Huemac II., also known as Tecpancaltzin,[IV-51] the eldest son of Totepeuh II. of Culhuacan, mounted the throne of Tollan in 994,[IV-52] at a time when that city in respect of art and high culture was at the head of the empire, although Culhuacan still retained her original political supremacy, while both Teotihuacan and Cholula were rivals in the power and fame of their respective priesthood. There are no data for assigning even approximately exact limits to the Toltec empire at this period. It is probably, however, that while the Toltec was less absolute and despotic than the Aztec power in the sixteenth century, yet it was exerted throughout fully as wide an extent of territory, including Michoacan and a broad region in the north-west never altogether subjected to the Aztec kings. The Toltec domain had been enlarged gradually by the influence of the priesthood, particularly under Ceacatl Quetzalcoatl, until there were few provinces from Tehuantepec to Zacatecas, from the North to the South Sea, which did not render a voluntary allegiance to the allied monarchs of the central region. And at the same time it cannot be believed that foreign conquest by force of arms had so small a place among the events of Toltec history as the records would imply. Huemac II., unlike the first of the same name, belonged to the sect of Quetzalcoatl, using his power to restrain the practice of human sacrifice if not altogether abolishing it in the temples of Tollan. He even seems to have added the name of Quetzalcoatl to his other royal and pontifical titles, or possibly had this title before his coronation, as high-priest of the sect at Culhuacan. The application of this title to Huemac, and that of Tezcatlipoca to the high-priest of the rival sect, has been productive of no little confusion in the record, since it is sometimes impossible to decide whether certain events should be attributed to this reign or to the time of Ceacatl and Huemac I. The new king was endowed with fine natural qualifications for his position, and enjoyed to a remarkable degree the confidence and esteem of the people. During the first year he ruled with great wisdom, speaking but little, attending most strictly to the performance of his religious duties, and always prompt in the administration of justice to his subjects of whatever station; but the old fire of religious strife, though smouldering, was yet alive and ready to be fanned into a conflagration which should consume the whole Toltec structure. The leaders of the rival sect, followers of the bloody Tezcatlipoca and bitter enemies to all followers of Quetzalcoatl, although now in the minority were constantly intriguing for the fall of Huemac. But they well knew the popularity of their hated foe, and bent all their energies to the task of dragging him down from his lofty pedestal of popular esteem, by tempting him into the commission of acts unworthy of himself as high-priest, king, and successor of the great Quetzalcoatl. A scandal was to be created; wine and women were naturally the agents to be employed; the tale is a very strange one.

Papantzin, a Toltec noble of high rank, presented himself one day at court, together with his daughter, the beautiful Xochitl,[IV-53] bearing with other gifts to the king a kind of syrup and sugar made from maguey-juice by a process of which Papantzin was the inventor. This syrup is generally spoken of as pulque, but there seems to be little reason for making a fermented liquor of 'miel prieta de maguey.'[IV-54] Whatever the nature of the syrup, it pleased the royal palate, and the lovely face and form of the young Xochitl were no less pleasing to the royal eye. The king expressed his appreciation of the new invention, and his desire to receive additional samples of the sweet preparation, at the same time telling the father that he would be pleased to receive such gifts at the hands of the daughter, who might visit him for such a purpose unattended save by a servant. Proud of the honor shown to his family, and without suspicion of evil intentions, Papantzin only a few days later sent Xochitl, accompanied by an elderly female attendant, with a new gift of maguey-syrup. The attendant was directed to await her mistress in a distant apartment of the palace, while Xochitl was introduced alone to the presence of Huemac. Bravely the maiden resisted the monarch's blandishments and protestations of ardent love, but by threats and force was compelled to yield her person to his embrace. She was then sent to the strongly-guarded palace of Palpan near the capital, and there, cut off from all communication with parents or friends, lived as the king's mistress. Her parents were notified that their daughter had been entrusted by Huemac to the care of certain ladies who would perfect her education and fit her for a prominent position among the ladies of the court and for a brilliant marriage. To Papantzin the royal manner of showing honor to his family seemed at best novel and strange, but he could suspect no evil intent on the part of the pious representative of Quetzalcoatl. New favors were subsequently shown the dishonored father, in the shape of lands and titles and promises. For three years Huemac continued his guilty amour in secret, and in the meantime, in 1002,[IV-55] a child was born, named Meconetzin, 'child of the maguey,' or at a later period Acxitl. According to the Codex Chimalpopoca the king during these three years gave himself up to the pleasures of the wine cup also, yielding to the temptations placed before him by the crafty followers of Tezcatlipoca, and during one of his drunken orgies revealed the secret of his love; but however this may have been, that secret was finally suspected; Papantzin in the disguise of a laborer visited the palace of Palpan, met his daughter with the young Meconetzin in her arms, and listened to the tale of her shame. The angry father seems to have been quieted with the promise that his daughter's son should be proclaimed heir to the throne, since the queen had borne her husband only daughters; but the scandal once suspected was spread far and wide by the priesthood of Tezcatlipoca, and the faith of the Toltecs in their saintly monarch was shaken. The queen having died, Xochitl with her young son was brought to the royal palace, and there is some reason to suppose that she was made Huemac's legitimate queen by a regular marriage. Very serious dissatisfaction, and even open hostility among the princes of highest rank, were excited by the king's actions, both on account of the shameful nature of such acts, and also because their own chance of future succession to the throne was destroyed by Huemac's avowed intention to make Acxitl his heir. Everything presaged a revolution, and the foes of Quetzalcoatl were cheered with hopes of approaching triumph. Huemac's mind was filled with trouble, which all the flattery of the court could not wholly remove, and the prospects of his family were not brightened by the fact that the young Acxitl from his birth had the physical peculiarities predicted by the prophet Hueman of olden time, in connection with such wide-spread and fatal disasters. Yet it was hoped that by careful instruction and training, even the decrees of fate might be reversed and impending disaster averted, especially as in childhood and youth prince Acxitl gave most cheering promise of future goodness and ability.[IV-56]

