Indigenous resistance and defense of the land after the fall of Mexico-Tenochtitlan

The conquest involved conflicts over the tenure of the land,agn documents offer us glimpses into the allocation of land and the resistance of indigenous peoples.

Plano de México Antiguo by CB WaiteArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The year 2021 is shown as a great opportunity for reflection to the historical and cultural memory of the country, to commemorate the 500 years of the fall of Tenochtitlan, the great city of the Aztec empire that on August 13, 1521 succumbed to the siege  of Hernán Cortes and his Spanish troops. The General Archive of the Nation from its  documentary repository denotes its interest in delving into the knowledge and preservation of the history of Mexico. Among the documentary collections protected by the AGN, we find  manuscripts, codices and original printed that at the time were issued and managed by various institutions of theovohispano regime, for this occasion we turn our attention to documents contained in the funds "Real Audiencia" or "Hospital de Jesús"; which account for the regulation of land tenure and its struggles, from the moment the configuration of the Novohispano territory begins. 

The conquest of the Mesoamerican peoples, understood as a process of constant subjugation/diplomacy, culturization and expansion of Spanish jurisdiction involved a permanent struggle for the lands and their allocation, both for Spaniards and for indigenous people.   In the course of the sixteenth to the eighteenth century jurisdictional conflicts were common, between the indigenous and Spanish inhabitants, among which stand out the lawsuits for usurped lands, sale of villages, excess in the collection of taxes among other abuses and punishments. The struggle for land  that was documented in these AGN funds gives an account of the history of negotiation and resistance on the part of the native peoples towards  colonization. Through the  documentary collections,  the AGN offers a look at the process of configuration of the territory of New Spain and the definition of jurisdictions after the subjugation of the native peoples.

Caída de Tenochtitlán (1809) by AnonymusArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The fall of Tenochtitlan occurred on August 13, 1521. Lo that began as a diplomatic relationship between the emperor Moctezuma  and the expeditionary Hernán Cortés,it became a series ofconfrontations between the Mexica people and Spanish troops, the latter supported by the native peoples   who allied themselves as the Tlaxcaltecas; Huexotzincas; Cholulas; Totonacos; Mixtecs; Otomies; Tlahuicos; Coluixcos and Matlatzincas, who, as recounted in this  document dated 1809, had apologized for their hostilities and established a confederation that was as useful to the Spanish as it was unfavorable to the Aztecs. From this date begins the period of the history of Mexico known as the colony that lasted three centuries from 1521 to 1821,  300 years in which the  españoles extended their rule in north America and submitted to their jurisdiction, civil and religious, the original inhabitants.

Historia del pueblo Milpa Alta. (1539) by AnonymusArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The chronicles of the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors to the different jurisdictions that made up pre-Hispanic Mexico allow us to know more about the native peoples and their inhabitants during the process ofconquest; the pictographs and codices used to illustrate the delimitations of the lands, the pre-Hispanic lineages and evangelization, give proof of this. One of these narratives is the history of the town of Milpa Alta, foundedor by a chieftain named Quahipeltzintli, chosen by the old to unite the villages of Chicomoztoc, Estapanuca and Santa Martha Xocotepetlalpan for the settlement of the territory. This image belongs to the narrations of the arrival of the Spaniards in 1521 who took the land by means of combat and illustrated the image of the pre-Hispanic authorities of the region, the event continuedwith the entry ofthe evangelizers, who settled a church in the northern part on a hill named the Tehtlixohiyacatzin, naming the lady of  agosto along with Santa Marta the patron saints of the whole town of the Milpatexcalpanuca.

Merced de Carlos V a favor de Hernán Cortés (1529) by Carlos VArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

Severe changes were unleashed on the ancient city immediately after its fall: the destruction of the Chapultepec aqueduct that provided water to the city was ordered and several properties were established for the  construction of institutions that would impart justice in the nascent  New Spain. The Spanish Crown began to distribute the conquered territory,  Hernán Cortes was one ofthe firstbeneficiaries, King Carlos I of Spain  granted him, in 1529, the territories of the Calzada that leaves the  Cityof Mexicofor Tacuba, and of the new house that was of Moctezuma that adjoined the Plaza Mayor and the street of Ixtapalapa, as  retribution  for the conquest of  Tenochtitlan.  

