Mexica Migration Traditions and Entry into the Valley (early 14th century)

Timeline

1. c. 1300–1305Aztlan (legendary homeland, possibly in present-day northwestern Mexico) · MexicoMexica oral tradition recounts that guided by an oracle they left Aztlan, carrying the statue of the war god Huitzilopochtli southward. This narrative blends religious myth with ethnic memory; archaeology holds it reflects the broad southward population movement from the northern Chichimec cultural zone.
2. c. 1305–1320Transit zone of the central Mexican highlands · Central MexicoDuring their migration the Mexica successively stayed in Culhuacan, Chapultepec, and other places, repeatedly expelled by local city-states or forced to serve as mercenaries. The seven migration stages recorded in chronicles reflect their survival strategy of trading military service for short-term rights of residence among powerful neighbors.
3. c. 1320–1325Site of Tenochtitlan Island, Lake Texcoco · Valley of MexicoFinally, with the permission of the Tepanec ruler Azcapotzalco, the Mexica founded Tenochtitlan on an island in the marshes of Lake Texcoco. Archaeological strata and early pottery show this phase was a small settlement, not yet able to challenge the existing city-state order of the valley, but marking the formal rooting of the Mexica political entity.