Another event served to increase the troubles that began to gather about the throne. It appears that Huemac by his first queen Maxio had three daughters, who were much sought in marriage, rather for motives of political ambition, perhaps, than love, by the Toltec nobles. One especially was greatly beloved by her father and none of the many aspirants to her hand found favor in her eyes. One day while walking among the flowers in the royal gardens, she came upon a man selling chile. Some of the traditions say that the pepper-vender, Toveyo,[IV-57] was Tezcatlipoca who had assumed the appearance of a plebeian; at any rate he was entirely naked and awakened in the bosom of the princess a love for which her Toltec suitors had sighed in vain. So violent was her passion as to bring on serious illness, the cause of which was told by her maids to Huemac, and the indulgent father, though very angry with Toveyo at first, finally, as the only means of restoring his daughter to health, sought out the plebeian vender of pepper and forced him, perhaps not very much against his will, to be washed and dressed and to become the husband of the love-sick princess. This marriage caused great dissatisfaction and indignation among the Toltecs; an indignation that is easily understood, however the legend be interpreted. In case a literal interpretation be accepted, the upper classes in Tollan may naturally have been shocked by the admission of a low-born peasant to the royal family; on the other hand the version given may have originated with the disappointed suitors, who gratified their spite by reviling the successful Toveyo. It is also possible that the legend symbolizes by this marriage the granting of new privileges to the lower classes against the will of the nobility; however this may be, the result was wide-spread discontent ready to burst forth in open revolt.[IV-58]

Among the disaffected lords who openly revolted against Tollan, Cohuanacotzin, Huehuetzin, Xiuhtenancaltzin, and Mexoyotzin[IV-59] are mentioned, by Ixtlilxochitl as rulers of provinces on the Atlantic, by Veytia as lords of regions extending from Quiahuiztlan (according to Brasseur, Vera Cruz) northward along the coast of the North Sea to a point beyond Jalisco. Respecting the events of this revolution of Toltec provinces thus vaguely located, we have only the continuation of Toveyo's adventures, which seems to belong to this war. The tale runs that Huemac, somewhat frightened at the storm of indignation which followed his choice of a son-in-law, sent him out to fight in the wars of Cacatepec and Coatepec, giving secret orders that he should be so stationed in battle as to be inevitably killed. The main body of the Toltec army yielded to the superior numbers of the foe and fled to Tollan, leaving Toveyo and his followers to their fate; but the latter, either by his superior skill or by his powers as a magician, notwithstanding the small force at his command, utterly routed the enemy and returned in triumph to the capital, where the king and people received him with great honors and public demonstrations of joy. For a time the kingdom seems to have remained without disturbance, and fortune once more smiled on Huemac.[IV-60]

