Acolhua

The Acolhua, also spelled Acolhuan, were a Nahua-speaking people who inhabited the eastern part of the Valley of Mexico around Lake Texcoco. Their principal city and political center was Texcoco, which formed the core of the Kingdom of Texcoco and functioned as a regional capital and cultural hub within the broader Acolhua polity.

In the 15th century, Texcoco emerged as a major power in central Mexico and joined with the Mexica of Tenochtitlan and the Tepaneca of Tlacopan to form the Aztec Triple Alliance around 1428. This alliance underpinned Aztec hegemony in the region. Texcoco, especially under Nezahualcoyotl (c. 1402–1472), became renowned as a center of culture, law, and learning, and the Acolhua contributed to the alliance’s administrative and intellectual strength.

Language and identity: The Acolhua spoke Nahuatl varieties and maintained a distinct political and cultural identity within the alliance. Their kingdom helped sustain a rich tradition of poetry, governance, and scholarship that influenced the broader Nahua world. Following the Spanish conquest, Texcoco and its rulers were incorporated into New Spain, and the region was reorganized within the colonial system. The Acolhua legacy survives in toponyms, colonial manuscripts, and the continuing reference to Texcoco as a historic cultural center within the region.