The Expanding Polity: Patterns of the Territorial Expansion of the Post-Classic Señorio of Tlapa-Tlachinollan in the Mixteca-Nahuatl-Tlapaneca Region of Guerrero
Open Access
- Author:
- Gutiérrez, Gerardo
- Graduate Program:
- Anthropology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 03, 2002
- Committee Members:
- Kenneth Gale Hirth, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
David Lee Webster, Committee Member
Matthew Bennett Restall, Committee Member
Frances M Hayashida, Committee Member - Keywords:
- expansion
territory
Mesoamerica
Guerrero
Mixteca
Tlapa
Azoyu
Tlachinollan
Mexico - Abstract:
- The purpose of this dissertation is to study issues associated with the territorial expansion of the Altepetl of Tlapa-Tlachinollan, a middle size autochthonous Mesoamerican polity located in eastern Guerrero, Mexico. Territorial expansion is defined as the annexation of formerly independent political units into one's sovereignty by any means possible. Current interpretations of codices of Azoyú 1 and Azoyú 2 suggest that over a 221 year period (A.D. 1300-1521) Tlapa-Tlachinollan was transformed by different methods from a small political unit covering an area of 48 sq. km. into a complex polity covering an area larger than 4000 sq. km. This study traces the different strategies used by the rulers of Tlapa-Tlachinollan to compete politically and militarily at the regional level. This permits a careful study of a pattern of political domination in the region. The codices Azoyú 1 and 2 were used in the Spanish courts by 16th century Indian elites to claim political and territorial rights under the colonial system. This leaves some doubt about the historical reliablity of the recorded events. The use of several independent sources correlated with archaeological information helped to evaluate the reliablity of the primary sources and analyze the sequence and direction of the expansion and the rate of territorial growth of this polity. Archaeological and ethnohistoric evidence suggest that Tlapa-Tlachinollan's expansion was designed to control a segment of the trade-route connecting the Pacific coast with Central Mexico. Tlachinollan's growth followed the lines of minimum political costs and highest expected benefits, conquering weaker neighbors first and bypassing strong ones. The leaders of Tlapa-Tlachinollan were interested in controlling the labor and specific resources of the region which included small but highly productive irrigation lands. The results of this dissertation provide support to the argument that territorial expansion is a byproduct of the domestic affairs of the expanding polity to meet two fundamental challenges: 1) the quest for security and 2) the pursuit of wealth and satisfaction of their leaders.