As to the exact order in which occurred the subsequent disasters by which the Toltec empire was overthrown, the authorities differ somewhat, although agreeing tolerably well respecting their nature. Many events ascribed by Brasseur to Huemac's reign are by Veytia and others described as having happened in that of his successor. There can, however, be but little hesitation in following the chronology of the Nahua documents often referred to, in preference to that of the Spanish writers. The latter is certainly erroneous; the former at the worst is only probably so. With his returning prosperity the king seems to have returned to his evil ways while the partizans of Tezcatlipoca resumed their intrigues against him. The sorcerer assembled a mighty crowd near Tollan, and kept them dancing to the music of his drum until midnight, when by reason of the darkness and their intoxication they crowded each other off a precipice into a deep ravine, where they were turned to stone. A stone bridge was also broken by the necromancer and crowds precipitated into the river.[IV-61] Other wonderful acts of the sorcerer against the well-being of the Toltecs as related by Sahagun have been given in another volume.[IV-62] From one of the neighboring volcanoes a flood of glowing lava poured, and in its lurid light appeared frightful spectres threatening the capital. A sacrifice of captives in honor of Tezcatlipoca, was decided upon to appease the angry gods, a sacrifice which Huemac was forced to sanction. But when a young boy, chosen by lot as the first victim, was placed upon the altar and the obsidian knife plunged into his breast, no heart was found in his body, and his veins were without blood. The fetid odor exhaled from the corpse caused a pestilence involving thousands of deaths. The struggles of the Toltecs to get rid of the body have been elsewhere related.[IV-63] Next the Tlaloc divinities appeared to Huemac as he walked in the forest, and were implored by him not to take from him his wealth and his royal splendor. The gods were wroth at this petition, his apparent selfishness, and want of penitence for past sins, and they departed announcing their purpose to bring plagues and suffering upon the proud Toltecs for six years. The winter of 1018 was so cold that all plants and seeds were killed by frost, and was followed by a hot summer, which parched the whole surface of the country, dried up the streams, and even calcined the solid rocks.

Here seem to belong the series of plagues described by the Spanish writers, although attributed by them to the following reign.[IV-64] The plagues began with heavy storms of rain, destroying the ripening crops, flooding the streets of towns, continuing for a hundred days, and causing great fear of a universal deluge. Heavy gales followed, which leveled the finest buildings to the ground; and toads in immense numbers covered the ground, consuming everything edible and even penetrating the dwellings of the people. The next year unprecedented heat and drought prevailed, rendering useless all agricultural labor, and causing much starvation. Next heavy frosts destroyed what little the heat had spared, not even the hardy maguey surviving; and then came upon the land great swarms of birds and locusts and various insects. Lightning and hail completed the work of devastation, and as a result of all their afflictions Ixtlilxochitl informs us that nine hundred of every thousand Toltecs perished. Huemac and his followers were held responsible for disasters that had come upon the people; a hungry mob of citizens and strangers crowded the street of Tollan and even invaded the palace of the nobles, instigated and headed by the partizans of Tezcatlipoca; and the king was even forced at one time to abandon the city for a time. The Codex Chimalpopoca represented the long rain already referred to as having occurred at the end of six years' drought and famine, and to have inaugurated a new season of plenty. Ixtlilxochitl refers to bloody wars as among the evils of the time. All we may learn from the confused accounts, is that the Toltec empire at that period was afflicted with war, famine, and pestilence; and that these afflictions were attributed to the sins of Huemac II., by his enemies and such of the people as they could influence.

