Tariácuri (fl. ca. 1350) was a culture hero of the

Purépecha people The Purépecha (endonym pua, P'urhepecha ) are a group of indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of Michoacán, Mexico, mainly in the area of the cities of Cherán and Pátzcuaro. They are also known by the pejorative "Tarascan ...

and one of the foremost rulers of the

Purépecha Empire The Purépecha Empire, also known by the term Iréchikwa, was a polity in pre-Columbian Mexico. Its territory roughly covered the geographic area of the present-day Mexican state of Michoacán, as well as parts of Guanajuato, Guerrero, and Jalisc ...

. Traditionally hailed as the state's founder, Tariácuri is credited with growing the Purépecha Empire from an individual city-state to the dominant power of the region.

Biography

Tariácuri (meaning "strong wind") was born into the ''uacúsecha'' clan, one of the most powerful families of the

Lake Pátzcuaro Lake Pátzcuaro (Spanish: ''Lago de Pátzcuaro'') is a lake in the municipality of Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico. Lake Pátzcuaro lies in an endorheic basin, which does not drain to the sea. A watershed area of 929 square kilometres drains into ...

basin, in the fourteenth century CE. His father and predecessor, Pauacume II, ruled as the lord of

Pátzcuaro Pátzcuaro () is a city and municipality located in the state of Michoacán. The town was founded sometime in the 1320s, at first becoming the capital of the Purépecha Empire and later its ceremonial center. After the Spanish took over, Vasco de ...

. Tariácuri's career originated after a prophetic dream in which the sun god Curicaueri, the patron deity of the ''uacúsecha'', sent him forth to create and expand a unified Purépecha state. To put this ambition into practice, he first joined forces with allied cities, including Urichu, Erongarícuaro, Pechátaro, and Jarácuaro. He then began expanding the state's territory, first to the southwest and then throughout the entire Pátzcuaro basin. Tariácuri's military record was not perfectly successful – at one point, "enemies from Curinguaro" are described as attacking his homeland and forcing his nephews into flight – but this seems to have been a temporary setback, after which Tariácuri managed to resume his program of expansion.Roth-Seneff et al., 123–24. After Tariácuri's death, his domain was divided among several of his descendants: his son Hiquingaje received rulership of Pátzcuaro, while Tariácuri's nephews Tangaxoan and Hiripan were granted Tzintzuntzan and

Ihuatzio Ihuatzio, which translates to "Land of Coyotes" in the Purépecha language, is a town located near Lake Pátzcuaro in the Mexican state of Michoacán. It was once the capital of the Purépecha kingdom. It was the capital until the change to Tzin ...

respectively. They would follow Tariácuri's pattern, however, by maintaining an alliance and continuing efforts to expand the Purépecha state.

References

{{s-end 14th-century monarchs in North America Purépecha people Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown