Teocuitatlan

The League of the Teocuitatlan Teocuitatlán Moyecchihua
Seal
Motto: “Ihíio, Itlátol” His breath, His word
Capital	Xochialco
Largest city	Itzatepec
Official languages	Culhuacatl
Recognised regional languages	Itza
Ethnic groups (2018)	Culhuacatl Mestís Itza
Demonym(s)	Teocuitatlan
Government	parliamentary Monarchy
• Tlahtoani	???
• ???	???
Legislature	Senate
Establishment
• League of Tlaxcatlan	1384 CE
• Culhuacatl Empire	16th century CE
• Protectorate of ???	1618 CE
• War of Independence	1831 CE
Area
•	000,000 km2 (0 sq mi)
Population
• 2015 estimate	6.7 million
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Total	$78.1 billion
• Per capita	$11,670
Gini	43.4 medium
HDI	0.774 high
Currency	Quachtli (TXQ)
Date format	dd.mm.yyyy
Driving side	right
Calling code	+420
Internet TLD	.tc

The Teocuitatlan (Culhuacatl: Teocuitatlán [teoːkʷitɬatɬan]), officially the League of the Teocuitatlan (Culhuacatl: Teocuitatlán Moyecchihua [teoːkʷitɬatɬan moːjeːkwa]), is a confederacy of allied city-states in northwestern Ecnia. The League's sphere of influence borders ??? to the south and ??? to the east, while the region is bounded by the Crommean Ocean to the north. The League consists of the 32 cities or located within the Teocuitatlan geographic region which spans the rainforests of northern Ecnia.

Culhuacatl peoples are the descendants of tribes that migrated into the Teocuitatlan in the early 12th century. Early migrants settled in the region and established several settlements and city-states called altepetl who frequently fought small-scale wars with each other. Despite the constant state of war between the altepetl, no city was able to establish dominance over the region due to the shifting network of alliances. By 1260 CE, the majority of the land had already been settled by the migrating tribes and the altepetl. In 1384 CE, the altepetl of Tlaxcatlan, Itzatepec, Tlahuacan and Xochialco formed a pact to protect against nomadic Popolocatec raiders. Successful in fending off the Popolocatec, the four cities began using their combined strength to establish dominance over the other altepetl.

Whilst originally made of only the four cities, the pact soon grew to encompass nearly all of the altepetl in the Teocuitatlan through annexing swathes of land and bringing settlements under its heel through successive wars of conquest.

The pact functioned under the hegemony of a single city that holds extreme spiritual, cultural and strategic importance to the confederacy. Whilst the lead-city status meant that the city would be able to hold immense sway and power over the altepetl, the position meant that the city was obligated to protect lesser members of the league from external aggression and internal strife. In the event the cities agree that the lead city is no longer able to fulfill their obligations, a highly ritualistic period of internecine warfare begins until a new leading city can be inaugurated.

The current leading city, Xochialco, was inaugurated in 1969 during the latest war for control over the league. In recent times, however, inter-city disputes are mostly solved diplomatically rather than through ritual combat as in the past.

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Etymology

The League derives its name from the geographic region of Teocuitatlan, formerly a province of the Culhuacatl civilization in antiquity. The name 'Teocuitatlan' is made up of the Culhuacatl words teocuitlatl, meaning "gold" and the suffix -tlan, meaning "place near an abundance of", thus giving the region's name the meaning of "the place near an abundance of gold". The origin of this name is theorized to be due to the abundant deposits of gold within the territory of the League which have been exploited since classical times.

The official name of the confederacy is the League of the Teocuitatlan. The Teocuitatlan is one of the few countries in the world in which its short, commonly-used name begins with the definitive article "the".

History

Prehistory

Obsidian spearheads made in the 12th century

Human artifacts found in the region have been radiocarbon-dated to circa 6000 BCE. The Paleo-Ecnian culture of the period is characterized by the presence of nomadic hunter-gatherers as evidenced by the discovery of obsidian blades and projectile points in multiple prehistoric archeological sites. The domestication of maize roughly 8,000 years ago led to the transition from a hunter-gathering society to sedentary agricultural settlements. Such settlements grew to become more densely populated and formed the basis for early cities— social stratification began to take shape with the appearance of an artisan class allowing for the development of states and chiefdoms. The complex Ihcuiloamec culture presented the first complex civilization in the Teocuitatlan around 1500 BCE which established many basic technologies and cultural traits such as symbolic religious and mythological traditions throughout the region.

The temple of the jaguar in Chun Yah

The Preclassical epoch of human civilization in the Teocuitatlan is characterized by the development of distinctive elements of Culhuacatl culture, with the development of a writing system and large-scale ceremonial architecture such as pyramids along with religious traditions such as human sacrifice and jaguar-worship amongst the early Itza peoples. The Itza civilization developed several complex sites and settlements which grew into numerous independent city-states. One such city-state, Chun Yah, grew to dominate the region and reached its zenith during this pre-classical period. Such polities fought numerous wars and formed alliances and vassalships amongst one another with the influence of Chun Yah being particularly significant and stretching as far as the Ihcuiloamec region to the north.

The Ihcuiloamec and Itza civilizations fought a series of wars with one another over the course of half a millennium, eventually leading to the collapse of Chun Yah and its empire in the 8th century. The collapse of Chun Yah began the gradual decline and collapse of the Itza, with many Itza cities being abandoned and power shifted back to the Ihcuiloamec in the northern rainforests.

This shift and the weakening of the Itza occurred concurrently with the Culhuacatl peoples moving north into the Teocuitatlan from the south. These migrants gradually came to displace the Itza and grew to become culturally and politically dominant throughout the south.

Classical epoch (1100–1600)

Formation of the League

The four lords (tlahtoani) of the League of Teocuitatlan in 1384 CE

The Culhuacatl peoples were made up of tribes that migrated into the Teocuitatlan in the early 12th century from the temperate forests to the south. Early migrants settled in the region and established numerous settlements and city-states alongside the crumbling Itza states called altepetl who frequently fought small-scale wars with each other. Despite the constant state of war between the altepetl, no city was able to establish dominance over the region due to the shifting network of alliances. By 1260 CE, the majority of the land had already been settled by the migrating tribes whilst most Itza cities were either abandoned or severely weakened by conflict with the new migrants which lead to many Itza to flee north. As much of the prime agricultural lands had already been settled and claimed by the various altepetl, later migrants from the south established themselves as nomadic peoples called the Popolotec who frequently clashed with the established Culhuacatl civilization who saw them as uncivilized and savage.

A cuāuhtli, or eagle-warrior, during the League's conquests

In 1384 CE, the growing threat of Popolotec raiding parties caused the four city-states of Tlaxcatlan, Itzatepec, Tlahuacan and Xochialco to form a defensive pact against the 'barbarian' invaders. After a series of wars and conflict, the pact emerged successful in quelling the Popolotec threat and instead shifted their combined strength to project influence over the other warring altepetl. Whilst originally made of only the four cities, the pact soon grew to encompass nearly all of the altepetl in the Teocuitatlan through annexing swathes of land and bringing settlements under its heel through successive wars of conquest. The league's combined power was so great, in fact, that multiple Itza nations to the north were absorbed into the growing power of the confederates.