Cuetlaxtlan

Cuetlaxtlan was a Nahua-speaking altepetl on the Gulf plain, with a population that included non-Nahuatl Pinome peoples. In the fifteenth century it lay between the Aztecs and their rivals of Tlaxcala.

From the 1460s armies of Moctezuma I and Nezahualcoyotl campaigned there and eventually made it an Aztec tributary. After a revolt, Axayacatl reconquered it, replaced its rulers, stationed a garrison and increased tribute. In 1519 coastal towns offered no resistance to Hernan Cortes, while Mexica watchmen reported the Spanish ships to Moctezuma II.