Information AboutAuitzotl |
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Auítzotl (sometimes rendered as '''Ahuitzotl''' or Axayacatl) was the eighth Aztec ruler, the ''Chief Speaker'', of the city of Tenochtitlán . He was responsible for the expansion of the Mexica domain, and consolidated the empire's power after a weak performance by his predecessor. He took power as Tlatoani in 1486 , after his predecessor Tízoc was poisoned. Perhaps the greatest known military leader of Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica , Auítzotl began his reign by suppressing a Huastec rebellion, and then swiftly more than doubled the size of lands under Aztec dominance. He conquered the Mixtec , Zapotec , and other peoples from Mexico's Pacific coast down to the western part of Guatemala . Auitzotl also supervised a major rebuilding of Tenochtitlán on a grander scale including the expansion of the Great Pyramid or Templo Mayor . He ordered over 20,000 people to be sacrificed in the dedication of the Great Pyramid. Auitzotl was the third son of Lord Moctezuma I (also found as Motecuhzome and Ilhuicamina), who was the fifth Chief Speaker. He was succeeded in 1502 by his nephew, Moctezuma II (the famous "Montezuma" humiliated by Cortés ). The Aztec king Ahuitzotl took the Ahuizotl as his Mascot , but it appears the Aztecs thought of it as a creature in its own right, and not merely a mythical beast representing the king.
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