Códice no 28. Marquesado del Valle (1549) by AnonymusArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

That same 1529, King Carlos I also granted the title of Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca to Hernán Cortés, with it he received a lordship, appointment granted by the kings to the nobles who had rendered important services, granting him lands and subjects to hereditary and perpetual title of the entities covered what today are the territories that today occupy the states of Oaxaca, Morelos, Veracruz, Puebla, Michoacán, State of Mexico and Mexico City. Later, the lordships were called pueblo de indios. 

Marquesado del Valle (1549) by AnonymusArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

Within this territory, the viceroy of New Spain, Antonio de Mendoza, could only maintain control of cases related to the issues of justice, mines and circulation ofcoins. Lto Spanish nobility  and  the  hearers of the first audience; those who intervened as the viceroy's council and had the power to issue resolutions in royal agreement, denounced  Cortés' claims   to consider forests, pastures and waters as  personal land. Qthat to the royal concession, the state administration shared the point of view and made express statement that natural resources should be of common use of all Spaniards and their use could not be reserved. This situation led Cortés, between1530 and 1534,to a series of litigations, to make the recognition of the limits and possession of the lands that had been granted to him. Cortés, aware  of his great  wealth, proposed to increase his incomes by creating  roads,  farms, cattle ranches and manufactureras,buying orusurping orchards, crops and places belonging to the indigenous nobles.

Códice no 11. Marquesado del Valle (1549) by AnonymusArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The indians trying to preserve what belonged tothem,  presented 33 codices elaboratedors in themid-sixteenth century, written in Nahuatl,  explaining the demands of different caciques against the usurpation of lands and sugar mills by Hernán Cortés, these contain maps made by tlacuilos (indigenous painters), loaded with symbology, information and  indigenous knowledge, mainly of  agrarian themes, showing the layout of the plots, the names of the places, the type of product they generated and their quantities,  as well as the caciques that lorded them.

Demanda Francisco de Hermosilla contra Hernán de Cortés (1530) by Francisco de HermosillaArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

In the desire of Cortés to continue with the domains of his Marquisate, he had the need to ask favors to the novohispana high society, one of them went to a wealthy Spaniard named Rodrigo de Hermosilla, who made him a loan in gold duchies, debt that was established through a document signed by Cortés on March 9,1 530, which mentioned the reason for the debt and the promise to pay once it will cease to be in need.  

Demanda Francisco de Hermosilla contra Hernán de Cortés (1530) by Francisco de HermosillaArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

Several years passed without the debt being covered, Hernán Cortés moved  to the city of Seville and despite the constant calls and requests to cover the debt, this payment was never made. In December 1547, Hernán Cortés died in Seville, but the debt would not die along with him, since his marquisate was inherited to his legitimate son Martín Cortés, under the will signed and sealed on September 12 of the same year. Upon learning of this, Rodrigo de Hermosilla raises a complaint against the heir of Cortés so that the debt was paid, eventually the case gave a ruling in favor of Don Martín Cortés declaring free of all debt and for finiquitado the process.

Convenio entre los principales de Cuernavaca y el Lic. Altamirano, a nombre de D. Martín Cortés by Martín CortésArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The taking of the assets and successions of Don Martín Cortés took time to be granted, in addition to the fact that his inheritance was separated by the king, putting Álvaro Ruíz as executor and proxy. Despite having in writing that the debts that his father had had to be paid, many of them were not settled, in the same way disputes were unleashed of lands belonging to the Marquisate of the Valley, among which there were requests for claim of belonging by the Indians, as happened in the territory of Cuernavaca where Martín Cortés finally obtained a deed of agreement between the principals of the town on the lands and houses that the Indians asked for.  

