{{Short description|Pre-Columbian state in present-day central Mexico (1348–1520)}} {{Infobox country | native_name = {{native name|nci|Tlahtōlōyān Tlaxcallan}} | conventional_long_name = Confederacy of Tlaxcala | common_name = Tlaxcala | status = Confederation | era = Post Classic /Early Modern | date_start = | year_start = 1348 | event_start = Tlaxcaltec migration to Central Mexico | date_end = | year_end = 1520 | event_end = Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire | date_post = | event_post = | p1 = Tepeticpac | flag_p1 = JeroglificodeTepeticpac.jpg | p2 = Ocotelolco | flag_p2 = JeroglificodeOcotelulco.jpg | p3 = Tizatlan | flag_p3 = JeroglificodeTizatlan.jpg | p4 = Quiahuiztlan | flag_p4 = JeroglificodeQuiahuiztlan.jpg | s1 = New Spain | flag_s1 = Flag of Cross of Burgundy.svg | s2 = | flag_s2 = | image_flag = Vexilloids de Tlaxcala.png | flag_border = no | flag_type = Battle vexilloid worn by Tlaxcalan warriors who fought alongside the Spanish (''Lienzo de Tlaxcala'') | flag_size = 65px | flag_alt = | flag = | image_coat = TlaxcalaGlyph.jpg | symbol_type = Glyph | coat_alt = | image_map = File:Aztec Empire 1519 map-fr.svg |image_map2=Tlaxcala Peoples.png |image_map2_caption=Location of the polity | image_map_alt = | image_map_caption = Tlaxcala was surrounded by the Aztec Empire in 1519. | national_motto = | capital = Tlaxcala | common_languages = Nahuatl (Official) | government_type = Confederation | title_leader = Tlatoani of Tlaxcala | leader1 = Culhuatecuhtli | year_leader1 = 1348 | stat_year1 = 1348 | religion = Nahua religion, with Camaxtli as patron deity<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wauchope |first1=Robert |last2=Ekholm |first2=Gordon F. |last3=Bernal |first3=Ignacio |title=Handbook of Middle American Indians, Volumes 10 And 11: Archaeology of Northern Mesoamerica |date=2015 |publisher=University of Texas Press |location=Austin, TX |isbn=9781477306758 |page=472}}</ref> | stat_pop1 = ? | stat_year2 = early 15th century | stat_pop2 = 650,000 | stat_year3 = 1519 | stat_pop3 = 300,000 | currency = Quachtli, Cacao | footnotes = | today = Tlaxcala, Mexico | demonym = Tlaxcaltec | area_km2 = | area_rank = | GDP_PPP = | GDP_PPP_year = | HDI = | HDI_year = }} {{Conquest of Mexico}} '''Tlaxcala''' ({{langx|nci|Tlaxcallān}} {{IPA|nci|t͡ɬaʃˈkalːaːn̥||Tlaxkallan.ogg}}, 'place of maize tortillas'; {{langx|oto|Mãhmê}}, "place of tortillas"<ref>Lastra García, Y. (2011). Topónimos otomíes. Estudios De Cultura Otopame, 6(1). Accessed from https://www.revistas.unam.mx/index.php/eco/article/view/23995</ref>) was a pre-Columbian city and state in central Mexico.
Tlaxcala was completely surrounded by Aztec lands, leading to intermittent armed conflict between the two powers as the latter attempted to absorb the former into its empire. In the reign of Motecuhzoma I, the Aztec Triple Alliance instituted a policy of instead fighting so-called "Flower(y) Wars" against Tlaxcala (as well as other city-states; namely, Huexotzinco and Cholula)—purportedly in order to obtain prisoners-of-war for ritual sacrifice—and imposed a trade embargo upon Tlaxcala specifically, in an apparent effort to weaken or punish the recalcitrant polity.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gentil |first=Bianca L. |last2=Castellanos |first2=A. Gabriel Vicencio |last3=Hirth |first3=Kenneth G. |date=December 2021 |title=Aztec and Tlaxcalan Economic Interaction: Blockade or Interregional Exchange? |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/latin-american-antiquity/article/aztec-and-tlaxcalan-economic-interaction-blockade-or-interregional-exchange/CBE14EE68216FC6CA5BC5C8F2A1BD3C3 |journal=Latin American Antiquity |language=en |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=723–740 |doi=10.1017/laq.2021.31 |issn=1045-6635|doi-access=free }}</ref>
This long history of conflict between the Aztecs and the Tlaxcalteca played a role in the course of events during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire: the Tlaxcalteca—seizing the chance to strike back against their hated Aztec enemies—allied with the Spanish Empire, supplying a large contingent for the multi-ethnic, Spanish-led army that eventually destroyed the Empire.