After the plagues were past, and prosperity had again begun to smile upon the land, Huemac abandoned his evil ways and gave his whole attention to promoting the welfare of his people; but he still clung with fatal obstinacy to his purpose of placing his son on the throne, and determined to abdicate immediately in favor of Acxitl. His father, king of Culhuacan, died in 1026, and the crown, to which Huemac himself, as the eldest son would seem to have been entitled, passed to Totepeuh's second son, Nauhyotl II. It is possible that Huemac consented to this concession in consideration of the support of the new king in his own projects at Tollan. After thoroughly canvassing the sentiments of his vassal lords, and conciliating the good will of the wavering by a grant of new honors and possessions, he publicly announced his intention to place Acxitl on the throne. The immediate consequence was a new revolt, and from an unexpected source, since it was abetted if not originated by the followers of Quetzalcoatl, who deemed Acxitl, the child of adulterous love, an unworthy successor of their great prophet. Maxtlatzin was the most prominent of the many nobles who espoused the rebel cause, and Quauhtli was the choice of the malcontents for the rank of high-priest of Quetzalcoatl. To such an extremity was the cause of Huemac and his son reduced that they were forced to a compromise with the two leaders of the revolt, who consented to support the cause of Acxitl on condition of being themselves raised to the highest rank after the son of Huemac, and of forming with him a kind of triumvirate by which the kingdom should be ruled. All the authorities agree respecting this compromise, although only the documents consulted by Brasseur speak of open revolt as the cause which led to it. It is evident, however, that nothing but the most imminent danger could have induced the king of Tollan to have entered into so humiliating an arrangement. Immediately after the consummation of the new alliance, the 'child of the maguey' was crowned king and high-priest with great ceremony in 1029, under the title of Topiltzin Acxitl Quetzalcoatl. Topiltzin is the name by which he is usually called by the Spanish writers, although it was in reality, like that of Quetzalcoatl, a title held by several kings. Acxitl is the more convenient name, as distinguishing him clearly from his father and from Ceacatl Quetzalcoatl. Huemac and Queen Xochitl retired ostensibly from all connection with public affairs.[IV-65]

The three lords of distant provinces, Huehuetzin, Xiuhtenancaltzin, and Cohuanacotzin, who had once before rebelled against the king of Tollan, now refused their allegiance to Acxitl; but at first they for some reason, perhaps their own difficulties with the wild tribes about them, engaged in no open hostilities. The new monarch, then about forty years of age, justified the high promise of his youth, and guided by the sage counsels of his reformed father, ruled most wisely for several years, gradually gaining the confidence of his subjects. But the decrees of the gods were infallible, and Acxitl, like his father before him, yielded to temptation and plunged into all manner of lasciviousness and riotous living. So low did he fall as to make use of his position of high-priest to gratify his evil passions. His inciters and agents were still Tezcatlipoca and his crafty partisans, who persuaded ladies of every rank that by yielding to the king's embraces they would merit divine favor. The royal example was followed by both nobles and priests. High church dignitaries and priestesses of the temples consecrated to life-long chastity forgot all their vows; force was employed where persuasion failed. So openly were the requirements of morality disregarded, that the high-priestess of the Goddess of the Water, a princess of royal blood, on a pilgrimage to the temple of Quetzalcoatl at Cholula, lived openly with the chief pontiff of that city and bore him a son, who afterwards succeeded to the highest ecclesiastical rank. Vice took complete possession of society in all its classes, spreading to cities and provinces not under the immediate authority of Tollan. Public affairs were left to be managed by unscrupulous royal favorites; the prayers of the aged Huemac and Xochitl to the gods, like their remonstrances with Acxitl, were unavailing; crimes of all kinds remained unpunished; robbery and murder were of frequent occurrence; and the king was justly held responsible for all.

But Acxitl was at last brought to his senses, and his fears if not his conscience were thoroughly aroused. Walking in his garden one morning, he saw a small animal of peculiar appearance, with horns like a deer, which, having been killed, proved to be a rabbit. Shortly after he saw a huitzilin, or humming-bird, with spurs, a most extraordinary thing. Topiltzin Acxitl was familiar with the Teoamoxtli, or 'divine book,' and with Huemac's predictions; well he knew, and was confirmed in his opinion by the sages and priests who were consulted, that the phenomena observed were the tokens of final disaster. The king's reformation was sudden and complete; the priests held out hopes that the prodigies were warnings, and that their consequences might possibly be averted by prayer, sacrifice, and reform. The Spanish writers introduce at this period the series of plagues, which I have given under Huemac's reign; and Brasseur adds to the appearance of the rabbit and the humming-bird two or three of the wonderful events attributed by Sahagun to the necromancer Titlacaâon, without any reason that I know of for ascribing these occurrences to this particular time. Such were the appearance of a bird bearing an arrow in its claws and menacingly soaring over the doomed capital; the falling of a great stone of sacrifice near the present locality of Chapultepec; and the coming of an old woman selling paper flags which proved fatal to every purchaser.[IV-66] These events occurred in 1036 and the following years. The king was wholly unable to check the torrent of vice which was flowing over the land; indeed, in his desire to atone for his past faults, he seems to have resorted to such severe measures as to have defeated his own aims, converting his former friends and flatterers into bitter foes.

