Fray Diego Durán's History Of The Indiess Of New Spain

The Mexican people of central Mexico had a rather interesting start to their empire. The Spanish missionary Fray Diego Durán authored his book History of the Indies of New Spain in order to explain some of the events that helped to establish the Aztec empire along with some of the trials and tribulations that both stunted and aided the growth of the Aztec Empire. Durán successfully explains many aspects of the Mexica’s rise to power such as how they created alliances with other altepetl despite the hostility of others, how a legitimate dynastic line and altepetl were established, how the alliances the Mexica made crumbled, and the steps taken by the Mexica to make Tenochtitlan the most powerful altepetl in the Basin of Mexico.

The Mexica ingratiated

Many of the alterpetl within the Basin of Mexico believed that the Toltecs of Tula were a superior race of people and as such held those who had claimed to be descended from the Toltecs in high regard. This common respect for the Toltecs had led the Teomamas of Tenochtitlan to seek a ruler that meets that requirement in order to be seen as a legitimate ruler by the other people in the basin. The Colhua people of Colhuacan were believed to have been descended from the Toltecs and so the Teomamas selected Acamapichtli who was half Colhua was chosen to be the first tlahtoani of Tenochtitlan (Durán, p. 52). The legitimacy of Acamapichtli’s line was further established by him marrying a woman from Colhuacan named Ilancueitl (Durán, p. 52). This allowed the Mexica to double down on the Toltec heritage present within the bloodline of their rulers. Although the original tlahtoani of Tenochtitlan had been elected, all future tlahtoque of the city-state would be chosen from Acamapichtli’s descendants which effectively established a dynastic line for the Mexica to operate with. Making Tenochtitlan a legitimate alterpet within the Basin of Mexico took a greater amount of effort than establishing the dynastic line. At the beginning of Tenochtitlan’s existence, the primary way that the Mexica had managed to have their existence recognized by other

Overall, many of the things previously mentioned helped Tenochtitlan to rise to power within the Basin of Mexico. Through forming various alliances with other apetl in the basin, the Mexica acquired a steady foundation on which Tenochtitlan was built. An ingenious agricultural innovation, the chinampas allowed the Aztecs to produce a much greater amount of food than if they had farmed on standard farmland, which promoted the growth of their city a great amount. Establishing their alterpetl’s legitimacy along with the legitimacy of their dynastic line was an important step in gaining power and influence throughout the Basin of Mexico as it allowed the Mexica to view their own political entity rather than an offshoot of another alterpetl. When the alliances the Mexica made within the basin ruptured, the Aztecs began forming military alliances such as the Aztec Triple Alliance with Texcoco and Tlacopan. This alliance helped defeat and annex Azcapotzalco into the Aztec Empire along with the other alterpetl that the Aztecs would defeat. Military conquest made possible by the Aztec Triple Alliance was the final step in making Tenochtitlan the most powerful alterpetl in the