==History== [[File:Tlaxcalamap.jpg|left|thumb|upright|'''A Map of Tlaxcala:''' <br />The top-right hand sector is Tizatlan, bottom-right Quiahuiztlan, top-left Ocotelolco, and bottom-left Tepeticpac. The river Atzompa crosses the city from north to south (left to right, the map being oriented east–west). From Alfredo Chavero, ''Pinturas Jeroglíficas'', Mexico 1901.]] [[File:Entrada a Chalco.jpg|left|thumb|upright|'''Tlaxcaltecâ''' allies accompany Hernán Cortés during the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire, 1519, from the History of Tlaxcala.]]
The Tlaxcalteca arrived in Central Mexico during the Late Postclassic. They first settled near Texcoco in the valley of Mexico, between the settlement of Cohuatlinchan and the shore of Lake Texcoco.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|author=Aurelio López Corral |display-authors=etal |year=2016|title=La República de Tlaxcallan|url=http://arqueologiamexicana.mx/mexico-antiguo/la-republica-de-tlaxcallan|journal=Arqueología Mexicana|volume=139|pages=42–53}}</ref> After some years the Tlaxcalteca were driven out of the valley of Mexico and moved to the east, splitting into three groups along the way. While one group continued north towards the modern state of Hidalgo, and another remained in the vicinity of Texcoco, a third group arrived in the modern valley of Tlaxcala, where they established the city of Tepetícpac Texcallan under the leadership of Culhuatecuhtli Quanex.
Over the subsequent years, the Tlaxcalan state expanded with the foundations of Ocotelulco and Tizatlán. The fourth major settlement, Quiahuiztlan, was founded by members of the Tlaxcalan group that had initially remained in the valley of Mexico.<ref name=":0" />
{| class="wikitable" |+List of Tlatoque of the Tlaxcallan Altepemeh !Tepeticpac !Ocotelolco !Tizatlan !Quiahuiztlan |- | | |Señor de Aztahua de Tizatlan | |- | |Cuitlixcatl |Xayacamach | |- |Tlahuexolotzin |Maxixcatl |Xicotencatl I |Citlalpopocatzin |- | |Lorenzo Maxixcatl | | |}
==Government== Ancient Tlaxcala was a republic ruled by a council of between 50 and 200 chief political officials (pl. {{lang|nci|teteuctin}}; sg. {{lang|nci|teuctli}}).<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25766992 | jstor=25766992 | title=Egalitarian Ideology and Political Power in Prehispanic Central Mexico: The Case of Tlaxcallan | last1=Fargher | first1=Lane F. | last2=Blanton | first2=Richard E. | last3=Espinoza | first3=Verenice Y. Heredia | journal=Latin American Antiquity | date=2010 | volume=21 | issue=3 | pages=227–251 | doi=10.7183/1045-6635.21.3.227 | url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>Graeber, David and Wengrow, David "The Dawn of Everything, A New History of Humanity" (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2021), pp. 346–358</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/abs/tlaxcallan-the-archaeology-of-an-ancient-republic-in-the-new-world/07D3885DDB3E79F56C2EFBCA9582F6EA | doi=10.1017/S0003598X0006751X | title=Tlaxcallan: The archaeology of an ancient republic in the New World | date=2011 | last1=Fargher | first1=Lane F. | last2=Blanton | first2=Richard E. | last3=Espinoza | first3=Verenice Y. Heredia | last4=Millhauser | first4=John | last5=Xiuhtecutli | first5=Nezahualcoyotl | last6=Overholtzer | first6=Lisa | journal=Antiquity | volume=85 | issue=327 | pages=172–186 | url-access=subscription }}</ref> These officials gained their positions through service to the state, usually in warfare, and as a result came from both the noble ({{lang|nci|pilli}}) and commoner ({{lang|nci|macehualli}}) classes.
