Traditionally hailed as the state's founder, Tariácuri is credited with growing the Purépecha Empire from an individual city-state to the dominant power of the region.
Tariácuri (meaning "strong wind"[1]) was born into the uacúsecha clan, one of the most powerful families of the Lake Pátzcuaro basin, in the fourteenth century CE.
Tariácuri's career originated after a prophetic dream in which the sun god Curicaueri, the patron deity of the uacúsecha, sent him forth to create and expand a unified Purépecha state.
[2][3] To put this ambition into practice, he first joined forces with allied cities, including Urichu, Erongarícuaro, Pechátaro,[2] and Jarácuaro.
[1][4] They would follow Tariácuri's pattern, however, by maintaining an alliance and continuing efforts to expand the Purépecha state.