Códice de Yanhuitlán (1541) by AnonymusArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

Within the Marquisate of the Valley of Oaxaca, was the region of Yanhuitlán, which during the sixteenth century remained one of the main political and economic centers of the Mixteca Alta due, among  other reasons, to the booming silk industry that was introduced into the region indirectly by Hernán Cortés, in addition to cattle raising. With the arrival of the evangelizing expeditions hostile times were lived, the elaboration of the codex of Yanhuitlán was part of the inquisitorial process against the cacique Domingo de Guzmán, between 1544 to 1546, judged for idolatry when it was said that he wanted out of the territory the preachers for the construction of an immense convent and church at the expense mainly of the community and its cacique. However, he was not convicted and managed to remain in office for 12 more years.     

Vasco de Quiroga y Fray Gerónimo de Alcalá (1778) by AnonymusArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

Evangelization was a great pretext to carry out the conquest. With the arrival of the first Franciscan missionaries to New Spain in 1523, some of them went to the territory of Michoacán to preach among its inhabitants, thus being the ancient Purépechas one of the ethnic groups that were not subject by the Spanish Crown by force of arms, but were handed over peacefully to the forces led by Hernán Cortés.

Atención de los indios a los soldados españoles en Tzintzuntzan (1792) by AnonymusArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The chronicle of Michoacán by Fray Pablo Beaumont served as the main account of the life of the Purépecha people before and during the Spanish conquest, when the friar arrived in Tzintzuntzan he met a native named "Cuini" who claimed to be a descendant of the ancient rulers and showed him a document, which contained a series of historical scenes of the town and a map of the city; the religious made a copy of the images to include them in his chronicle, with a European style and to which he added the glosses that explain the images.

Manuscrito tradicional indígena. Ídolos del templo de Huitzilopochtli. (1539) by AnonymousArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The presence of the ecclesiastical authorities and the execution of inquisitorial trials had been carried out since the fall of Tenochtitlan with the purpose of implementing Christianity among the native peoples, several of these judicial processes were accompanied by the use of pictography. An example is the representation of the idols of Huitzilopochtli, elaborated by a painter of indigenous origin named Mateos who denounced Miguel Tlaylotlac for supposedly hiding the sacred bundle of Huitzilopochtli, in 1539. 


According to the words of Mateos, his father had been a person very close to emperor Moctezuma, and already in the years of the Conquest he would have hidden and guarded wrappers with the remains of several dioses, his father would have been executed together with Cuauhtémoc by Hernán Cortés towards the expedition of what is now the territory of Honduras. Mateos and his brother reportedly moved the packages to Miguel Tlaylotla's house for safekeeping, disappearing days later, a situation that provoked the complaint.

Códice Tecomaxtlahuaca (1909) by Malcolm C. LittleArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The Codex Tecomaxtlahuaca, was made to present a judicial resolution  on the heritage of Francisco de Arellano, chieftain of that town, who asked to be considered that in his lands located in Tecpancaltitlan, today Juxtlahuaca region in Oaxaca, the tribute is paidra basedon work, since if this was removed he ran the risk of losing them, because in them always lived Indians who paid to till the soils.

Códice Tecomaxtlahuaca (1578) by Diego de TerrazasArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The document was made of the maguey paper tribute received by his ancestors, of a genealogical and tributary nature, it records information about their chieftains and their succession, from 1403 to 1578. Representations of corn, beans, cotton and chili peppers, textile products, wood charges and personal services of men and women are shown, all these elements are connected with numerical glyphs of 20 and 400 that represent the tax amount they had to pay.  

Mapa de Santiago Quanepopohualco (1532) by Manuel Juárez MexicatlArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The map that covers the regions of Santiago Quanepopohualco, Xomolco and San Martin Quatzotzoco,located  in the current state of Morelos,  made in 1532,  also contains information on the heritage of Francisco de Arellano,  who in this case requests the return of the lands taken by the Indians who worked them. The pictogram was made of maguey paper.

Códice de los habitantes de San Antonio Zoyatzingo (1557) by AnonymusArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The codex of the inhabitants of San Antonio Zoyatzingo, a town that is located within what is now the State of Mexico, was made in 1557 to represent the families of that town that survived the diseases and invasions that occurred before the Catholic conversion and as proof that land was given for the construction of 4 neighborhoods. The boxes show figures that are in different positions, some with weapons and others with animals, also alludes to Don Felipe Guamaxal and Don Juan Nahuacatzin, who are allegedly the people in charge of the town.


