The Native Races [of the Pacific states], Volume 5, Primitive History

From this epoch of separation in Chiapas the Mayas of the south and the Nahuas of the north were practically distinct peoples, as they have been considered in the preceding volumes of this work. At the date of separation all were in a certain sense Nahua nations, and the Nahuas proper had doubtless been considerably affected by the ancient peoples whom they had overcome or converted, and with whom they had so long associated: – hence the analogies that appear between the institutions and monuments of the north and south. Of the contrasts that also appear, some date back to original differences between the two rival powers; others result from development and progress in different paths, during the ten centuries that elapsed before the coming of the Spaniards.

Bradford, Squier, Tylor, Viollet-le-Duc, Bartlett, and Müller,373 may be mentioned with Brasseur de Bourbourg among the authorities who practically agree with the conclusions expressed above, at least so far as the southern origin of the Nahua culture is concerned. It is true that the Abbé Brasseur's general conclusions differ in many points from those that I have given; that his opinions expressed in different works and even in different parts of the same work differ most perplexingly from each other; that his theories in many of their details rest on foundations that seem purely imaginary; that his style, while fascinating to the general reader, is most confusing to the student; and that his citations of authorities are often inaccurate; – yet he must be regarded as the true originator of the views advanced in this chapter, inasmuch as the material from which they are built up was largely the fruit of his investigations, and his researches have done more than those of all other writers combined to throw light on primitive American history.

CHAPTER IV.

THE TOLTEC PERIOD

The Nahua Occupation of Mexico in the Sixth and Seventh Centuries – Condition of Anáhuac – The Mixcohuas and Chichimec Culhuas – The Toltecs at Tulancingo and Tollan – Establishment of a Monarchy and Choice of a King, 710-720 A.D. – Kingdoms of Culhuacan and Quauhtitlan – The Teoamoxtli – Prophecies and Death of Hueman – Birth of Quetzalcoatl – Foundation of the Empire, 856 A.D. – Alliance between Culhuacan, Otompan, and Tollan – Reign of Topiltzin Ceacatl Quetzalcoatl at Tollan – Excesses of Huemac II., or Tecpancaltzin – Xochitl, the King's Mistress – Fulfillment of the Prophet's Predictions – Toveyo's Adventures – Plagues sent upon the Toltecs – Famine and Pestilence – Reign of Acxitl, or Topiltzin – Debauchery of King, Nobles, and Priests – Tokens of Divine Wrath – Foreign Invaders – Final Overthrow of the Toltec Empire.

The sixth and seventh centuries of our era saw the Nahua power, represented by the various Toltec Chichimec tribes, transferred from Central America to the Mexican plateaux, with its centre about the lakes of the valley. The general nature of this transfer we may comprehend from what has been said in the preceding chapter; of its details we know little or nothing. Each tribe that rose to national prominence in Anáhuac during the succeeding centuries, preserved a somewhat vague traditional memory of its past history, which took the form in every case of a long migration from a distant land. In each of these records there is probably an allusion to the original southern empire, its disruption, and the consequent tribal scattering; but at the same time most of the events thus recorded relate apparently to the movements of particular tribes in and about Anáhuac at periods long subsequent to the original migration and immediately preceding the final establishment of each tribe. The Toltec version of this common record has already been given, down to the establishment of one of the many exiled tribes – the Toltecs proper – at Tulancingo just north-east of the valley of Mexico. The annals of other Nahua tribes, the Chichimecs, Nahuatlacas, Tepanecs, Acolhuas, and Aztecs – all of which may be regarded to a great extent as different versions of the same common record – will be presented in a future chapter with all their particulars, fabulous or historical, so far as they have been preserved. The migrations narrated may all be supposed to date back to a common beginning, but are arranged by the authorities chronologically according to the dates of their termination.