==Culture== Three languages were spoken in Tlaxcala: Nahuatl, Otomi by a large minority, and "Pinome" (likely Popoloca) by a smaller minority.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gerhard |first1=Peter |title=A guide to the historical geography of New Spain |date=1993 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |location=Norman |isbn=0806125535 |page=324 |edition=Rev.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Gibson |first1=Charles |title=Tlaxcala in the Sixteenth Century |date=1952 |publisher=Yale University Press |page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Nahuas de Tlaxcala - Etnografía - Atlas de los Pueblos Indígenas de México. INPI |url=https://atlas.inpi.gob.mx/nahuas-de-tlaxcala-etnografia/ |website=Atlas de los Pueblos Indígenas de México. INPI |access-date=5 December 2025 |language=es-MX}}</ref> Later, Aztec conquests resulted in further waves of Otomi migration to Tlaxcala, such as from Xaltocan. A dialect of Otomi is still spoken in Tlaxcala today.
==Contact with conquistadors== Tlaxcala was never conquered by the Aztec Empire, but was engaged in a state of perpetual war, the so-called "flower wars" or "garland wars".
Conquistador Bernal Díaz del Castillo describes the first battle between the Spanish force and the Tlaxcalteca as surprisingly difficult; he writes that they—the Spanish—would probably have not survived, had not Xicotencatl the Elder and Maxixcatzin persuaded Xicotencatl the Younger, the Tlaxcalan warleader, that it would be better to ally with the newcomers than to kill them.<ref name=Diaz>Diaz, B., 1963, The Conquest of New Spain, London: Penguin Books, {{ISBN|0140441239}}</ref>{{rp|140–188}} Xicohtencatl the Younger was later—in April 1521—condemned by the Tlaxcalan ruling council and hanged by Cortés, for desertion during the siege of Tenochtitlan.
Due to protracted warfare between the Aztecs and the Tlaxcalteca, the latter were eager to exact revenge, and soon became loyal allies of the Spanish. Even after the Spanish were expelled from Tenochtitlan, the Tlaxcalteca continued their support. Tlaxcala also assisted the Spanish in the conquest of Guatemala.<ref>Restall and Asselbergs 2007, pp. 79–81.</ref>
As a result of the alliance with the Spaniards, Tlaxcala had {{lang|es-MX|hidalgo}} privileged status within "New Spain", as confirmed in the Royal Writ of the Foundation of the City of Tlaxcala, Mexico. After the Spanish conquered Tenochtitlan and the rest of Mexico, Tlaxcala was allowed to survive and preserve its pre-Columbian culture. In addition, as a reward for the unyielding loyalty the Tlaxcalan federation had shown the Spanish, the city and its inhabitants largely escaped the pillaging and destruction following the Spanish conquest. The Tlaxcalteca gave further assistance in the Mixtón War.