In 1697, it was used by Don Lucas Calvo to request Domingo de Cordova legal representative of the authorities,to make a map to delimit the lands of the town of Tenango Tepopula of the jurisdiction of Chalco and also to return the domains that were  taken by said authorities.

Molinos de azúcar, Tacubaya. Ciudad de México (1587) by Jorge Messia PeraltaArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

This map named as "Sugar Mills of Tacuba" was made, in 1578, at the request of the donation made by Juan Tello de Guzmán for the construction of an artificial outlet of water so that the drainage channel was used for the use of a mill. The map is part of the large collection of pictographic documents of a juridical-administrative nature that were elaborated in the colonial stage, made by a painter of indigenous origin, who tried to make drawings of European constructions, taking advantage of the painting to show the special political status of the tacuba region in pre-Hispanic times, where some glyphs are perceived in relation to Tenochtitlan.

Cuitlahuaca, Chalco. Ciudad de México (1579) by AnónimoArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

Bernardino Arias Dávila promoted a lawsuit to request land in the neighborhood of Santa María Magdalena, belonging to the head of Cuitláhuac that, due to its lineage linked to pre-Hispanic caciques, claimed as his own. He intended to use this land to introduce cattle, but this land was already occupied by chinampas belonging to the natural inhabitants. Bernardino presented this map painted in colors and made in 1579, to delimit the  neighborhood of Santa María Magdalena within the town of Cuitlahuac, located practically on the banks of a river, part today of what is Chalco and Tláhuac, of the towns Tepetlan, Tequixquipan and Santo Domingo, and show that those lands belonged to him.

Provisiones reales con listas de encomiendas y tributarios de Pedro Moctezuma (1565) by Pedro MoctezumaArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The new regime that began to be constituted in New Spain offered the possibility to some families of the indigenous nobility, to access the rank of those who sought, through benefits and privileges according to their quality, an outstanding way to sustain themselves within the new established order.

Provisiones reales con listas de encomiendas y tributarios de Pedro Moctezuma (1565) by Pedro MoctezumaArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The adjudications of mercedes and privileges became for the descendants of Moctezuma a way to survive throughout the viceregal period. Pedro Moctezuma Tlacahuepantzin, was the only son of Emperor Moctezuma who survived the conquest, and who had to travel to the Iberian Peninsula to pay homage to Emperor Charles I, to obtain the right to own certain property that was granted to him until his death in September 1570.

Provisiones reales con listas de encomiendas y tributarios de Pedro Moctezuma (1565) by Pedro MoctezumaArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

For the heirs of Don Pedro Moctezuma, forced to settle in the Iberian Peninsula from the last third of the sixteenth century until the end of the viceregal period, the adjudications of privileges, and encomiendas of Indians in the viceroyalty of New Spain were a continuous issuance of executory letters, cédulas and royal provisions that granted them.

Genealogía de Diego de Mendoza Austria Moctezuma (1791) by AnonymousArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The genealogical line of Moctezuma continued to be used for obtaining land certificates and chiefdom titles by the Spanish Crown during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In the period from 1618 to 1707 four different genealogies circulated among the indigenous people of the territory that is now Hidalgo, which proved a supposed descent of Diego de Mendoza Austria Moctezuma, appointed perpetual governor of Tlatelolco, for himself and his descendants, after helping the Spanish forces in the expansion of their rule.   

One of these genealogies was presented by Melchor de Mendoza, who trying to obtain the privileges of being a descendant of Diego de Mendoza exhibited before the Real Audiencia the following painting where six people are represented, identified in a genealogical succession as Tezozomoc (ruler of Azcapotzalco in the fifteenth century); Quaquauhpitzauac (ruler of Tlatelolco in the fifteenth century); Moctezuma; Fernando Cortés Moctezuma (Cuauhtémoc); Diego de Mendoza Austria Moctezuma (cacique of Tlatelolco) and Baltasar de Mendoza Moctezuma, Lord of Tezontepec (and son of Don Diego).

