Colhua

The Colhua were the ruling dynasty of Culhuacan, a Nahuatl city-state on Lake Xochimilco whose heirs claimed the mantle of the fallen Toltec capital Tollan and were said to be the first to bear the title tlatoani, or speaker.

In 1299 its king Coxcoxtli joined the Tepanecs in driving the Mexica from Chapultepec before settling them as vassals at Tizaapan. The marriage of Coxcoxtli's daughter Atotoztli to the Mexica leader Opochtli Iztahuatzin produced Acamapichtli, the first tlatoani of Tenochtitlan, so that later Aztec emperors carried Colhua blood and claimed Toltec descent.

Culhuacan's independence ended in 1377, when Azcapotzalco subdued it with Mexica help. After the fall of the Tepanecs in 1428 the Mexica ruler Itzcoatl took the title Ruler of the Culhua, leaving the old city a junior partner of the Triple Alliance.