Coyotl

Coyotl

Coyotlacatl Coyotec
An 1845 illustration of the peoples of Yztac Tlalocan depicting coyotecas.
Regions with significant populations
Zacapican, Pulacan
Languages
Primarily Nahuatl Various native languages
Religion
Predominantly Cozauist; religious minorities including Sarpetism and syncretism with indigenous beliefs.

Coyotl and the less common coyotlacatl and coyotec are terms used in the Nahuatl-speaking world to denote the non-citizen subjects of the Angatahuacan hegemony and their modern-day descendants.

History

In the early history of Angatahuaca as a sovereign city-state, society was largely divided between free citizens and the enslaved population. The slaves, usually captives taken from rival cities during periods of warfare, could swell to as high as 50% of the population during periods of major military victories against the city's rivals, creating the potential for dangerous unrest and slave rebellion in the city. As a means of pacifying the enslaved population of the city, Angatahuaca implemented an extensive legal code surrounding slavery which included several avenues for manumission that would allow a slave to gain the status of a non-citizen freedman if certain criteria were met. During the period of rapid Angatahuacan military expansion during and after the 8th century Acana War, large foreign populations were brought under Angatahuacan rule. While a large number of these were taken captive and became slaves (tlacotli), the majority became free subjects of Angatahuaca with virtually identical legal standing as the freedman population. These conquered foreigners or coyotl would become a category of their own, merging with the freedmen to form an intermediate social class between the Angatahuacan citizens and the enslaved population. From the 8th century all the way to its collapse in the Zacapine Revolution, most of the population under Angatahuacan rule would be part of this coyotl demographic.

As the Angatahuacan hegemony continued its military expansion, conquering much of modern-day Zacapican, Pulacan, Khuummehkweh and Phansi Uhlanga, the coyotl subject population would only continue to expand and become more diverse. The assimilation of coyotl subjects into Angatahuacan society was a principal imperative of the Angatahuacan Cozauist Temple and its proselytization mission, established as a means of cementing Angatahuaca's position in newly conquered regions by speeding up their assimilation into the culture of the hegemonic city. Full citizenship was often granted to entire cities and tribes of coyotl, both as a means of rewarding loyalty and pacifying unrest similar to the policy of manumission embraced centuries prior. Citizenship was granted to those groups of coyotl that had demonstrated willing loyalty and developed close ties with Angatahuaca, which were almost always the same populations that most readily assimilated into Angatahuacan culture, embracing the Nahuatl language, customs, as well as Cozauist religious practices. At the territorial zenith of Angatahuaca in the early 17th century, most of coastal Zacapican and parts of southern Pulacan were inhabited mostly by full citizens thanks to the policy of granting citizenship to loyal coyotl populations, as well as the process of internal migration and settlement of Angatahuacan citizens in the provinces. Most coyotl spoke Nahuatl and were partially or completely converted to Cozauist religious practice, although many also retained native customs for centuries under Angatahuacan rule, at times merging native and Angatahuacan traditions into a hybridized coyotl culture unique to their region.

As Angatahuaca entered its era of decline, many of the rights to property and movement that the coyotl had previously enjoyed were gradually stripped away as the economy drifted into a pseudo-manoralist relationship of land-owning citizens and unlanded coyotl laborers from what had previously consisted mainly of self-sustaining coyotl farmers working their own lands. Angatahuacan authorities slowly reduced the number of coyotl that would be granted citizenship as the society stagnated and the social hierarchy became rigid and inflexible. Ultimately, the coyotl population of the provinces together with rebelling slaves and native vassals became the vanguard of the sweeping revolutions that overthrew Angatahuacan rule and ultimately succeeded in dismantling the hegemony entirely. Following the collapse of Angatahuaca, many of the citizen populations of the outlying provinces would quickly assimilate into the larger coyotl demographics that surrounded them within 1-2 generations of the revolution. The coyotl identity would come to be embraced by many of the revolutionary factions and states that emerged from the ashes of the fallen hegemony, including both Zacapican and Pulacan.