Códice de Teloloapan, Tultepec y Acatlán, Arzobispado de México (1558) by Diego Méndez de SotoArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The resistance of the native peoples against the excessive tributes that were imposed on them can be seen in The Codex Teloloapan,  of the sixteenth century,  which contains five paintings that are part of a group of documents prepared by the indigenous people of the region to denounce the religious Rodrigo Ortiz, who demanded too much tribute from these populations, in it the tradition of pre-Columbian writing, based on images, is combined with the alphabetic writing introduced by the Spaniards. This Codex gives an  account of the goods  that each people delivered as tribute, being an example of the Mesoamerican accounting system that persisted for much of the viceregal period.   

This is the testimony of the formation of a hybrid culture, the one forged by the peoples of the area known as The Province of La Plata, including by the royal miners of Taxco, Sultepec and Zacualpan, and which accounts for the intense commercial activity thatexisted, and the few authorities that acted with adherence to the law, so that the indigenous people elaborated frequent petitions and complaints before the Archbishopric of Mexico against the abuses of caciques, miners and religious.

Códice de Coetzala by AnonymusArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The Codex of Coetzala,  embodied in a four-page booklet containing calendrical signs, other hieroglyphs and a long text in Nahuatl,fue presented by the natives of the town of Nuestra Señora de la Limpia Concepción Cuetzalan, jurisdiction of Chiautla, current state of Puebla, with the purpose of proving the antiquity of its settlement, during a dispute over land ownership held in the sixteenth century with Santa María Cuetzalan, Santa Mónica Cuetzalan, San Miguel Cuetzalan and Santiago Centeocala. 

Códice de Coetzala by AnonymusArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

These villages belonged to the tributary province of the Triple Alliance of Quiauhteopan, and was a rich area for indigenous mining. Reading the alphabetic texts in Nahuatl, which have a translation in the file that records the land dispute, allows us to observe that the pictographic signs have nothing to do with what is expressed. In all likelihood the text was added to the document at a later time, during a boundary search between La Concepción Cuetzalan and the neighboring town of Santa Monica in 1748.

Códice Techialoyan de Cuajimalpa by AnonymousArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The indigenous population had grown demographically at the end of the seventeenth century and was trying to recover those lands absorbed by haciendas, ranches or other peoples, and the Novohispano government was looking for mechanisms to regularize the possession of the land. Indigenous documents, even those unrelated to land tenure, were used as evidence of the antiquity of peoples and  of  legitimate territorial possession.

Códice Techialoyan de Cuajimalpa by AnonymousArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

It was in the interest of the peoples to show that they were headwaters and not populations subject to them, ancient and not recent foundations, and that their boundaries or boundaries were those they defended. For this reason they sought to have their own documents that mentioned these boundaries and the foundation of the town, a solemn and significant event whose relevance increased when great characters participated in it, such as viceroys or Hernán Cortés himself.

Códice Techialoyan de Cuajimalpa by AnonymousArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The Techialoyan Codex of Cuajimalpa describes a solemn meeting of authorities of the town to confirm the territorial limits of the entity, the places it comprised, the neighborhoods that integrated it and the towns that were taxed by Hernán Cortes. The objective of this ceremony, a fusion of ancient cultural practices of Mesoamerican and European origin, was the legitimization of ownership or possession of land. Text and pictograph are complemented in this document,and the signatures of the principals in question appear. The iconography is rich in plant representations such as magueyes, nopales and trees; architectural, specifically churches, houses and a palace; and human, among which are representations of indigenous and European characters.

Mapa de la República Mexicana con la división política interna (1825) by Miguel Bueno and J. Sr. DraytonArchivo General de la Nación - Mexico

The last years of colonial Mexico ended in the search to establish an independent Republic by a mestizo people who were looking for better opportunities within the territory where they were born. The peoples who maintained their pre-Hispanic origin ceased to be considered as natural and gradually became relegated by the Creoles. Throughout the territory that came to reach New Spain were combined peoples, towns and territories that ended up colonizing, but also subsite a resistance of the indigenous culture that appropriated the language, rules and norms of the Castilian system for the elaboration of various codices in its defense.

Credits: Story

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