thumb|upright|"The Tlaxcallan Senate", depiction of the Tlaxcalan government by Rodrigo Gutiérrez, 1875
Following the Spanish Conquest, Tlaxcala was divided into four fiefdoms ({{lang|es-MX|señoríos}}) by the Spanish corregidor Gómez de Santillán in 1545 (26 years after the Conquest). These fiefdoms were Ocotelolco, Quiahuiztlan, Tepeticpac, and Tizatlan. At this time, four great houses or lineages emerged and claimed hereditary rights to each fiefdom and created fictitious genealogies extending back into the pre-Columbian era to justify their claims.<ref>Gibson, 1952.</ref>{{Page needed|date=November 2024}}
During the colonial period, Tlaxcala's "part in the conquest of the Aztec 'empire,' its favored treatment by the Spanish crown, unique talent for propaganda and litigation and astonishing enterprise" gave the small state an important place in Mexican history.<ref name="Simpson">{{cite journal |last1=Simpson |first1=Leslie Byrd |title=Tlaxcala in the Sixteenth Century by Charles Gibson |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4491989 |website=JSTOR |publisher=Pacific Historical Review |jstor=4491989 |access-date=29 September 2021}}</ref>
In the 16th and 17th centuries, Tlaxcalan settlers went to live in new northern colonies to protect Mexico from the Chichimeca.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schmal |first=John P. |date=2019-09-12 |title=Indigenous Tlaxcala: The Allies of the Spaniards |url=https://indigenousmexico.org/tlaxcala/indigenous-tlaxcala-the-allies-of-the-spaniards/ |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=Indigenous Mexico |language=en-US}}</ref> Tlaxcalan settlers were sent even as far as the Spanish Philippines where they had success, fighting against Buddhist Japanese Pirates (Wokous) and Muslim Malaysian Jihadis (Juramentados).<ref>{{cite web |last=Latino Book Review |date=February 16, 2023 |title=When Tlaxcalan Natives Went to War in the Philippines |url=https://www.latinobookreview.com/when-tlaxcalan-natives-went-to-war-in-the-philippines--latino-book-review.html |access-date=March 25, 2026}}</ref>
==See also== *Tlaxcaltec – Nahuatl for inhabitants of Tlaxcala *Tlaxcala – the present day Mexican state *Tlaxcala, Tlaxcala – the present day capital of the state of Tlaxcala
==References== {{reflist}}
==Sources== * Diego Muñoz Camargo's ''History of Tlaxcala'' (''Lienzo de Tlaxcala''), written in or before 1585, is an illustrated codex describing the conquest of Mexico. It was painted by Tlaxcalteca artists under Spanish supervision. * Crónica Mexicayotl was written by Fernando Alvarado Tezozomoc, in Nahuatl and Spanish, in the last decades of the 16th century.
==Bibliography== *Alvarado Tezozomoc, Fernando (1944). ''Crónica Mexicana''. Mexico: Manuel Orozco y Berra, Leyenda. *Fargher, Lane F., Richard E. Blanton and Verenice Y. Heredia Espinoza (2010). Egalitarian Ideology and Political Power in Prehispanic Central Mexico: The Case of Tlaxcallan. "Latin American Antiquity," 21(3):227–251. *Gibson, Charles (1952). ''Tlaxcala in the Sixteenth Century''. New Haven: Yale University Press. *Hassig, Ross (2001). [https://web.archive.org/web/20071009062232/http://www.ejournal.unam.mx/cultura_nahuatl/ecnahuatl32/ECN03204.pdf#search=%22Xicotencatl%20%22 "Xicotencatl: rethinking an indigenous Mexican hero"], Estudios de Cultura Nahuatl, UNAM. *Hicks, Frederic (2009). Land and Succession in the Indigenous Noble Houses of Sixteenth-Century Tlaxcala. ''Ethnohistory,'' 56:4, 569–588. *Muñoz Camargo, Diego (1982) [1892]. ''Historia de Tlaxcala''. Alfredo Chavero. México. *{{cite book |author=Restall, Matthew |author-link=Matthew Restall |author2=Florine Asselbergs |year=2007 |title=Invading Guatemala: Spanish, Nahua, and Maya Accounts of the Conquest Wars |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |location=University Park, Pennsylvania, USA |isbn=978-0-271-02758-6 |oclc=165478850}} *''Our lady of assumption ex convent''. Bienvenidos al INAH. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2021, from <nowiki>https://www.inah.gob.mx/en/english/4181-our-lady-of-assumption-ex-convent</nowiki>.
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060828064958/http://www.universidadabierta.edu.mx/Biblio/S/SalasElia_HistoriografiaTlaxcala.htm Spanish language description of the historiography of Tlaxcala] *[https://www.science.org/content/article/it-wasnt-just-greece-archaeologists-find-early-democratic-societies-americas Article in Sciencemag about archeological findings at Tizatlan]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tlaxcala (Nahua State)}} Category:Complex altepetl Category:Former confederations Category:History of Tlaxcala Category:Nahuas Category:History of New Spain Category:Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire Category:Former republics in North America Category:Former Native American polities