Cutzamala

Cutzamala lay in the Tierra Caliente lowlands on the border of Guerrero and Michoacán. Its Nahuatl name meant “place of rainbows”; Purépecha speakers called it Apatzingani.

It became the Purépecha kingdom's easternmost garrison against the Aztecs, facing their fortress at Oztuma. The Relaciones geográficas reported as many as ten thousand warriors stationed there. In 1476 the Tarascan army defeated Axayacatl, ending Mexica hopes of conquering Michoacán. The Purépecha kingdom lost its independence to Spain in 1530; in 1810 Cutzamala saw the first Tierra Caliente battle of the independence uprising.