Toltec Influence In Mesoamerica

For centuries, historians have pored over written and archaeological records of pre-Conquest Mesoamerica trying to form a coherent historical narrative of the region before the Europeans arrived. However, many historians have used documents and archaeological interdependently, instead of independently. This methodological failure has resulted in revisionist history and the contortion of dates and stories in a flawed attempt to make a narrative functional and linear. Stories turned into myths, which turned into legends; all where supported in their own ways by altered documents from either the Aztec period or the post-Conquest period, resulting in opaque evidence. Specifically, the Toltecs have become embroiled in the historiographical debate between scholars, and their role in the Mesoamerican world
has become a point of contention. Despite the ongoing historical discourse and true nature of the Toltec empire being unclear, their culture permeated the Yucatan and the valley of Mexico regions, tying the people of seemingly polarized domains together culturally, creating a unifying force in Mesoamerica. The Post Classic Period (900CE-1100CE) witnessed the rise of the Toltecs out of the successive declines of Teotihuacan and the southern lowland Maya. Populations were travelling and mixing throughout Mesoameria until they eventually coalesced in cities. Prior to the founding of Tula, the Toltec people resided in Colhuacan under the leadership of Mixcoatl, the “Cloud Serpent.” Once Mixcoatl’s son, Topiltzin (b.935CE or 947CE), came to power, he moved the Toltecs from Colhuacan to Tula and created a federation of cities under Tula’s dominion. The Toltecs thrived in the region until droughts and civil war began to erode the societal structure in Tula. Humac, the ruler of the Toltecs around 1156 or 1168, transferred the capital to Chapultepec which is near the future site of Tenochtitlan. The Toltecs that remained in Tula lingered there for a few years, but eventually abandoned the former capital and migrated to Cholula. The great Toltec diaspora, which would be the main source of unification throughout Mesoamerica, had begun. The primary source of Toltec influence in the Yucatan is demonstrated through the comparison of archaeological evidence recovered at Chichén Itzá to the ruins of Tula.
As a point of clarification, the Toltecs did not settle and construct Chichén Itzá; the city existed before the Toltec diaspora. With that being said, the architectural similarities between Chichén Itzá and Tula denote a cultural link between the two, seemingly distant people. Feathered-serpent columns, chacmools, warrior columns, atlantean figures, wall panels, and other sculptural motifs which were discovered in Tula in the early twentieth century seemed to parallel those excavated in Chichén Itzá. Moreover, the Toltec presence is observed through building techniques, pottery types, artistic depictions of warriors, and small sculptural details. Even though there is mythological evidence suggesting that the flow of people went from Chichén Itzá to Tula, the material evidence recovered at both sites affirms the argument that the Toltecs were the source of inspiration. In sum, analogous to the influence on Palenque and Calakmul by Teotihucan, Chichén Itzá experienced a similar cultural force from
Tula. Concurrent to the events in Chichén Itzá, a band of nomadic outcasts, after nearly two hundred years of constant migration between 900-1100 CE, finally entered the valley of Mexico around the 1300s. These detestable newcomers, the Mexica, would rise above their neighbors, and the rest of Mesoamerica, to become the rulers of a prosperous, vibrant, and organized empire ascending in greatness upon the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. In order for the Mexica, a hated, barbaric, and relatively uncivilized lot, to become rulers of the region, they harnessed the mythological and historical power and authority of the fallen Toltec civilization. Although much of the evidence from this time period is distorted due to revisionism by the Mexica after their consolidation of power in the fifteenth century and post-conquest writings in the sixteenth century, clear connections are attempted and made by the Mexica to the preceding Toltecs. The origins of the Mexica affinity to the Toltec culture emerged from their shared sense of migration which ultimately led both groups into the valley of Mexico. During this period, the shores of Lake Texcoco teemed with various migrants groups from all over Mesoamerica and the northwest. These people formed their own communities, but disagreements over scarce resource inevitably led to disagreements and skirmishes between the factions. As mentioned earlier, the remnants of the Toltec empire were present around Lake Texcoco in the cities of Colhuacan and Chapultapec. The Mexica migrants, who arrived late to the region, were in search of arable land and were unsuccessful thus far. However, the Colhuacans observed tenacity among the Mexica and felt pity for the vagrants, so they offered them a place to settle and provided the Mexica with patronage. In the city of Colhuacan, the Mexica entered into professions of servitude, but also learned the Toltec political and social structure. The alliance quickly failed when the Mexica executed the Colhuacan princess as an offering to their gods instead of marrying her. A Colhuacan led coalition declared war on the Mexica and eventually trapped them on an island in the middle of the lake. Nevertheless, the stranded and immensely resourceful Mexica not only survived, but thrived on the island. Consequently, after adopting Toltec political and social customs, they breakout and became the dominant force in the region by 1428. In spite of their overwhelming military victory, the Mexica still lacked legitimacy and authority within the region. To counteract this shortcoming, they begin revising their own creation history in order to link themselves with the Toltec civilization. The newly conquered people around Tenochtitlan were mainly decedents from the Tula and the Toltec empire who travelled to the region during the diaspora. The elite rulers of the Mexica, the pipiltin, also claimed lineage from the Toltecs in an attempt to gain legitimacy. As newcomers to a region dominated by a cultural juggernaut like the Toltecs, the Mexica’s devotion to equating themselves, even under false pretenses, to the Toltec’s heritage speaks volumes to the amount of authority the Toltecs still possess. The rulers of the Mexica were elected by other nobles and elites, such as the pipiltin. Unlike the autonomous royalty of European monarchs, the elected rulers of the Mexica filled a different role of “chief speaker” to the gods.