In the midst of other troubles came the news that Huehuetzin was marching at the head of the rebel forces towards Tollan, and was already most successful on the northern frontier. The other two lords from the gulf coasts, who had refused to acknowledge the power of Acxitl, were in league with Huehuetzin. Unable to resist this formidable army, the Toltec king was compelled to send ambassadors bearing rich presents to sue for peace,—according to the Spanish writers at the capitals of the distant rebellious provinces; but as Brasseur says to the headquarters of the hostile army not very far from Tollan. The presents were received, but no satisfactory agreement seems to have been made at first. Veytia and Ixtlilxochitl speak vaguely of a truce that was concluded as a result of this or a subsequent embassy, to the effect that the Toltecs should not be molested for ten years, an old military usage requiring that ten years should always intervene between the declaration of war and the commencement of hostilities; and the latter states that the army was withdrawn in the meantime, because sufficient supplies could not be obtained in the territory of the Toltecs. Brasseur, without referring to any other authorities than those named, tells us that after remaining a whole year near Tollan, Huehuetzin was forced to return to his own province to repel the invasions of hostile tribes, which tribes, it is implied, were induced to come southward and to harass the Toltec nations.[IV-67]

Taking advantage of the precarious condition of the Toltecs, many of the tribes even in and about Anáhuac shook off all allegiance to the empire, and became altogether independent; and at the same time numerous Chichimec tribes from abroad took advantage of the favorable opportunity to secure homes in the lake region. These foreign tribes are all reported to have come from the north, but it is extremely doubtful if any accurate information respecting the invaders has been preserved. For the conjecture that all or any of them came from the distant north, from California, Utah, or the Mississippi Valley, there are absolutely no grounds; although it is of course impossible to prove that all came from the region adjoining Anáhuac. By far the most reasonable conjecture is that the invaders were the numerous Nahua bands who had settled in the west and north-west, in Michoacan, Jalisco, and Zacatecas, about the same time that the nations called Toltecs had established themselves in and about Anáhuac. Brasseur finds in his authorities, the only ones that give any particulars of the invaders, that among the first Chichimec bands to arrive were the Acxotecas and Eztlepictin, both constituting together the Teotenancas. The Eztlepictin settled in the valley of Tenanco, south of the lakes, while the Acxotecas took possession of the fertile valleys about Tollan. A war between Nauhyotl II. of Culhuacan and the king of Tollan is then vaguely recorded, in which Acxitl was victorious, but is supposed to have suffered from the constant hostility of Culhuacan from that time forward, although that kingdom soon had enough to do to defend her own possessions. The Eztlepictin introduced a new divinity, and a new worship, which Acxitl, as successor of Quetzalcoatl made a desperate effort to overthrow. He marched with all the forces he could command to Tenanco, but was defeated in every battle. What was worse yet, during his absence on this campaign, the Acxoteca branch of the invaders were admitted, under their leader Xalliteuctli, by the partisans of Tezcatlipoca into Tollan itself. Civil strife ensued in the streets of the capital between the three rival sects, until Tollan with all her noble structures was well-nigh in ruins. At the same time wars were waged between the three allied kingdoms, and pest and famine came once more upon the land. These events occurred between 1040 and 1047.[IV-68]

It was evident that the gods were very angry with this unhappy people. To avert their wrath, as Torquemada relates, a meeting of all the wise men, priests, and nobles, was convened at Teotihuacan, where the gods from the most ancient times had been wont to hear the prayers of men. In the midst of the propitiatory feasts and sacrifices a demon of gigantic proportions with long bony arms and fingers appeared dancing in the court where the people were assembled. Whirling through the crowd in every direction the demon seized upon the Toltecs that came in his way and dashed them lifeless at his feet. Multitudes perished but none had the strength to fly. A second time the giant appeared in a slightly different form and again the Toltecs fell by hundreds in his grasp. At his next appearance the demon assumed the form of a white and beautiful child sitting on a rock and gazing at the holy city from a neighboring hilltop. As the people rushed in crowds to investigate the new phenomena, it was discovered that the child's head was a mass of corruption, exhaling a stench so fatal that all who approached were stricken with sudden death. Finally the devil or god appeared in a form not recorded and warned the assembly that the fate of the Toltecs in that country was sealed; the gods would not listen to further petitions; the people could escape total annihilation only by flight. The assembly broke up, and the members returned to their homes utterly disheartened.[IV-69]

