Toltec Empire

Timeline

1. c. 900–1000Tula · Hidalgo StateTula became the political center of central Mexico, constructing Pyramid B and the colonnaded complex, establishing a religious-military order centered on the Feathered Serpent Quetzalcoatl.
2. c. 1000–1150Tula · Hidalgo StateIn the early 11th century Toltec power reached its peak; Atlantean stone-column warrior statues and trade networks spread Toltec art, military organization, and religious symbols toward the Gulf of Mexico and the Yucatan.
3. c. 1150–1200Tula · Hidalgo StateTula suffered internal turmoil, drought, and possible foreign attacks; the central city was burned, and the Toltec political entity gradually disintegrated, though its cultural elements were absorbed by later civilizations such as the Aztecs.
4. c. 1200–1521Tenochtitlan · Mexico CityThe Aztecs traced the Toltecs back as an idealized earlier civilization, inheriting their Feathered Serpent tradition and reputation as artisans; the Toltecs became an important historical reference for political legitimacy in Mesoamerica.