We have seen the Olmec tribes established for several centuries on the eastern plateaux, or in the territory now constituting the states of Puebla and Tlascala. Cholula was the Olmec capital, a flourishing city celebrated particularly for its lofty pyramid crowned with a magnificent temple built in honor of Quetzalcoatl. Teotihuacan within the valley of Anáhuac had long been as it long continued to be the religious centre of all the Nahua nations. Here kings and priests were elected, ordained, and buried. Hither flocked pilgrims from every direction to consult the oracles, to worship in the temples of the sun and moon, and to place sacrificial offerings on the altars of their deities. The sacred city was ruled by the long-haired priests of the Sun, famous for their austerity and for their wisdom. Through the hands of these priests, as the Spanish writers tell us, yearly offerings were made of the first fruits of all their fields; and each year at harvest-time a solemn festival was celebrated, not unattended by human sacrifice. It is true that the Spanish authorities in their descriptions of Teotihuacan and the ceremonies there performed, refer for the most part to the Toltec rather than the pre-Toltec period; but it has been seen in the preceding chapter that this city rose to its position as the religious centre of the Nahuas in Mexico long before the appearance of the Toltecs, and there is no evidence of any essential change in its priesthood, or the nature of its theocratic rule.374 No national name is applied in tradition to the people that dwelt in Teotihuacan at this period, although the Totonacs claim to have built the pyramids before they were driven eastward by Chichimec tribes. Tabasco, Vera Cruz, and Tamaulipas were occupied by Xicalancas, Totonacs, and Huastecs, respecting whom little more than their names is known. Southward in Oajaca were already settled the Miztecs and Zapotecs. The Otomís, a very numerous people, whose primitive history is altogether unknown, occupied a large part of the valley of Mexico, and the surrounding mountains, particularly toward the north and north-west. There were doubtless many other tribes in Mexico when the later Nahua nations came, particularly in the north and west, which tribes were driven out, at least from the most desirable locations, subjected, or converted and partially civilized by the new-comers; but such tribes have left no traces in history.375

ANÁHUAC IN THE SIXTH CENTURY

During the sixth and seventh centuries we must imagine Anáhuac and the adjoining territory on the north and west, for a broad but unknown extent, as being gradually occupied by numerous Nahua nations of varying power and numbers and of varying degrees of civilization. Some were originally or soon became in their new homes wild hunting tribes, powerful but rude, the terror of their neighbors; others settled in the fertile valleys, lived by agriculture, and retained much of their original culture. The more powerful nations, probably the most advanced in culture as well, established themselves in and about the valley of Mexico, where their capitals were soon flourishing cities, and where all branches of aboriginal art received more attention than elsewhere and were correspondingly developed. These central peoples became known, perhaps at once, but more probably at a later date, as Toltecs, a name which, whatever its original derivation and signification, became synonymous with all that is skillful and excellent in art. On the other hand the outside Nahua nations, many of which had lost in their new life something of the true Nahua polish, and all of whom were regarded more or less as barbarians by their more favored brothers of the lake shores, were from this time known as Chichimecs, whatever may have been the original application of that name.

THE MIXCOHUAS

It has been remarked that little or nothing is known of the events that occurred during these two centuries, during which the whole western section of the country came into possession of numerous Nahua tribes, as the eastern section had done long before, and as the whole country remained down to the Spanish Conquest; for there is little evidence of any subsequent migrations from or into Mexico. Ixtlilxochitl and the Spanish writers, Torquemada, Vetancvrt, Clavigero, Duran, Veytia, and the rest, confine their attention to the Toltecs proper, their migration from Huehue Tlapallan to Tulancingo, which I have already narrated, their subsequent removal to Tollan, the establishment of their monarchy, and the succession of their kings. According to these authors, the Toltecs met no opposition, Tollan had no rivals nor allied capitals. Brasseur de Bourbourg, however, finds in the Codex Chimalpopoca, already alluded to,376 and the Memorial de Culhuacan,377 another similar chronologic record in the Nahua language, a slight account of some of the other nations that settled in Anáhuac at this period, even prior to the establishment of the Toltecs at Tollan. These two documents are the chief authorities for the whole Toltec period, and since neither of them has ever been published, nothing remains but to accept the version given by the abbé.378 The Mixcohuas were the first of the new tribes that came into notice in the annals. They first appear at Chalchiuhapan, afterwards Tlascala, but soon present themselves before the priests of Teotihuacan to receive their sanction and become 'vassals of the Sun.' Faithless to the vows taken at the sacred city, the new-comers, instead of establishing themselves peaceably in the land, proved at first a torment to the older inhabitants and a source of great anxiety to the priests who had encouraged their coming; but the first bands of Mixcohuas were finally subdued and forced to submit to the requirements of the priests of the Sun by the aid of other succeeding but kindred bands of Chichimecs. Thus the first epoch of Nahua occupation was one of strife, during which the name of Mixcohuatl, or Mixcohuatl Mazatzin, 'the hunter,' is most prominent; together with those of Xiuhnel and Mimich, who defeat the Olmecs at Huitzilapan. The united bands under Mixcohuatl are known in the tradition as Chichimec Culhuas, the founders of the city of Culhuacan on the lake shore, who in a period of sixteen years – from 670 to 686, according to the authorities – became masters of nearly the whole region south and east of the lakes.379 At about the same time the province of Quauhtitlan, 'land of forests,' north-west of the lakes, seems to have been occupied by another Chichimec nation – for all are known in the traditions as Chichimecs whenever they are alluded to as coming from without the valley, but become good Toltecs as soon as they acquire a degree of power within its limits. Chicon Tonatiuh, 'seven suns,' is named as the leader of this nation, and the chief cities of the province were Huehuetocan, 'city of old men,' and Macuexhuacan, 'city of necklaces.'