Large numbers of the Toltec nobles had already abandoned their country and departed for foreign provinces, and this emigration was constantly on the increase even before it was definitely determined by the ruler to migrate. In the meantime, if Brasseur's authorities may be credited, a new sect, the Ixcuinames or 'masked matrons,' introduced their rites, including phallic worship and all manner of sorcery and debauchery, into Tollan, thus adding a new element of discord in that fated city. The Ixcuinames originated in the region of Pánuco among the Huastecs, and began to flourish in Tollan about 1058.[IV-70] To civil and religious strife, with other internal troubles, was now added the peril of foreign invasion. According to the Spanish writers the ten years' truce concluded between Acxitl and his foes under the command of Huehuetzin, was now about to expire, and the rebel prince of the north appeared at the head of an immense army, ready to submit his differences with the Toltec king to the arbitration of the battle-field. According to Brasseur, the Teo-Chichimecs invaded the rest of Anáhuac, while the former foes of Huemac and his son, under Huehuetzin, from the provinces of Quiahuiztlan and Jalisco, threatened Tollan. I may remark here that I have little faith in this author's division into tribes of the hordes that invaded Anáhuac at this period and in the following years. We know that many bands from the surrounding region, particularly on the north, most of them probably Nahua tribes, did take advantage of internal dissensions among the Toltec nations to invade the central region. For a period of many years they warred unceasingly with the older nations and among themselves; but to trace the fortunes of particular tribes through this maze of inter-tribal conflict is a hopeless task which I shall not attempt. Many of these so-called Chichimec invading tribes afterwards became great nations, and played a prominent part in the annals to be given in future chapters; and while it is not improbable that some of them, as the Teo-Chichimecs, Acolhuas, or Tepanecs, were identical with the invading tribes which overthrew the Toltec empire, there is no sufficient authority for attempting so to identify any one of them. Neither do I find any authority whatever for the conjecture that the invaders were barbarian hordes from the distant north, who broke through the belt of Nahua nations which surrounded Anáhuac, or were instigated by those nations from jealousy of Toltec power to undertake its overthrow. Yet it would be rash to assume that none of the wild tribes took part in the ensuing struggle; as allies, or under Nahua leaders, they probably rendered efficient aid to the Chichimec invaders, and afterwards in many cases merged their tribal existence in that of the Chichimec nations.

The other Toltec cities, Otompan, Tezcuco, Culhuacan, seem to have fallen before the invaders even before Tollan, although it is vaguely reported that after the destruction of Otompan the king of Culhuacan formed a new alliance for defense with Azcapuzalco and Coatlichan, excluding Tollan. All the cities were sacked and burned as fast as conquered except Culhuacan, which seems to have escaped destruction by admitting the invaders within her gates and probably becoming their allies or vassals. This was in 1060.[IV-71] Meantime Huehuetzin's forces were threatening Tollan. By strenuous efforts a large army had been raised and equipped for the defense of the royal cause. The princes Quauhtli and Maxtlatzin, lately allied to the throne, brought all their forces to aid the king against whom they had formerly rebelled. The aged Huemac came out from his retirement and strove with the ardor of youth to ward off the destruction which he could but attribute to his indiscretions of many years ago. Even Xochitl, the king's mother, is reported to have enlisted an army of amazons from the women of Tollan and to have placed herself at their head. Acxitl formed his army into two divisions, one of which, under a lord named Huehuetenuxcatl, marched out to meet the enemy, while the other, commanded by the king himself, was stationed within intrenchments at Tultitlan. The advance army, after one day's battle without decisive result, fell back and determined to act on the defensive. Reinforced by the division under Huemac, and by Xochitl's amazons, who fought most bravely, General Huehuetenuxcatl carried on the war for three years, but was at last driven back to join the king. At Tultitlan a final stand was made by Acxitl's orders. For many days the battle raged here until the Toltecs were nearly exterminated, and driven back step by step to Tollan, Xaltocan, Teotihuacan, and Xochitlalpan successively. Here Huemac and Xochitl were slain, also Quauhtli and Maxtlatzin. Acxitl escaped by hiding in a cave at Xico in Lake Chalco. In a final encounter General Huehuetenuxcatl fell, and the small remnant of the Toltec army was scattered in the mountains and in the marshes of the lake shore.[IV-72]

