Who Were the Toltecah?

WHO WERE THE TOLTECS?
By Yari

The Toltecah or Toltecah (plural for Tolteca) were an indigenous peoples comprising of the Tolteca-Chichimeca from the Northern Mexican coastal areas and the Nanolacas from Veracruz area. These two groups migrated to the area of Tula (North of Mexico City) and founded that and other neighboring cities. Tula was called Tollan by the Toltecah and lasted from about 800 to 1150 AD. Tolteca means "person form Tollan" native language of Nahautl. The Toltecah were the leaders in the arts, crafts, mystical knowledge, architecture and agriculture. This knowledge was taught to them by the Nanolacan leader and priest at the founding of Tula, Quetzalcoatl (meaning plumed or bird-serpant A Quetzal is a type of bird). The Nanolacans are the descendents of the Olmec who also lived in Veracruz region. Either the Olmecs or the Nanolacans developed the Tzolkin sacred calendar which was then used extensively by the Toltecah and still used by the Maya and the Aztecs.

The Tolteca had trading routes all the way to Guatemala where there are several Tolteca style ruins. There seems to have been several Quetzalcoatl priests and most stories have to do with the one who was overthrown by dark sorcerers (aspects of Tezcatlipoca) about 970 AD. Quetzalcoatl did not allow human sacrifice and the purpose of his overthrown appears to be to promote the practice of human sacrifice. Under Tezcatlipoca and other dark sorcerers and priests, the Tolteca adopted the practice of human sacrifice and other inhumane practices. Tollan experienced years of famine, infestation and drought after Quetzalcoatl left so the populace dispersed. Some migrated down to Tenochitlan (now Mexico city) where they who we call the "Aztecs".

Comments from Lars:
Tollan was comparable to Rome in status. The Aztecs (Aztecah) constructed themselves as successors of the Toltecah in order to achieve a certain legitimacy among other Nahuas in Central Mexico that came under Azteca rule. There is however, only a very indirect and fragile continuity between the Toltecah and the Mexicah (actual name for Aztecah). The Mexicah arrived in Central Mexico centuries after the decline of Tula and there is no direct connection at all between them, although some of the peoples that were conquered and colonized by the Mexicah in the 14th and 15th centuries had some more or less justified claims to be descendent of the Toltecah.

Azteca (or AZTECATL) means "person from Aztlan" and refers to the mythical ancestors of the people we are used to think of as Aztecah today and not really the Mexicah (the inhabitants of Mexico-Tenochtitlan). The term Aztec was not in use until late in the 18th century, and became common only in the 19th century. Until then, the Aztecah were referred to as Mexicans in all European languages but after the independence of Mexico also other people without any indigenous ancestry came to be referred to as Mexicans and it suddenly became necessary to distinguish between the pre-conquest inhabitants of Mexico Tenochtitlan and the contemporary citizens of the Mexican republic. Therefore the term Aztec became increasingly common. But even today, most Nahuas refer to their language as "Mexicano" rather than Nahuatl. 99% of the Nahuatl speaking peoples however, were never descendants of the Aztecah either... It is therefore, sometimes very unfair to refer to Nahuas in general as Aztecs, especially since most contemporary Nahuas are the descendants of peoples who were brutally conquered, abused and colonized by the Azteca empire. It is like calling a Native American or Afro American in contemporary USA "British" because they speak English... Imagine what kind of an outrage that would lead to... If you talk about Nahuatl speaking peoples in general, use NAHUA and if you talk about the inhabitants of Mexico Tenochtitlan specifically, use MEXICAH, please....

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