Highland Mesoamerican Politics

Timeline

1. 1131–1135Valley of Mexico · Valley of MexicoAfter the Toltec empire's collapse, highland polities took the city-state (altepetl) as their basic political unit, co-governed by a tlatoani (speaker/ruler) and a noble council. In the 1130s no single hegemon dominated the valley; polities competed and allied over Lake Texcoco's water resources, farmland, and trade routes, while Cholula in the Puebla valley enjoyed cross-regional influence as a religious sanctuary.
2. 1135–1140Northern edge of the Mexican highlands · MexicoFrom the 12th century onward, northern hunter-gatherer tribes calling themselves "Chichimec" migrated south to the northern edge of the highlands, regarded by settled city-states as culturally more "barbaric" migrant groups. In the 1130s this migration wave was still in its early stages, but it had already prompted valley polities to guard the northern frontier; some city-states began absorbing Chichimec warriors to bolster their military strength, foreshadowing the Mexica founding of Tenochtitlan two centuries later.