264 



BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



[bull. 28 



The struggle is said to have ended at hist in a decided victory 

 for the merchants and the taking of numerous captives by them. 

 In like manner the chronicle of Tezozomoc « relates the complete 

 conquest and subjugation of this territory. Xochitlan, Amaxtlan, 

 Izuatlan, Miauatlan, Tehuantepec, and Xolotlan are named by Tezo- 

 zomoc as the cities against which this warfare was directed. 



There is probably no doubt that these enterprises were so far suc- 

 cessful that the Zapotecs were forced from this time forward to 

 allow the Mexican merchants to ])ass through to the regions on the 

 Pacific coast and to grant them freedom of trade in their own terri- 

 tory. It must indeed have been a successful war for the Mexicans, 

 according to all the records, for it filled their slave markets and fur- 

 nished the altars of the gods with sacrifices. These expeditions, how- 

 ever, did not result in a conquest and the lasting subjugation of the 

 Zapotec country. The Zapotec kings remained as independent after- 

 ward as they had been before 

 and as well prepared to meet 

 the invading Mexican hosts 

 by force of arms. Indeed, 

 the Mexican kings, owing to 

 clearly understood commercial 

 interests, evidently felt the 

 need of entering into a treaty 

 with the Zapotecs. This is 

 proved by the bestowal of a 

 Mexican princess in marriage 

 upon the Zapotec king, Cocijo- 

 eza, a fact w^liich is told alike by Father Burgoa,'' who drew his 

 information from Zapotec sources, and by the interpreter of the 

 Codex Telleriano-Kemensis.' This alliance did not, of course, put a 

 stop to intrigues on the part of the Mexicans. Indeed, this Mexican 

 princess, who was called "cotton flake"" (Zapotec Pelaxilla : prob- 

 ably, Mexican Ichcatlaxoch), gained especial fame and honor among 

 the Zapotecs because she did not comply with the demands made upon 

 her by her father, but betrayed the plans of the Mexicans to her hus- 

 band, the Zapotec king. The son of Cocijo-eza and of this Mexican 

 princess was Cocijo-pij, the last king of Tehuantepec. 



When Cortes landed on the coast of Mexico and overthrew the 

 supremacy of the Mexicans by his skillful management and mili- 

 tary power he was joyfully hailed by the Zapotecs, as well as by the 

 Totonacs and the Tlascaltecs, as their deliverer from the power of 



o CrSnlca Mexlcana, chap. 75, 76. 



'' Burgoa, work cited, chap. 72. 



<" Part 4, pi. 23, in connection witli the year Tochtli, or A. D. 1502. 



* 







I Fia. 57. Mexican symbols of years and pueblos. 



