Coixtlahuaca

Coixtlahuaca (Chocho: Nguichee; Mixtec: Yodzocoo; Nahuatl: Coaixtlahuacan) was a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican state in the Mixteca Alta (now San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca in the Mexican state of Oaxaca). Coixtlahuaca was a multi-ethnic polity, inhabited by both Chochos and Mixtecs. In addition to the Chocho and Mixtec languages, Nahuatl was used as a lingua franca. Its name means "plain of snakes". The state also exerted power over the Cuicatecs.^[2]

Coixtlahuaca was defeated by the Aztecs under Moctezuma I in the 15th century, and the previous ruler Ātōnaltzin was subsequently executed. Thereafter, it became the capital of a tributary province that covered the entire Nochixtlan valley as well as what is now the Cuicatlán District. The Aztec decision to give it jurisdiction over the Mixtec towns to the south may have been part of a strategy to counter their political power. Coixtlahuaca was home to an Aztec garrison and governor, and paid tribute of decorated clothing, warrior costumes, shields, greenstone strings, quetzal feathers, cochineal, gold dust, and a feathered headpiece. Early tribute consisted of mantas, chili, cotton, sea salt, dyes, and possibly gourd bowls. Coixtlahuaca had a large market and had trade ties to the Valley of Mexico, Cholula, the Oaxaca Valley, the rest of the Mixteca Alta, and the Pacific coast.^[3]

According to Hernán Cortés, envoys of Coixtlahuaca surrendered to the Spanish in September 1520. Coixtlahuaca was incorporated into New Spain as the municipality of San Juan Bautista Coixtlahuaca.

• Atonal II