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Battle of Tanjavi
A sunrise over Vaigai River in Madurai Tamil Nadu India.jpg
The Paviratan Delta where the battle took place
Date1652
Location
Tanjavi, Pavirata
Result Azcapotzalco victory:
Belligerents
File:Azcapotzalco ZP.svgAzcapotzalco  Pavirata
Commanders and leaders
File:Azcapotzalco ZP.svg Tlahtohcapilli Capotzilic Pavirata TBD
Strength
File:Azcapotzalco ZP.svg 12,000-20,000 Pavirata 35,000-50,000
Casualties and losses
File:Azcapotzalco ZP.svg 300-500 killed Pavirata 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.