Categories
Mesoamerica

Aztec History 101

To this day the origins of the Aztec people are still unknown, but its believed that they started as a northern tribe of hunter-gatherers who later adopted their name from their homeland Aztlan, or “White Land” in Nahuatl which happens to be the Aztec language. The Aztecs were known too as the Tenochca which is believed why the name of their capital city is Tenochtitlan or also known as the Mexica which comes from the name of the city that replaced Tenochtitlan, as well as the name for the entire country. The Aztecs appeared in Mesoamerica–as the south-central region of the pre-Columbian Mexico in the early 13th century. Their arrival came after, or perhaps helped bring the fall of the previous civilization, the Toltecs.

The legend says the Aztec tribe pilgrimage for three centuries looking for an eagle perched on a cactus devouring a snake, as a sign given by their god Huitzilopoztli meaning they had arrived to the promised land.