{{Short description|Ruler of the Purépecha Empire}} {{Infobox former monarchy | royal_title = {{Lang|tsz|Irecha}} | realm = Purépecha Empire | image = | caption = | first_monarch = Tarhiakurhi | last_monarch = Tanhaxwani II | residence = P'atskwarhu ({{Circa|1350s}}-{{Circa|1420s}})<br/> Jiwatsï ({{Circa|1420s}}-{{Circa|1435}})<br/> Ts'intsuntsani ({{Circa|1435}} onwards) | appointer = Council of Nobles | began = {{Circa|1350s}} | ended = 1530 }} '''Irecha''' was the title held by the ruler of the Purépecha Empire,<ref name="tirip">{{Cite book |last=Montes de Oca |first=Pedro |url=http://ru.iia.unam.mx:8080/bitstream/10684/78/8/michoacan.epub |chapter=Relación de Tiripitio |title=Relaciones geográficas del siglo XVI: Michoacán |year=1579 |editor-last=Acuña |editor-first=René |edition=2nd |publication-date=2017 |language=es |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240528063645/http://ru.iia.unam.mx:8080/bitstream/10684/78/8/michoacan.epub |archive-date=2024-05-28}}</ref><ref name="nahuatzen">{{Citation |title=Lienzo de Nahuatzen |date=c. 1600 |url=https://mediateca.inah.gob.mx/repositorio/islandora/object/codice%3A629}}</ref> which existed from the 14th to 16th centuries in the area of the modern states of Michoacán, Guerrero, Jalisco, Guanajuato, and the State of Mexico, briefly holding areas of Colima at its zenith.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://etzakutarakua.colmich.edu.mx/proyectos/relaciondemichoacan/busquedaGral/completoCategorias.asp?id=12&letra=cazonci&pagina=2 |title=Cazonci |date=2008 |work=Relación de Michoacán |publisher=El Colegio de Michoacán |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302222931/http://etzakutarakua.colmich.edu.mx/proyectos/relaciondemichoacan/busquedaGral/completoCategorias.asp?id=12&letra=cazonci&pagina=2 |archive-date=2012-03-02 |access-date=February 23, 2012 |lang=es}}</ref> The Purepecha rulers have also been referred to by the term '''cazonci''', a hispanized form of the Nahuatl ''caltzontzin''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Caltzontzin |url=https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/caltzontzin |website=Online Nahuatl Dictionary |access-date=21 May 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Caltzontzin |url=https://gdn.iib.unam.mx/diccionario/caltzontzin |website=Gran Diccionario Náhuatl |access-date=21 May 2026 |lang=fr}}</ref>
==The Wakusïcha== Pawakume,<ref name="patz">{{Citation |title=Lienzo de Pátzcuaro/Carapan II |section=Detalle |section-url=https://lugares.inah.gob.mx/images/piezas/_thumb1/Morelia-42.jpg}}</ref> T'ikatame, and Karapu<ref name="uacus">{{Citation |title=Uacús Thicátame y la fundación de Carapan: nuevo documento en lengua P'urhépecha |url=https://www.colmich.edu.mx/relaciones25/files/revistas/082/pdf/Hans_Roskamp.pdf |work=Relaciones |issue=82 |date=Spring 2000 |volume=21 |last=Roskamp |first=Hans |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911231624/https://www.colmich.edu.mx/relaciones25/files/revistas/082/pdf/Hans_Roskamp.pdf |archive-date=2022-09-11}}</ref> are recognized ''irechecha'' in a few sources, though their reigns all precede the formation of the Irechikwa by about three centuries. Whether they held the title or if this is a posthumous edition by indigenous authors remains unknown, as they are credited as ancestral forebears of the empire.
Later members of the Wakusïcha line are not called irecha until Tarhiakurhi.
{{Purépecha rulers}}
==References== {{reflist}} {{Mesoamerica-stub}}
Category:Purépecha Category:Royal titles Category:Former monarchies of North America Category:Royalty in North America Category:Titles and offices of Native American leaders