Cosamaloapan

Cosamaloapan stands on the Papaloapan, amid the rivers and wetlands of the Gulf lowlands. Before the Spanish conquest it was the seat of a lordship whose people paid tribute through the Mexica garrison at Tuxtepec. The river linked its communities with other settlements downstream toward Tlacotalpan and the sea.

After Gonzalo de Sandoval defeated the Mexica at Tuxtepec in 1521, the Spanish distributed Papaloapan communities in encomienda. The older lordships provided a basis for colonial administration and for the later gathering of indigenous populations into towns. Cosamaloapan became the centre of a district that included settlements such as Acula, Amatlán and Otatitlán. These included indigenous communities on both sides of the great river. Toward the end of the seventeenth century its jurisdiction was joined to that of Chinantla.