FOUNDATION OF TOLLAN

Meanwhile the exiles from Huehue Tlapallan were tarrying at Tulancingo, where they had arrived toward the end of the seventh century,380 and where – contrary to the advice of their prophet Hueman, if we may credit the tradition – weary with their long wanderings, they lived from sixteen to twenty years in a house which they built sufficiently large to accommodate them all. During their stay they sent out parties to make settlements in the adjoining territory, as had been their custom wherever they had stopped in their long migration. Finally they listened to the counsels of the venerable Hueman, and, still under the command of their seven chiefs, transferred their home to Xocotitlan on the river Quetzalatl, since called Tula, Tullanatl, or Montezuma, where they founded the city of Tollan,381 where now stands the little village of Tula, about thirty miles north-west of the city of Mexico. According to Brasseur the Otomí city that stood here before the coming of the Toltecs was called Mamhéni. It cannot be supposed that the Otomís yielded up their fertile valley to the strangers without a struggle; but the relation of this struggle like that of many a subsequent one in which the Toltecs must have engaged in order to establish and maintain their power, seems to have been intentionally omitted in the native annals as recorded by the Spanish writers.

During the first six years of their stay in the valley of the Quetzalatl, the Toltecs gave their attention to the building of the new city, and the careful cultivation of the surrounding lands; at least such is the account given by Ixtlilxochitl and those who have followed him; but, according to Brasseur's interpretation, they spent the six years in the conquest of the province and siege of the ancient city which they re-named Tollan. Up to this time the exiles from Huehue Tlapallan had lived under the command of the rebel princes Chalcaltzin and Tlacamihtzin with their five companions acting as chiefs of the different families,382 but all acting under the directions of Hueman the prophet. The great age attributed to both prophet and chiefs, who for over a century at the least had directed the wanderings of their people, does not, of course merit serious discussion, since it cannot be literally accepted. The most natural, yet a purely conjectural, interpretation of the tradition is that a line or family of chieftains is represented by its founder or by its most famous member; and that by Hueman is to be understood the powerful priesthood that ruled the destinies of the Toltecs, from the earliest days to the fall of their empire. The government was a theocratic republic, each chief directing the movements of his band in war and, so far as such direction was needed, in peace, but all yielding, through fear of the gods or veneration for their representatives, implicit obedience to the counsels of their spiritual leader in all matters of national import. But in the seventh year after their arrival in Tollan, when the republic was yet in a state of peace and prosperity, undisturbed by foreign or internal foes, the chiefs convened an assembly of the heads of families and the leading men. The object of the meeting was to effect a change in the form of their government, and to establish a monarchy. The motive of the leaders, as represented by the tradition, was a fear of future disturbances in a commonwealth governed by so many independent chieftains. They recommended the election of an absolute monarch, offering to surrender their own power and submit to the rule of whatever king the people might choose. The members of the convention acquiesced in the views of the chieftains, and approved the proposed change in their form of government. An election being next in order, a majority expressed their preference for one of the seven chiefs to occupy the new throne.

