Purépecha Empire

The Purépecha Empire, also known as the Kingdom of Tzintzuntzan (Purépecha: Ts'intsúntsani Iréchikwa, [tsʰin'd͡zund͡zan i'ɾet͡ʃikʷa]), was a polity in pre-Columbian Mexico. Its territory roughly covered the geographic area of the present-day Mexican state of Michoacán, as well as eastern Jalisco, southern Guanajuato, and western Guerrero. At the time of the Spanish conquest, it was the second-largest state in Mesoamerica. The state is also colloquially known as the Tarascan Empire.

The kingdom was founded in the early 14th century and lost its independence to the Spanish in 1530. In 1543 it officially became the governorship of Michoacán. The Nahuas of the Aztec Empire called this region Michuacān from mich ("fish"), -ua ("owner of"), and -cān ("place of") and means "place of fish owners".

The Purépecha Kingdom was constituted of a network of tributary systems and gradually became increasingly centralized. This was by leadership of the Irecha (plural iréchicha), meaning "king" in the Purépecha language, or even queen, Kuhcha (plural kuhcháecha). The Spaniards knew the king as Cazonci, from Nahuatl caltzontzin. The Purépecha capital was located at Tzintzuntzan (Ts'intsúntsani, "place of hummingbirds") on the banks of Lake Pátzcuaro. According to the Relación de Michoacán, it was founded by the first king Tariácuri, dominated by his lineage, the Vacúxecha (Wakúsïcha, [wa'kuʃɨt͡ʃa], "eagles").

The Purépecha Kingdom was a contemporary and rival of the Aztec Empire, against which it fought many wars. The Purépecha Kingdom blocked Aztec expansion to the west, fortifying and patrolling their frontiers with the Aztecs, possibly developing the first truly territorial state of Mesoamerica.

Due to its relative isolation within Mesoamerica, the Purépecha Kingdom had many cultural traits completely distinct from those of the Mesoamerican cultural group. It is particularly noteworthy for being among the few Mesoamerican civilizations to use metal for tools, and even weapons.