Acolhua

The most important political entity in ancient Mesoamerica was the Triple Alliance (Nahuatl, excan tlatoloyan), founded in 1428 when the rulers of Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan formed an alliance that replaced the Tepanec Empire of Azcapotzalco and eventually integrated into a single polity the most developed regions of western Mesoamerica.

Each of the three allied kings led a group of lesser kingdoms that coincided with the three major ethnic components and political powers of previous times: the Colhuas, the Acolhua-Chichimecs, and the Tepanecs.

The domain of Tenochtitlan was the southern part of the Basin, with the Colhua towns of Xochimilco, and Cuitlahuac.

Tetzcoco's domain comprised the Acolhua kingdoms in the eastern Basin and beyond to Tollantzinco and Cuauhchinanco.

[3] It is likely that the ruling family of the Acolhua were descended from Otomí speakers and did not speak Nahuatl until decreed by their ruler (tlatoani) Techotlalatzin.