From his place of concealment at Xico, Topiltzin Acxitl secretly visited Culhuacan, gathered a few faithful followers about him, announced his intention of returning to Huehue Tlapallan, promised to intercede in their behalf with the Chichimec emperor of their old home, and having committed his two infant children Pochotl and Xilotzin to faithful guardians to be brought up in ignorance of their royal birth, he left the country in 1062.[IV-73] He is supposed to have gone southward accompanied by a few followers. Other bodies of Toltecs had previously abandoned the country and gone in the same direction, and large numbers are reported to have remained in Culhuacan, Cholula, Chapultepec and many other towns that are named. Veytia, Ixtlilxochitl, Torquemada, and Clavigero tell us that of these who fled some founded settlements on the coasts of both oceans, from which came parties at subsequent periods to re-establish themselves in Anáhuac. Others crossed the isthmus of Tehuantepec and passed into the southern lands. The other authors also agree that of those who escaped destruction part remained, and the rest were scattered in various directions. None imply a general migration en masse towards the south.[IV-74] Lists are given of the Toltec nobles that remained in Anáhuac and of the cities where they resided. The larger number were at Culhuacan, under Xiuhtemoc, to whom the king's children were confided. These remaining Toltecs were afterwards called from the name of their city Culhuas.[IV-75]

Brasseur finds in his two Nahua records data for certain events that took place after the flight of Topiltzin Acxitl. Maxtlatzin, as he claims, escaped from the final battle and intrenched himself in one of the strong fortresses among the ruins of Tollan. The Chichimecs soon took possession of the city in two divisions known as Toltec Chichimecs and Nonohualcas. They even went through the forms of choosing a successor to Acxitl, selecting a boy named Matlacxochitl, whom they crowned as Huemac III. To him the chiefs rendered a kind of mock allegiance, but still held the power in their own hands. Desperate struggles ensued between the two Chichimec bands led by Huehuetzin and Icxicohuatl, the followers of Tezcatlipoca under Yaotl, and the forces of Maxtlatzin in the fortress. The result was the murder of the mock king about 1064, and the final abandonment of Tollan soon after. It is claimed by the authorities which record these events that Huemac II. survived all these troubles and died at Chapultepec in 1070.[IV-76]

It is not difficult to form a tolerably clear idea of the state of affairs in Anáhuac at the downfall of the Toltec empire, notwithstanding the confusion of the records. There is, as we have seen, no evidence of a general migration southward or in any other direction. It is true the records speak of a large majority of the Toltecs as having migrated in different directions as a result of their disasters, but it must be remembered that in America, as elsewhere, historical annals of early periods had to do with the deeds and fortunes of priests and kings and noble families; the common people were useful to fight and pay taxes, but were altogether unworthy of a place in history. It is probable that the name Toltecs, a title of distinction rather than a national name, was never applied at all to the common people. When by civil strife and foreign invasion their power was overthrown, many of the leaders, spiritual and temporal, doubtless abandoned the country, preferring to try their fortunes in the southern provinces which seem to have suffered less than those of the north from the Toltec disasters. Their exiles took refuge in the Miztec and Zapotec provinces of Oajaca, and some of them probably crossed to Guatemala and Yucatan, where they were not without influence in molding future political events. The mass of the Toltec people remained in Anáhuac; some of them kept up a distinct national existence for a while in Culhuacan, and perhaps in Cholula; but most simply became subjects of the invading chiefs, whose language and institutions were for the most part identical with those to which they had been accustomed. The population had been considerably diminished naturally by the many years of strife, famine, and pestilence; but this diminution was greatly exaggerated in the records. The theory that the population was reduced to a few thousands, most of whom left the country, leaving a few chiefs with their followers in a desolate and barren land, from which even the invading hordes had retired immediately after their victory, is a very transparent absurdity. The Toltec downfall was the overthrow of a dynasty, not the destruction of a people. The ensuing period was one of bitter strife between rival bands for the power which had been wrested from the Toltec kings. The annals of that period cannot be followed; but history recommences with the success of some of the struggling factions, and their development into national powers.

CHAPTER V.
THE CHICHIMEC PERIOD.

