The Tarascans were a tribe of people from central Mexico from Tzintzuntzan in Michoacan. The Tarascans fought the Aztec Empire for over a hundred years before New Spain conquered them in 1530.
History[]
Map of the Tarascans
The Tarascan people had a bloody past, something they shared with others who had contact with the warmongering Aztecs. Having been at war with the Aztecs for over a hundred years in 1521, the Tarascans fortified their common border, preventing the Aztecs from moving into Tarascan lands. However, things were now changing. The Aztecs, in fear of a great calamity, had been repeatedly raiding Tarascan lands in search of sacrifices to quench the thirst of their gods. Under the wise leadership of Tangaxuan II, the Tarascans began to rapidly increase their military forces. They were all too aware that the Aztecs would soon attempt to invade their country and capture them all for blood sacrifice. They also had to contend with the fierce Chichimec tribes to the north. Pushing north to claim much needed land would mean dealing with these fierce nomadic warriors, along with the Aztecs. Beyond their local enemies, a new menace emerged. Strange new people had been reported near the Tlaxcalans to the east of the Aztecs. The Tarascans fielded many fierce infantry, who, though lightly armed and armoured, fought with bravery and tenacity including the mighty Priests of Quetzalcoatl.
After the Aztecs to the south were massacred by steel and plagued with germs in 1521, the new Viceroyalty of New Spain moved north to conquer the Tarascan people. Tzintzuntzan was conquered in 1530 by the Spanish explorers, and the Tarascan state became a part of New Spain.