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from tlahtocayotl to gobernadoryotl: a critical examination of indigenous rule in 18th‐century central Mexico
Author(s) -
OUWENEEL ARIJ
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.1995.22.4.02a00060
Subject(s) - nobility , indigenous , elite , conquest , history , argument (complex analysis) , ancient history , central highlands , ethnology , geography , political science , law , politics , ecology , biochemistry , chemistry , biology , paleontology
My central argument in this article is that the pueblo de indios of 18th‐century central Mexican highlands should be seen as the continuation of pre‐Hispanic indigenous landed estates. The pueblos were highly stratified entities and were ruled by a small elite of families, usually referred to as caciques. The local level elite either traced descent from the pre‐Hispanic nobility or had taken the place of that nobility by acquiring parts of early post‐conquest grants in which pre‐Hispanic demesnes were recognized. Consequently, Spanish institutions might have changed the form but not the basic substance of indigenous forms of lordship.