The Chichimecs in Amaquemecan—Migration to Anáhuac under Xolotl—The Invaders at Chocoyan and Tollan—Foundation of Xoloc and Tenayocan—Xolotl II., Emperor of the Chichimecs—Division of Territory—The Toltecs at Culhuacan—Rule of Xiuhtemoc and Nauhyotl III.—Pochotl, Son of Acxitl—Conquest of Culhuacan—Death of Nauhyotl—Huetzin, King of Culhuacan—Migration and Reception of the Nahuatlaca Tribes—The Acolhuas at Coatlichan and the Tepanecs at Azcapuzalco—Nonohualcatl, King of Culhuacan—Revolt of Yacanex—Death of Xolotl II.—Nopaltzin, King at Tenayocan, and Emperor of the Chichimecs—Reigns of Achitometl and Icxochitlanex at Culhuacan—Tendencies toward Toltec Culture.

The Chichimec occupation of Anáhuac begins with the traditional invasion under Xolotl, but in order to properly understand that important event, it will be necessary to glance at the incidents which preceded and led to it.

The little that is known of the early history of the Chichimecs has been told in a former chapter; I will therefore take up the narrative at the time of King Tlamacatzin's death at Amaquemecan,[V-1] which event occurred in the same year as the final destruction of Tollan. As I have already explained sufficiently my idea of the nature of the migrations by which Anáhuac is represented as having been re-peopled, I may relate these migrations literally, as they are given by the authorities, without constantly reminding the reader of their general signification. Tlamacatzin left two sons, Acauhtzin[V-2] and Xolotl,[V-3] who, after wrangling about the succession for some time, finally agreed to divide the kingdom between them.[V-4]

Now, for a great number of years a harassing system of border warfare had been carried on between the Chichimecs and the Toltecs; the former doubtless raided upon their rich and powerful neighbors for purposes of plunder, and the latter were probably not slow to make reprisals which served as an excuse for extending their already immense territory. When the Toltec troubles arose, however, and the direful prophecies of Hueman began to be fulfilled, the people of Anáhuac found that they had enough to do to take care of themselves, and that their legions could be better employed in defending the capital than in waging aggressive wars upon the distant frontiers of the empire. They therefore recalled their troops, and the Chichimec border was left undisturbed. It was not long before the brother monarchs of Amaquemecan began to wonder at this sudden cessation of hostilities, and determined to find out the cause, for they were ignorant of the struggles and final overthrow of the Toltec empire. They at once dispatched spies into the Toltec territory. In a short time these men returned with the startling announcement that they had penetrated the enemy's country for a distance of two hundred leagues from Amaquemecan, and had found all that region deserted, and the towns, formerly so strong and populous, abandoned and in ruins.

Xolotl, who seems to have been of a more ambitious and enterprising disposition than his brother, listened eagerly to this report, which seemed to promise the fulfillment of his dreams of independent and undivided sway. Summoning his vassals to the capital, he told them what his spies had seen, and in an eloquent speech reminded them that an extension of territory was needed for their increasing population, expatiated on the richness and fertility of the abandoned region, pointed out to his hearers how easy it would be to avenge on their crippled enemies the injuries of many years, and concluded by requiring them to be ready to accompany him to conquest within the space of six months.[V-5]

It is difficult to credit the statements of the old authors respecting the number of Chichimecs that espoused Xolotl's cause. Ixtlilxochitl and Veytia state that no less than three million two hundred and two thousand men and women, besides children, rallied to his standard, leaving one million six hundred thousand subjects of Acauhtzin, and thus making it not a mere expedition, but a decided emigration. Torquemada, who fears he will not be believed if he states the actual number who took part in the exodus, takes pains to assure us that the historic paintings mention over a million warriors, commanded by six great lords, and over twenty (two?) thousand inferior chiefs and captains, and as each of these had under him more than a thousand men, the total number would approach nearer to the larger numbers than to Torquemada's unwontedly modest statement. The number was ascertained by census, taken at five different places to check the increase or decrease caused by leaving colonists along the route, by new arrivals, and especially by deserters. The counting was effected by each plebeian casting a small stone into a heap set apart for his class, and each lord or officer a larger stone into another heap. Ixtlilxochitl mentions two of these nepohualcos, or 'counting-places,' one near Oztotipac in Otompan district, and another three leagues from Ecatepec, near Mexico; while Torquemada refers to twelve similar hillocks near Tenayocan.[V-6]