Tlaxcaltec
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Tlaxcalteca were an indigenous group of Nahua ethnicity that inhabited the Kingdom of Tlaxcala located in what is now the state of Tlaxcala, Mexico. Tlaxcala means "place of the tortillas".
The Tlaxcalteca were never conquered by the Aztecs. The Aztecs allowed them to maintain their independence so that they could participate in ritual warfare with them. They served as allies to Hernán Cortés and his fellow Spanish conquistadors, and were instrumental in the invasion of Tenochtitlan, capital of the Aztec empire, helping the Spanish reach the Valley of Anahuac and providing a key contingency of the invasion force.
Due to their alliance with the Spanish Crown in the conquest of Mexico, the Tlaxcalteca enjoyed some privileges among the indigenous peoples of Mexico, including the right to carry firearms, ride horses, hold noble title and to rule their settlements autonomously.
The Tlaxcalteca were also instrumental in the establishment of a number of settlements in Northern Mexico, where conquest of local tribes by the Spaniards had proved unfruitful. They were taken to areas inhabited by nomadic bellicose tribes (known as the Chichimeca) to serve as examples for the local indigenous groups of sedentary model subjects of the Spanish Crown and to work in mines and haciendas.
The Tlaxacltec colonies in the Chichimeca included settlements in the modern Mexican states of San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, Durango, Coahuila, Nuevo León (Nueva Tlaxcala de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Horcasistas — today known as Guadalupe —, Santiago de las Sabinas — today known as Sabinas Hidalgo —, and Jalisco (Villa de Nueva Tlaxcala de Quiahuistlán — today known as Colotlán.
