Culhuacán (altepetl)

Culhuacan (Classical Nahuatl: Cōlhuahcān [kolwakan]) was one of the Nahuatl-speaking pre-Columbian city-states of the Valley of Mexico. According to tradition, Culhuacan was founded by the Toltecs under Mixcoatl and was the first Toltec city. The Nahuatl speakers agreed that Culhuacán was the first city to give its rulers the title of "speaker" (tlatoani). In the sixteenth century following the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Culhuacan was incorporated into colonial New Spain and called a pueblo, but in local-level documentation in Nahuatl, residents continued to use the designation altepetl for their settlement.

Traditionally the Culhua were said to have originated in a place called Tecolhuacan, beyond Tollan, but migrated to Tollan and participated in the Toltec culture, where they worshipped Huitzilopochtli and Tezcatlipoca. Later, their patron deities were Cinteotl and Cihuacoatl. Culhuacan was perhaps the first of the chinampa towns founded on the shores of Lake Xochimilco, with chinampas dating to 1100 C.E. From written records there is evidence that Culhuacan survived the fall of Tollan and maintained its prestige until the mid-14th century. The Culhua subjugated a number of towns including Ocuilan, Malinalco, Xochimilco and Cuitlahuac, possibly allied with the Tepanec of Azcapotzalco and the Acolhua of Coatlinchan. According to the Crónica Mexicayotl, transcribed in 1609, in 1299, Culhuacan's tlatoani, Coxcoxtli, helped the Tepanecs of Azcapotzalco, the Xochimilca and other cities expel the Mexica from Chapultepec. Coxcoxtli then gave the Mexica permission to settle in the barren land of Tizaapan, southwest of Chapultepec, and they became vassals of Culhuacan. The Mexica subsequently assimilated into Culhuacan's culture and their warriors provided mercenaries for its wars. The Mexica tlatoani Acamapichtli was a grandson of Coxcoxtli. Nevertheless, in 1377 Azcapotzalco subdued Culhuacán in large part with Aztec troops, causing many of the Culhua to seek refuge in Acolhuacan, Azcapotzalco, and Cuauhtitlan. In 1428, the Mexica tlatoani Itzcóatl helped to overthrow Azcapotzalco's hegemony, and accepted the title "Ruler of the Culhua".

Huehue Topiltzin Nauhyotzin 717–763 Nonohualcatl I 763–845 Yohuallatonac 845–904 Quetzalacxoyatzin 904–953 Chalchiuhtlatonac 953–985 Totepeuh 985–1026 Nauhyotzin II 1026–1072 Cuauhtexpetlatzin 1072–1129 Nonohualcatl II 1130–1150 Achitomecatl 1151–1171 Cuauhtlatonac 1172–1185 (Chichimeca dynasty)

Mallatzin 1186–1200 Cuauhtlahtolloc (caudillaje) 1200–1235 Chalchiuhtlatonac II 1235–1245 Cuauhtlix 1245–1252 Yohuallatonac Telpochtli 1252–1259 Tziuhtecatl 1260–1269 Xihuitltemoc 1269–1281 Coxcoxtli 1281–1307 Cuauhtlahtolloc (caudillaje) 1307–1323 Huehue Acamapichtli 1323–1336 Achitomecatl Teomecatl II 1336–1347 Nauhyotl Teuctli Tlamacazqui (Nauhyotzin III) 1347–1413 Acoltzin 1413–1429 Itzcoatl 1429–1440 (Tepaneca ruler under Maxtla) Xilomantzin 1440–1473 Tlatolcatzin 1473–1482 Tezozomoctli 1482–1521

Wimmer, Alexis (2006). "Dictionnaire de la langue nahuatl classique" (online version, incorporating reproductions from Dictionnaire de la langue nahuatl ou mexicaine [1885], by Rémi Siméon) (in French). (in Nahuatl languages) Culhuacán, Mexico is the Relación Geográfica map from 1580.

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