Mexica
Mexica (plural) Mexicatl (singular) | |
|---|---|
Music and dance during a One Flower ceremony, from the Florentine Codex | |
| Total population | |
| Aztec: 5–6 million people (1519) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Valley of Mexico | |
| Languages | |
| Nahuatl, Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| Catholicism blended with traditional Mexica religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Other Nahua peoples |
The Mexica (Nahuatl: Mēxihcah [meːˈʃiʔkaḁ] ⓘ; singular Mēxihcātl) are a Nahuatl-speaking people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of the Triple Alliance, more commonly referred to as the Aztec Empire. The Mexica established Tenochtitlan, a settlement on an island in Lake Texcoco, in 1325. A dissident group in Tenochtitlan separated and founded the settlement of Tlatelolco with its own dynastic lineage. In 1521, their empire was overthrown by an alliance of Spanish conquistadors and rival indigenous nations, most prominently the Tlaxcaltecs. The Mexica were subjugated under the Spanish Empire for 300 years, until the Mexican War of Independence overthrew Spanish dominion in 1821.
Today, descendants of the Mexica and other Aztecs are among the Nahua people of Mexico.
Since 1810, the broader term Aztec is often used to describe the Mexica. When a distinction is made, Mexica are one (dominant) group within the Aztecs.