The Zapotec kings and their conquests
Nelly M. Robles Garc?a
At first, the tradition started in the village of
Mogote of carving the images of captured soldiers (who were later sacrificed) on the walls of buildings was repeated in the great city. These personages were the subject of many stories because they were not only a reminder of our superiority over other villages, but also the beginning of a long tradition that would later identify the Beniza? as the great conquerors of the Huaxyac?c region.
As they approached the new era, the most representative stones were chosen to be conserved as a part of other buildings, so that the supremacy of our people was recognized.
Over time and the coming of the new Sun, the way of representing prisoners changed. Now the names of the defeated towns were etched on the heads of the vanquished chieftains, lowered as a sign of subjugation to our valiant people.
The walls of the observatory served as a great gallery to show the conquests of the nearby towns; thus, everybody could admire the power of our armies.
Territorial occupation is one of the reasons for going to war; land is the most prized possession of this noble people and, through conquest, we can have others? lands produce corn for us. The gods sent us to be the most indomitable warriors from eons back in time. Moreover, we know that that is the reason for continuing with war, regardless of how many new suns have occurred; our objective will always be the same.
Back in those times, our armies had conquered lands as far away as the Ca?ada region, located in the lowlands of the Tomell?n canyon. We built a fort in La Coyotera and some soldiers went to live there with their families to guard the pass between Huazy?cac and the valley of Tehuac?n. They lived there for many years and they had constant skirmishes with the Cuicatecs. The battles were won by the number and ranks of our prisoners; sometimes we took over whole populations: young people and old were tied up and sent to work in Dani Ba?. Sometimes only the top ruler of the town, the Coquilao, was taken captive. He was then convinced to hand over men to help with the work in the city, but he also had to hand over his crops, cacao, cloths copal, feathers and other products that would favor our soldiers.
Wars were strategic and commanded by the great lords. The gods sent us to war for three main reasons: to increase the labor force in the city and in the fields; to obtain tributes that would ensure the lives of the nobles; and the third reason was to get control of the trade routes, thus ensuring the supply of our region. We fought a great deal at the outer limits of Huaxy?cac, and the Soconusco region where we confronted not only Mixes tribes but also some Beniza? brothers who had settled far away and who wanted to control the trade routes. The brothers of Tlalixtac fought constantly with their neighboring hill dwellers. The Huitzo always fought with Teocuicuilco, Coatl?n, Miahuatl?n, Chichicapa and Nejapa.
The other reason was for gaining territory but to achieve this objective we didn?t always leave home. We all know that all men are sons of the earth and therefore control of the land was a matter more for the gods than for humans. That is why we have the lachi (tlachtli).
Conflicts over the possession of land were often settled in the pelota court, where our best warriors tried to win the game as the victor was favored by the gods. The high priests watched the game to add faith to the results. The loser thus understood that his adversary, who had now taken control of his land, had been right.
Warriors went to war in their best garments; a mask that could be a jaguar, depending on his rank, a mask of death, or the warrior simply had his face painted the colors of death and night and Cocijo?s signs; loincloths and tunic, a cape and skin sandals. He used his macana ( a sword like weapon), darts, a bow and arrow or knives made out flint; he took a large shield decorated in feathers and cotton lined body armor, and rattles at his ankles in order to make his presence felt. His war costume was beautiful and at the same time, terrifying. All war campaigns were accompanied by images of the gods to guide them to the places where they could make surprise attacks on the enemy.
In more recent times, images of the coquilao prisoners are shown on the steles; he has his hands tied behind his back but his name and birthplace are etched alongside the image; this enables us to recognize his status as a grand lord. He was allowed to talk, as seen in the inscriptions coming out of his mouth; many agreements were arrived at by negotiation.
But there wasn?t always a winner and a loser. When the kingdoms were as strong and powerful as Dani Ba?, or when the matters to be resolved were very complicated, our lords chose to make alliances with the lords of the other towns. An alliance was an agreement between two or more towns to unite their armies, possessions and lands. Marriage between the princes and princesses of separate towns were arranged; in this way, land and labor were obtained without the need to fight. A senior lord could have many wives and therefore he could arrange several marriage alliances. We know that the lord of Huitzo had 20 wives from different towns with which he made alliances.
When there was a marriage, as happened between the daughter of the ruler of Zaachila and the Mixtec prince of Yanhuitl?n, the father of the bride offered the town of Cuilapam as a dowry, thus ensuring his control over that population.
These alliances were always recorded, be it on stone or in the holy books made of deerskins. There the huezeequichi recorded the alliances with engravings or paintings.
These representations were sometimes made by drawing maps, or by simply drawing the symbols of the lands in question, but they had to be recorded clearly as these matters dealt with land and political control.
The alliances between the Beniza? and the ?uusabi (the Zapotecs and Mixtecs) were of utmost importance as they allowed us to control several towns and therefore obtain many new slaves; we have already spoken of the wars of Se?or mixteco 8 Deer Tiger Claw, whom we worship as though he were our own for the alliance we established with him and for having allowed us to expand our control over wide territories.
The alliances with the ?uusabi brought us into conflict with the terrible nahuas, who arrived in our region in an attempt to control the Soconusco. Our best strategy has been to form an alliance with the Mixtecs and with our brothers of the Guiengola, in order to balance the number and quality of our soldiers and weapons; in order to achieve this, we have had to give away two beautiful princesses in marriage.
This has been the history of the conquests of our lords. From time immemorial, they have fought, captured noblemen, obtained tributes and increased the labor force. They have also made intelligent alliances that have enabled us to maintain power over the Huaxyacac territory and politics.
It could not have been any other way as all this has been moving towards the fulfillment of the designs of the gods for our race. That is why every conquest made by the Beniza? is blessed and approved by the main gods.
Source: Pasajes de la Historia # 3 Monte Alb?n y los zapotecos
http://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/english/historia/prehispanica/detalle.cfm?idsec=1&idsub=2&idpag=596
