Zacaco Republic
Zacaco Republic 𐐓𐑊𐐰𐐿𐐰𐐻𐑊𐐰𐐻𐐬𐐿𐐰𐐷𐐬𐐻𐑊 𐐞𐐰𐐿𐐰𐐿𐐬 Tlacatlatocayotl Zacaco | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
| Motto: Paradise of Mountains, Maize and Sea | |
| Anthem: Infinite Milpa | |
| Capital and | Tequitinitlan |
| Official languages | Nahuatl Purépecha |
| Recognised national languages | Quechua |
| Ethnic groups (2020) | Nahuas Purépecha Aymara Kayan |
| Demonym(s) | Zacatecs |
| Government | Constituent Republic |
• Techiuhqui | Ahuizotl Namakal |
| Legislature | Zacaco Nenonotzaloyan |
| Constituent of Zacapican | |
The Zacaco Republic (Nahuatl: 𐐓𐑊𐐰𐐿𐐰𐐻𐑊𐐰𐐻𐐬𐐿𐐰𐐷𐐬𐐻𐑊 𐐞𐐰𐐿𐐰𐐿𐐬, Tlacatlatocayotl Zacaco) is one of the nine constituent republics of the United Zacapine Republics. It is located in the west of the country, defined by a long length of coastline along the western seaboard and the vast Zacaco basin in its interior. Zacaco is the largest of the Zacapine republics by population, home to nearly 30% of the Zacapine population or roughly 21 million inhabitants. The second and fourth largest cities in the country, Tequitinitlan and Tecolotlan, are located in the Zacaco Republic, with Tequitinitlan serving as its capital city. The national capital, Quitzapatzaro, was formerly included in what was considered Zacaco but would be separated into an autonomous federal district following the Revolution which now bisects the Zacaco coastline. Zacaco directly borders Cuauhtlaco to the northwest, Ayomazaco to the northeast, Xochicuauhuico to the east and Tlaximallico to the south, as well as the Autonomous Federal District of Quitzapatzaro within its western coast and the southern Makrian ocean beyond.
The plains within the central basin of the Republic's territory give the region and the state itself its name Zacaco, meaning a land of grass. This flat, elongated central valley within the territory of the modern Zacaco Republic, known as the Zacaco Valley, is highly fertile with good soil quality and a ready supply of water from the numerous rivers which enter the basin from the surrounding mountains and highlands. The Zacaco Valley has always been the breadbasket of the entire region, being by far the most productive agricultural region in Zacapican. Thanks to a high density of population and numerous major cities located within the valley, this region has also become one of the prime industrial zones of the Zacapine economy for a wide variety of manufacturing and processing. Zacaco has the largest economy and highest GDP of all the Zacapine republics, leaving the Aztaco Republic in as the second larghest Zacapine economy although it exceeds Zacaco in GDP per capita.
As the home of a large portion of the entire Zacapine population, the Zacaco republic bears a large proportion of the ethnic diversity of the country. In addition to the ethnic Nahuas found across all of Zacapican, coastal Zacaco is the homeland of the Purépecha and plays host to more than 60% of all ethnic Purépecha Zacapinos. Many Caxcan, Xi'oi , Zacateco and other indigenous groups from other regions of Zacapican have also come to call the Zacaco Republic home, emigrating during the region's industrialization in search of new opportunities. Likewise, immigration from outside Zacapican has brought Kayan ethnic groups into the region primarily consisting of ethnic Kayan and Aymara minority peoples from central and southern Kayahallpa. With its mixture of agricultural and industrial economic activities, sparsely populated mountainous interior, thriving maritime connections and great ethnic and cultural diversity, the Zacaco Republic is a microcosm of Zacapican.
History
As a fertile and well irrigated plain, the desirable Zacaco valley has been a highly contested territory for much of its history dating back into prehistory. Archeological evidence suggests human habitation in the region exceeds an age of 10,000 years. The first Zacaco peoples utilized bone impliments for hunting and working, and were likely hunter-gatherers. However, a transition to agriculture is noted beginning 5,000 years ago accompanied by the advent of obsidian tools and weapons being found. The Zacaco valley is the most likely site of the domestication of the Yuca tuber, which was the basis of early agriculture in the region before the introduction of maize some 2,500 years ago. The lack of much available stone in the valley left the city states of the early Zacaco to build primarily with wood and earth, which has left little in the way of surviving remains to asses the size or complexity of these early cities.
The indigenous people of the valley were the ancestors of the modern day Cochimí and Guaycura ethnic groups today found in southern Zacapican and no longer inhabiting the Zacaco Republic in significant numbers. The displacement of these cultures is attributed to the Nahua invasions 2,500 to 2,000 years ago, which brought metallurgy and a suite of new agricultural techniques to the valley. The Nahua tribes out-competed the locals in agriculture, urbanism and warfare and eventually displaced them entirely, establishing city-state kingdoms of their own in the valley as they had elsewhere across northern and central Zacapican. A third culture, the Pericu, was dispersed and its members eventually merged with its sister cultures or assimilated into the Nahua kingdoms of the valley, leaving the Pericu an extinct culture in the modern day.
Colonial Era
The arrival of the seafaring Purépecha to the coasts of Zacaco revolutionized live in western Zacapican and the Zacaco region in particular. The vessels are remembered in Nahuatl chronicles as acaltepetl or "city-ships", with the rare depictions surviving today showing massive wooden constructions laden with dwellings and complex structures on their decks, propelled by large square sails. These vessels would dissapear after the Purépecha began to settle the natural harbors of the coast at sites including modern day Quitzapatzaro. The result of the colonization would be a string of Purépecha settlements along the length of the Zacaco coastline, connected to one another by the maritime lanes which had brought them to the region. The Purépecha prospered as traders, going as far afield as the western Mutul in the west and modern day Sante Reze in the east to sell their wares, most of which were aquired through commerce with the kingdoms of the valley.