A MONARCHY ESTABLISHED

At this stage of the proceedings Hueman addresses the meeting; though entertaining the highest opinion of the character, ability, and patriotism of the candidates proposed, he deems it his duty to oppose their election. He reminds the people that the main object of the proposed change was to secure a peaceable and independent possession of their new country; that the Chichimecs had pursued and already caused them much trouble; that much was to be feared from their confirmed hostility; that their foes were not far distant, and would very likely invade the country at no very distant day. He recommended as the most efficient means of avoiding future strife, that an embassy with rich presents be sent to the Chichimec monarch, asking for a son or other near relative who should be crowned king of the Toltecs. An express stipulation must, however, be required on the part of the Chichimec king that the Toltecs should ever be a perfectly free and independent people, owing no allegiance whatever to the Chichimecs, although the two powers would enter into an alliance for mutual defense and assistance. The advice of the aged and venerated counsellor was of course accepted without objection; in fact, as pictured by the Spanish writers, Toltec history is for the most part but a record of sage counsels of wise rulers cheerfully acquiesced in by an appreciative and obliging people. Ambassadors of the highest rank, laden with gifts of value, were dispatched by the shortest routes to the court of Huehue Tlapallan – notwithstanding the implied vicinity of some Chichimec nations – where Icauhtzin383 occupied the throne. The mission was entirely successful. The second son of the king, still a young man, whose name in his own country is unknown, was with the required stipulations, brought back by the embassy and crowned at Tollan under the name of Chalchiuh Tlatonac,384 'shining precious stone.'

The young king, by reason of his fine personal appearance, his character, intelligence and amiability, seems to have greatly pleased from the first the people over whom he was called to rule. The events related above, the settlement at Tollan and the connection of the first king, must be attributed to the first quarter of the eighth century, between 710 and 720.385 Immediately after the accession of the young monarch, a law was established by him and his counsellors to the effect that no king should reign more than fifty-two years, but at the expiration of this term should abdicate in favor of his eldest son,386 whom he might, however, still serve as adviser. Should the king die before the allotted time had elapsed, it was provided that the state should be ruled during the unexpired term by magistrates chosen by the people. In addition to the inherent improbability of such extraordinary legislation, it should be noted that subsequent events, even as related by Ixtlilxochitl, do not in all cases agree with it. Its meaning can only be conjectured; it is noticeable, however, that the time allotted to each reign was exactly a cycle of fifty-two years, and it is not altogether unlikely that a custom prevailed of alluding in the pictured annals to each cycle by the name of the most famous king whose reign fell within the period. The next event, and the only one particularly recorded in the reign of Chalchiuh Tlatonac, was his marriage. Realizing the importance of providing for heirs that the dynasty might be perpetuated, he left the choice of a wife entirely to his subjects, much to their satisfaction, as indicating a desire on the part of royalty to please the people. The choice fell upon a beautiful daughter of Acapichtzin. The latter had himself been a favorite candidate for royal honors when a kingdom was first proposed, and was thus rewarded by seeing his daughter raised to the dignity of first Toltec queen. The Olmec, Xicalanca, and other Toltec nations had voluntarily given their allegiance to the monarch of Tollan, who reigned long and prosperously for fifty-two years, when he died and was buried in the chief temple in 7 Acatl, or about 771 A.D.387

