliance. Key Acolhua rulers engaged diplomatically and militarily with figures such as Tepanec king Tezozomoc and Mexica leaders including Itzcoatl, Moctezuma I, and Axayacatl, while underlying conflicts involved altepetl like Tlatelolco and Tlacopan. Treaties, tribute lists, and military campaigns appear in sources such as the Codex Mendoza and annals used by historians like Alfredo Chavero to reconstruct alliances and vassalage networks across the Basin of Mexico.
The Spanish conquest transformed Acolhua institutions when conquest leaders such as Hernán Cortés and colonial officials imposed new legal frameworks like encomienda and integrated Acolhua nobility into colonial municipal structures recorded in documents held by the Real Audiencia of Mexico and compiled by scribes such as Fray Juan de Torquemada. Chroniclers including Ixtlilxochitl and Bernardino de Sahagún preserved Acolhua genealogies and legal claims that later informed indigenous cabildos and litigations before the Council of the Indies. The Acolhua legacy persists in place names, Nahuatl linguistic continuity, pictorial codices, and archaeological remains studied by institutions such as the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia and scholars like Eduardo Matos Moctezuma and Ross Hassig, influencing modern understandings of prehispanic and colonial central Mexico.