Anonimo Mexicano is a Nahuatl history written about AD 1600 in the city of Tlaxcala about 85 miles east of Mexico City. It recounts the story of the great Chichimec migration led by the conquerer Xolotl from the dreadful "Godland", the harsh deserts north of the ancient empire of Tula after the fall of that empire in AD 1168.
The great conquerer Xolotl led his people from the northern frontier of the Toltec empire south into the lush lands of Anahuac, "the lands of water", as the Valley of Mexico was known in preHispanic times. His people were mighty warriors and they subdued the cities that survived there north and west of the great lake and declared himself the Chichimec Teuhctli, Emperor of the Chichimec, the most coveted title in the Valley of Mexico ever thereafter. The great Xolotl, whose name had many meanings, but perhaps is best translated "Monster", set up the seat of his rule in the ancient Toltec city of Tenayucan on the east lake shore. Upon his death, his son Nopaltzin took the empire and passed it in turn to his son, Tlotzin Pochotl, who, during the life of his father, ruled as the lord of the great city of Texcoco on the eastern shore of the lake. At the death of Nopaltzin, his son Quinatzin-Tlaltecatzin who was called "He Who Flattens the Earth" for his great victories in war, took command of the empire.
From Atop Mount Xoloc, Xolotl Claims the Lands of Anahuac for His People as His Son, Nopaltzin, Looks On
Quinatzin moved his seat of rule to Tezcoco and his title was insecure because his uncle contested his right to rule. It was in his day that the Lord of Azcaputzalco, the great tyrant Tezozomoc, tried to claim and eventually won the title of Chichimec Emperor that rightly belonged to Quinatzin. Tezozomo, the prodigy, was so skilled that at the death of his father, the lords of his city recognized him as fit to rule when he was only four years old. By wiles and treachery he eventually dominated all of Anahuac and installed his sons as kings of the cities that he conquered as he expanded his empire throughout the Valley of Mexico.
In AD 1168 the Teochichimecs left their mythological homeland, Aztlan, also called Chichimoztoc, "The Seven Caves". After years of wandering, they arrived in the Valley of Mexico during the reign of Tezozomoc and settled the rich lands of the plains of Poyauhtlan east of Lake Texcoco at the base of Mount Tlaloc.
But these unwelcomed latecomers were opposed by a coalition of cities from throughout the valley, and a great war ensued. Although the Teochichimecs were expelled, the power of their sorcery and fierceness in battle wreaked such terrible devastation that all involved in this conflict covenanted never to war again with such carnage. The Teochichimec survivors divided into two groups one of which migrated southeast across Mount Popocatepetl into the valley to the east, while the other took a northerly route into the same valley. There they founded what was to become the city of Tlaxcala, the archrival of Tenochtitlan, home of the Mexica Aztec.
The Name Glyph of the City of Tlaxcala, the Traditional Adversary of the Aztecs of the Valley of Mexico
Because the Tlaxcaltecans continued to expand, taking lands from their neighbors, the warleader of Huexotzinco to the south of Tlaxcala sought an alliance with the Mexica Aztec. Huitzilihuitzin, who was the warleader of the Mexica, promised aid. But he betrayed this trust and informed the Tlaxcaltecans that his army would not participate in the battle. So when the Huexotzincans engaged the army of Tlaxcala, the Mexica soldiers stood by and watched.
The warriors of Huexotzinco were valiant, but the Tlaxcalans were aided by the sorcery of their war god Camaxtli. And his magic prevailed as a great cloud of thick darkness covered the field of battle, blinding the warriors. So terrible was this sorcery that warriors could not see their opponents and simply slashed and killed whomever they came upon and felt before them. Others fell to their deaths, falling from the high crags of Tlaxcala. The devistation was complete, and the troops of the betrayer, Huitzilihuitl, returned to Mexico and reported the awesome power of the god Camaxtli.
To Be Continued . . .
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