THE KINGDOM OF TOLLAN

Thus in the record preserved by the Spanish writers, all participation in the new monarchy by other Chichimec Toltec tribes than those in and about Tollan, is altogether ignored. The Olmecs and other pre-Toltec nations are represented as having voluntarily offered their allegiance, new towns founded by colonists sent out from Tollan and Tulancingo became of course tributary to the new kingdom, and it is even admitted that powerful Chichimec nations were established not far distant, and were regarded with some anxiety in view of probable future events until the danger was averted by the selection of a Chichimec prince as king, and the consequent transformation of their rivals into allies. The absence of any further mention of these allied and friendly nations throughout the whole period of Toltec history is certainly most extraordinary, and might be sufficient in itself to arouse a suspicion that in the records from which this account was drawn the kingdom of Tollan was given unmerited prominence, while its allies and rivals were intentionally denied their share in the glories of the Toltec empire. This suspicion seems to be to a considerable extent confirmed by the two Nahua documents already referred to.388 These authorities relate substantially the same course of events as the others, and refer them to approximately the same date; they tell us of the original theocratic republic ruled by independent chieftains who were subordinate to a central sacerdotal power; the determination finally reached to adopt a monarchical form of government; and the choice of a king, who does not seem to have been one of the tribal chieftains. But they attribute these acts to several more or less closely allied nations, of which that established at Tollan was only one, and not the chief. The sacerdotal supremacy attributed to the priesthood of Tollan under the name of Hueman, was really exercised by the priests of the sun at Teotihuacan; there were the deliberations held; and there probably did the first king receive the rites of coronation. The leading nation in Anáhuac at the time was that of the Chichimec Culhuas under Mixcohuatl Mazatzin; those at Tollan and Quauhtitlan, and perhaps others whose name has not been preserved, having been less powerful allies. The choice of the chiefs fell upon Nauhyotl, or Nauhyotzin, as the first Toltec king, and having been crowned probably at Teotihuacan, he established his capital at Culhuacan, then, as for a long time after the metropolis of Anáhuac, in 11 Calli, or 721 A.D. Of Nauhyotl's family and previous rank nothing is known. Whether he was a prince high in rank in a foreign land, identical with the Chalchiuh Tlatonac of Ixtlilxochitl, or, as Brasseur conjectures, sprung from the union of a native princess of the pre-Toltec tribes and a Chichimec Culhua chief, we have no means of determining. He was the first, so far as can be known, to assume the titles Tlatoani and Topiltzin,389 both of which endured to the time of the Conquest, the former signifying 'lord' or 'monarch,' and implying the highest rank in matters temporal, as the latter in matters spiritual, corresponding very nearly with that of 'pope' in Catholic countries. The close connection between church and state in all the Nahua nations has been frequently pointed out in this work; as the Abbé Brasseur says, "the empire and the priesthood were one, and the ritual was the base of the throne. In order to firmly establish the monarchy, and ensure the fruits of their conquests, the Toltecs must rule not only the bodies but the conscience of their subjects. Where persuasion and the imposing spectacle of religious ceremonies were of no avail, violence and terror were resorted to, and insensibly the peoples of Mexico adopted the civilization of their masters together with their superstitious rites."390

KINGDOM OF QUAUHTITLAN

In 725 Chicon Tonatiuh, assumed the title of Tlatoani and became king of Quauhtitlan, probably in some degree subordinate to the king at Culhuacan. The first mention by these authorities of a king in Tollan is to the effect that Mixcohuatl Mazatzin was called to that throne in 752. Meantime one of Mixcohuatl's sons, named Texcatlipocatl, afterwards deified as Tezcatlipoca, had founded the dominion of Tezcuco, and another son, named like his father Mixcohuatl, but better known and afterwards worshiped as Camaxtli, had continued the conquests of the Mixcohuas on the eastern plateau of Huitzilapan, or Tlascala.391 In 753 Chicon Tonatiuh, who had died two years before, was succeeded in Quauhtitlan by Xiuhnel; the new king was murdered soon after by his subjects, or as the tradition has it, was stabbed through the liver by a native woman in whose arms he was sleeping. A revolt followed, by which the Toltec power in that province was temporarily overthrown by the aboriginal inhabitants, whoever they may have been. In 767 Nauhyotl, king at Culhuacan, died and was succeeded by Totepeuh, identical with Mixcohua Camaxtli, also known as Nonohualcatl, and whose father was at the time reigning at Tollan. Early in the reign of Totepeuh a wide-spread war is vaguely reported as having been waged chiefly in the regions outside the valley. In this war the original inhabitants of the country, the Toltec tribes already settled there, and newly arrived Chichimec bands are vaguely mentioned as the combatants; Xochitzin, a beautiful princess possessed of supernatural powers, or at least holding communication with the gods and regarded as an oracle, was the prime mover in this war; Huactli was the most prominent leader, in full sympathy apparently with the Toltec sovereign; and at the end of the strife Huactli married Xochitzin and became king of the re-established dominion of Quauhtitlan in 804. Thirteen years later after a long reign Mixcohuatl Mazatzin, king of Tollan, died. He had been a very famous warrior, one of the most prominent of all the Toltec chieftains in Anáhuac, and was in after years worshiped as one of the gods of war.392 His successor was Huetzin, whom Brasseur conjectures to have been a son of the late king and identical with Tezcatlipoca.