Amapila

Amapila represents a small mountain polity in the Tlacalahuastla district, in the highlands between Colima and Michoacán. Its scattered villages lay around modern Minatitlán and were inhabited by Otomí-speaking and Nahua communities.

After the Spanish conquest, the district was granted in 1551 to the soldier Francisco de Santos as an encomienda. Harsh labour demands drove its people to seek refuge in the Telcruz and Tocxin mountains, while the neighbouring Coalcomán range remained a centre of indigenous revolt in the early colonial period.