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Battle of Tanjavi
The Paviratan Delta where the battle took place
Date 1652 Location Tanjavi, Pavirata Result Azcapotzalco victory
Belligerents
Azcapotzalco	Pavirata
Commanders and leaders
Tlahtohcapilli Capotzilic	TBD
Strength
12,000-20,000	35,000-50,000
Casualties and losses
300-500 killed	1,000-2,000 killed, many captured and sacrificed after the battle

The Battle of Tanjavi took place during the dry season of 1652, in southern Pavirata between a coalition of Nurabi principalities against a Tepanec army led by Prince (Tlahtohcapilli) Capotzilic. The Paviratan attacked the Tepanecs while they were traversing the Paviratan Delta, on their way back from a raid they had accomplished deeper inland. Poor coordination and distrust among the members of the coalition led to a Tepanec Victory and the disbanding of the Coalition, puting an end to all pretense of Nurabi unity and kickstarting a period of chaotic inter-principalities wars.

The Tepanecs had landed at the start of the dry season and burnt a path of destruction through some of the richest lands in Pavirata, taking advantage of the rivers and streams to go deeper inland, sacking many towns on the way. They had retreated back south, their boats and baggages full of loots. While they had outdistanced the Coalition's troops united against them, the Tepanecs were forced to stopped because the Paviratan Delta's waterways had shifted since they last came and they had to naviguate the dense swamps to find an actual passage to the sea. This slow-down allowed the Paviratans to catch-up. Capotzilic had his army prepare a defensive position on a hillside near Tanjavi, surrounded by swamps and canals.

While vastly outnumbered, the Tepanecs were all experimented soldiers, were better organized than their opponents, and enjoyed an excellent defensive position greatly reinforced by their engineers. After a brief artillery battle, the Paviratan rocketeers were routed by the Tepanecs cannons, entranched on their hill. The Paviratans then launched a series of desorganized charges, which were broken up by the lack of coordination between the different forces making up the army, by the swamps and water ways channeling them through obvious and muddy paths, by having to charge uphill, and by the pits and trenches dug by the Tepanecs. The Paviratans were then victims of the Cuāuhocēlōmeh counter-charge and, once they had started to flee, were pursued by the rest of the Tepanec army. Attempts by the Paviratans to regroup and counter-attack were nipped by the Cuauhocelomeh shock troops, allowing for the Tepanecs to continue pursuing and capturing enemies for the next few hours without risk.

Defeated, the Coalition disbanded almost immediately, each Prince returning with his remaining forces on his own to his state. Informed of this, Capotzillic decided to, rather than return immediately to the Empire of Azcapotzalco, lay siege to the city-fortress of Titukuddi, which controlled the access to the Delta and thus to the Paviratan inland. Titukuddi fell the following year and would became an important launch pad for further raids and expeditions in Irathava.

Background

See also: Nepantian Holy Wars

Between the years 1530 and 1560, the recently independent Pavirata had aimed to spread the Nurab faith to Nepantia in two different occasions. These campaigns proved to be costly, both in ressources and human lives, and brought no benefit to the Nurabi, having lost almost all of their fleet to a storm the first time, and being repelled by a coalition led by the Empire of Azcapotzalco the second time. These defeats weakened the Vatram Monarchy's position as the Hegemon of Pavirata, and a process of decentralization and weakening of the theocratic structure started.

Meanwhile, the Empire of Azcapotzalco was also facing inner difficulties : the sudden expansion of the Tepanecs to the west had not been the economic nor the political success the Huetlatoani had hoped for. While the Nawals remained loyal and satisfied with the Huetlathocayotl, they were a distant excalve and contacts with it had to be constantly protected against Xiuy raids. On the other hand, the Teenek proved to be unruly vassals, questioning their submission now that the Nurabi threat was gone. Revolts and rebellions had to be put down, which was complicated by the fact the mountaineous kingdoms that separated Azcapotzalco and the Inik region were also ennemies of the Huetlathocayotl. All of this diverted men and funds away from the central regions, which hadn't yet entirely recovered from the Teltetzaltin Plague. This led to a Civil War and then a Succession Crisis endin in 1623 with a change of dynasty.

Ahuachpitzactzin (1544-1575) was the second ruler of this new Nezahualid Dynasty who titled themselves as Huehuetlatoani. Like all Emperors before him, he started multiple campaigns against rebels and other pockets of resistance to his rule, as a show of strength. But to really secure his rule and his dynasty, he made his son Capotzilic ruler of Michpan on the western coast, with the goal to prepare and execute raids on Pavirata. traders gave the Tepanecs a detailed description of the Paviratan coastline and of its wealth, and in 1649 diplomats were sent to various coastal principalities, to convince them to pay a tribute to the Huehuetlatoani in exchange for protection. Their offer was rejected, which gave the Tepanecs the casus belli they needed. Capotzilic continued to gather his men and fleet, and in 1652 began his campaign.

Prelude

Despite the messages sent by the ambassadors, only an handful of coastal principalities had made any significant preparations against a possible Tepanec attack. Capotzilic and his men thus managed complete strategic surprise, landed near the Paviratan Delta and razed every town in their path and looted whatever they could from the populace. After a month of pillage, Capotzilic sent back a portion of his fleet to Michpan, laden with loot, with orders for reinforcements, supplies and money to be collected, embarked and loaded respectively, before the fleet rendezvous with his army at a predetermined location and date. He then took his men on small riverboats and moved upstream, to the densely urbanized inlands.

The Nurabi principalities were too distrustful of each others to present a common front to the pillagers. Some cities, both in the Delta and the Inlands, preferred to just pay the Tepanecs so that they would avoid their lands. But other cities were in uproar, swollen by refugees, and in disbelief at the relative ease at which the idolatrous and bloodthirsty Tepanecs were seemingly tearing through the lands, flaunting their ability to march at will through Pavirata, obviously in the goal to gain more tributaries. These cities united around the banner of Vatram, who ordered all able-bodied Nurabi to join them in a just war against the Ennemies of the Faith.

The Coalition gathered, and all took an oath to crush the Tepanecs so that they would never return to their lands. Informed of the incoming army, Capotzilic decided to abandon the campaign and return to the south to meet-up with his fleet. He successfully managed to outrun the Paviratans and reached the Delta first. He would then have seemed that the Tepanecs would've been free to return to the sea without consequences, but the many chenals of the Paviratan Delta are treacherous and often change courses through the dense swamps and wetlands of the region. This slowed down the Tepanecs greatly, and allowed the Paviratans to catch-up. His troops already weakened by diseases and illnesses, Capotzilic decided to make camp on an easily fortified position that jutted out from the swamps, and wait for the Paviratans there.

Opposing forces

Tepanec Army

Capotzilic's party was mostly made up of various Nahuatl-speakers (Tepanecs, Acolhuas, Tenochas...) but also of Ñuhmu mercenaries. Contemporary estimates vary widely, generally between 10,000 and 20,000 men, if not more. Almost all of them were veterans : the number of carriers had been limited to a strict minimum through the use of riverboats and horses. There were no youth or adolescents soldiers, only commoners who had already participated in at least one battle before (the "Yaoquizqueh"), themselves led by "Captors" (Tlamanih).