Amula was a colonial province of
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...
from the mid-16th century until 1821. It corresponded with the modern municipalities of
Zapotitlán de Vadillo
Zapotitlán de Vadillo is a town and municipality, in Jalisco in central-western Mexico. The municipality covers an area of 305.8 km2.
As of 2005, the municipality had a total population of 6,345.
The indigenous inhabitants of this area orig ...
,
Tuxcacuesco,
Cuautitlán de García Barragán and
Tolimán.
Prior to the Spanish incursion the area was split between the states of
Amole,
Cozolapa,
Tuxcacuexco and possibly
Tzapotitlan. Amole also had two dependent states,
Copalla and
Teotitlan.
The indigenous inhabitants primarily spoke languages of the
western Otomi group which was distinct from the language of the
Otomi people
The Otomi (; ) are an Indigenous people of Mexico inhabiting the central Mexican Plateau (Altiplano) region.
The Otomi are an Indigenous people of the Americas who inhabit a discontinuous territory in central Mexico. They are linguistically rel ...
of modern
Hidalgo
Hidalgo may refer to:
People
* Hidalgo (nobility), members of the Spanish nobility
* Hidalgo (surname)
Places
Mexico
:''Most, if not all, named for Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753–1811)''
* Hidalgo (state), in central Mexico
* Hidalgo, Coah ...
although it may have been related. The main languages were
Amultecan,
Bapame,
Pino
Pino or Piño may refer to:
People
Surname
* Danny Pino (born 1974), American actor
* Domenico Pino (1760–1826), Italian general of the Napoleonic Wars
* Fernando Solanas (1936–2020), aka "Pino" Solanas, Argentine filmmaker
* Frank J. Pi ...
and
Zapoteco (not to be confused with the
Zapotec languages
The Zapotec languages are a group of around 50 closely related indigenous languages of Mesoamerica, indigenous Mesoamerican languages that constitute a main branch of the Oto-Manguean languages, Oto-Manguean language family and are spoken by th ...
of
Oaxaca
Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...
). Amole and its neighboring states defeated
Purépecha
The Purépecha ( ) 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 derogatory term " Tarascan", an exonym, app ...
attempts to invade the area early in the 16th century.
The Spanish took over the area in 1523. By the early 1530s it was formed into the province of Amyla y Tuscacuesco although the name was shortened to just Amula. Religious change in the area was slower with the Franciscans first arriving in the 1540s but no permanent church organization formed until 1579.
Sources
*Gerhard, Peter. ''Guide to the Historical Geography of New Spain''. Cambridge: University Press, 1972. p. 46-48.
Colonial Mexico
Provinces of New Spain
History of Jalisco
Historical geography of Mexico