Ahuitzotl ( nah,
āhuitzotl, ) was the eighth Aztec ruler, the ''
Huey Tlatoani'' of the city of
Tenochtitlan
, ; es, Tenochtitlan also known as Mexico-Tenochtitlan, ; es, México-Tenochtitlan was a large Mexican in what is now the historic center of Mexico City. The exact date of the founding of the city is unclear. The date 13 March 1325 was ...
, son of princess
Atotoztli II
Atotoztli ( nci-IPA, Atotoztli, atoˈtostɬi) or Huitzilxochtzin ( nci-IPA, Huitzilxōchtzin, witsiɬˈʃoːtʃtsin) was a daughter of the Aztec emperor Moctezuma I and Chichimecacihuatzin I, the daughter of Cuauhtototzin, the ruler of Cuauhnahuac. ...
. His name literally means "Water Thorny" and was also applied to the otter. It is also theorized that more likely, the animal called ahuitzotl is actually the
water opossum
The water opossum (''Chironectes minimus''), also locally known as the yapok (), is a marsupial of the family Didelphidae.* It is the only living member of its genus, ''Chironectes''. This semiaquatic creature is found in and near freshwater ...
, the hand symbolizing its prehensile tail, which otters notably lack.
Either Ahuitzotl or his predecessor
Tizoc
Tizocic or Tizocicatzin usually known in English as Tizoc, was the seventh ''tlatoani'' of Tenochtitlan. His name means, "He who makes sacrifices" or "He who does penance." Either Tizoc or his successor Ahuitzotl was the first ''tlatoani'' of ...
was the first ''tlatoani'' of Tenochtitlan to assume the title ''Huey Tlatoani'' ("supreme ''tlatoani''") to make their superiority over the other cities in the Triple Alliance (
Aztec Empire
The Aztec Empire or the Triple Alliance ( nci, Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ was an alliance of three Nahua peoples, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states ruled ...
) clear. Ahuitzotl was responsible for much of the expansion of the Mexica domain, and consolidated the empire's power after emulating his predecessor. He took power as Emperor in the year
7 Rabbit (1486), after the death of his predecessor and brother,
Tizoc
Tizocic or Tizocicatzin usually known in English as Tizoc, was the seventh ''tlatoani'' of Tenochtitlan. His name means, "He who makes sacrifices" or "He who does penance." Either Tizoc or his successor Ahuitzotl was the first ''tlatoani'' of ...
.
He had two sons, the kings
Chimalpilli II
Chimalpilli II (died in year 2 Técpatl) was a Tlatoani (ruler) of the Nahua ''altepetl'' (city-state) Ecatepec, in 16th-century Mesoamerica.''Moctezuma's children: Aztec royalty under Spanish rule, 1520-1700'' by Donald E. Chipman
The first kn ...
and
Cuauhtémoc
Cuauhtémoc (, ), also known as Cuauhtemotzín, Guatimozín, or Guatémoc, was the Aztec ruler ('' tlatoani'') of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521, making him the last Aztec Emperor. The name Cuauhtemōc means "one who has descended like an eagle ...
, and one daughter.
Biography
Perhaps the greatest known military leader of
pre-Columbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...
, Ahuizotl began his reign by suppressing a
Huastec Huastec can refer to either:
*Huastec people, an indigenous group of Mexico
*Huastec language (also called "Wasteko" and "Teenek"), spoken by the Huastec people
* Huastec civilization
The Huastec civilization (sometimes spelled Huaxtec or Wastek ...
rebellion, and then swiftly more than doubled the size of lands under Aztec dominance. He conquered the
Mixtec
The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec Culture w ...
,
Zapotec, and other peoples from
Pacific Coast of Mexico
The Pacific Coast of Mexico or West Coast of Mexico stretches along the coasts of western Mexico at the Pacific Ocean and its Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez).
Geography
Baja California Peninsula
On the western Baja California Peninsula coas ...
down to the western part of
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
. Ahuizotl also supervised a major rebuilding of Tenochtitlan on a grander scale including the expansion of the Great Pyramid or
Templo Mayor
The (Spanish: Main Temple) was the main temple of the Mexica people in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. Its architectural style belongs to the late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. The temple was called ' in ...
in the year
8 Reed (1487).
He presided over the introduction of the
great-tailed grackle
The great-tailed grackle or Mexican grackle (''Quiscalus mexicanus'') is a medium-sized, highly social passerine bird native to North and South America. A member of the family Icteridae, it is one of 10 extant species of grackle and is closely r ...
into the Valley of Mexico, the earliest documented case of human-mediated bird introduction in the Western Hemisphere.
Ahuizotl died in the year
10 Rabbit (1502) and was succeeded by his nephew,
Moctezuma II.
Ahuizotl took his name from the
animal ahuizotl, which the Aztecs considered to be a legendary creature in its own right rather than a mere mythical representation of the king.
In January
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
the
INAH proposed moving the statues of Ahuizotl and
Itzcóatl
Itzcoatl ( nci-IPA, Itzcōhuātl, it͡sˈkoːwaːt͡ɬ, "Obsidian Serpent", ) (1380–1440) was the fourth king of Tenochtitlan, and the founder of the Aztec Empire, ruling from 1427 to 1440. Under Itzcoatl the Mexica of Tenochtitlan threw off ...
, known as the ''Indios Verdes,'' from the ''Parque del Mestizaje'' in
Gustavo A. Madero, Mexico City
Gustavo A. Madero is the northernmost borough (''demarcación territorial'') of Mexico City.
History
Founded as "Villa de Guadalupe" in 1563, it became the city of "Villa de Guadalupe Hidalgo" in 1828, and finally a ''delegación'' in 1931. It wa ...
to the
Paseo de la Reforma
Paseo de la Reforma (translated as "Promenade of the Reform") is a wide avenue that runs diagonally across the heart of Mexico City. It was designed at the behest of Emperor Maximilian by Ferdinand von Rosenzweig during the era of the Secon ...
. “The transfer means a reading of the urban space, recovering the historical discourse that gave rise to the formation of a set of monuments and roundabouts on Paseo de la Reforma, conceived at the end of the 19th century, with the idea of honoring the Reformation, a great transformation that it meant for Mexico, but to recover a historical reading that began precisely by underlining the Mexican splendor and the importance of the pre-Hispanic or Mesoamerican antecedents of our country ”, Diego Prieto, director of INAH said.
In popular culture
Under the name Teomitl, Ahuitzotl is a primary character in the ''Obsidian and Blood'' series by
Aliette de Bodard
Aliette de Bodard is a French-American speculative fiction writer.
Writing
de Bodard published her first short story in 2006. In 2007, she was a winner of Writers of the Future, and in 2009 was nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for Best ...
, which are set in the last year of the reign of
Axayacatl
Axayacatl (; nci, āxāyacatl ; es, Axayácatl ; meaning "face of water"; –1481) was the sixth of the of Tenochtitlan and Emperor of the Aztec Triple Alliance.
Biography
Early life and background
Axayacatl was a son of the princess Ato ...
and the first years of the reign of
Tizoc
Tizocic or Tizocicatzin usually known in English as Tizoc, was the seventh ''tlatoani'' of Tenochtitlan. His name means, "He who makes sacrifices" or "He who does penance." Either Tizoc or his successor Ahuitzotl was the first ''tlatoani'' of ...
.
In the historical fiction novel, "Aztec" by Gary Jennings, Ahuitzotl is a prominent character. Set in the time just before the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors, it accounts his construction of the many expansions of Tenochtitlan, and wars of conquest, trade, and proclivities.
References
Bibliography
* Townsend, Richard F. (2000) ''The Aztecs''. revised ed. Thames and Hudson, New York.
* Hassig, Ross (1988) ''Aztec Warfare: Imperial Expansion and Political Control''. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahuizotl
Aztec nobility
Tenochca tlatoque
Year of birth unknown
15th-century births
1502 deaths
15th-century monarchs in North America
15th-century indigenous people of the Americas
15th century in the Aztec civilization
1500s in the Aztec civilization
Nobility of the Americas