''Cuāuhtlahtoāni'' or ''Cuäuhtlahtoh'' is a titular office of governorship and political administration, used within certain city-states and provinces among the

Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...

s of

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

central Mexico in the Late Postclassic period. The office of ''cuauhtlatoani'' (a

Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

word meaning approximately, "the one who speaks like eagle") carried the connotation of "military ruler" or "appointed administrator". During the rise of the

Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire, also known as the Triple Alliance (, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ or the Tenochca Empire, was an alliance of three Nahuas, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states rul ...

the title was given by the ruling

Mexica The Mexica (Nahuatl: ; singular ) are a Nahuatl-speaking people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of the Triple Alliance, more commonly referred to as the Aztec Empire. The Mexica established Tenochtitlan, a settlement on an island ...

- Tenochca to the governors they imposed on conquered city-states in central provinces. A

Tlatoani ''Tlahtoāni'' ( , "ruler, sovereign"; plural ' ) is a historical title used by the dynastic rulers of (singular ''āltepētl'', often translated into English as "city-state"), autonomous political entities formed by many pre-Columbian Nahuatl- ...

("the one who speaks") was an independent ruler of an Aztec/Mexica polity (

altepetl The ( , plural ''altepeme'' or ''altepemeh'') was the local, ethnically-based political entity, usually translated into English as "city-state", of pre-Columbian Nahuatl-speaking societiesSmith 1997 p. 37 in the Americas. The ''altepetl'' was ...

). Cuauhtlatoani were appointed by a Tlatoani to rule conquered areas or areas whose independence was lost such as the city Tlatelolco following the 1473 CE defeat of its last Tlatoani, Moquihuix, by Tenochtitlan. Tlatelolco was governed by Cuauhtlatoque until the death of Itzquauhtzin in 1520 CE. The title is also used in some histories compiled in the early post-conquest era, when referring to the (semi-legendary) leaders of the Mexica (the later Aztecs) during their migrations from the north into the

Valley of Mexico The Valley of Mexico (; ), sometimes also called Basin of Mexico, is a highlands plateau in central Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico was a centre for several pre-Columbian civilizations including Teotihuacan, ...

, before their founding of

Tenochtitlan , also known as Mexico-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, but the date 13 March 1325 was chosen in 1925 to celebrate the 600th annivers ...

and the subsequent expansion into empire. The early 17th-century

Nahua The Nahuas ( ) are a Uto-Nahuan ethnicity and one of the Indigenous people of Mexico, with Nahua minorities also in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. They comprise the largest Indigenous group in Mexico, as well as ...

historian

Chimalpahin Domingo Francisco de San Antón Muñón Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin (1579, Amecameca, Chalco1660, Mexico City), usually referred to simply as Chimalpahin or Chimalpain, was a Nahua annalist from Chalco. His Nahuatl names () mean "Runs Swiftl ...

wrote of a succession of ''cuauhtlatoani'' office holders during this pre-foundational period:Pp. 80-112. * Cuauhtlequetzqui (1116-1153) *Acacihtli (1153-1167) *Citlalitzin (1167-1182) *Tzimpantzin (1182-1184) *Tlazohtzin (1184-1188) *Iztacmixcoatzin or Iztacmixcohuatl (1188-1233) * Tozcuecuextli (1233-1272)

Notes

References

* * * * Aztec History of the Aztecs Titles and offices of Native American leaders Nahuatl words and phrases {{mesoamerica-stub