CHAPTER II
Republic of Tlascala—Its Institutions—Early History—Discussions in the Senate—Desperate Battles
1519
BEFORE advancing further with the Spaniards into the territory of Tlascala, it will be well to notice some traits in the character and institutions of the nation, in many respects the most remarkable in Anahuac. The Tlascalans belonged to the same great family with the Aztecs.1 They came on the grand plateau about the same time with the kindred races, at the close of the twelfth century, and planted themselves on the western borders of the Lake of Tezcuco. Here they remained many years engaged in the usual pursuits of a bold and partially civilised people. From some cause or other, perhaps their turbulent temper, they incurred the enmity of surrounding tribes. A coalition was armed against them; and a bloody battle was fought on the plains of Poyauhtlan, in which the Tlascalans were completely victorious.
Disgusted, however, with their residence among nations with whom they found so little favour, the conquering people resolved to Migrate. They separated into three divisions, the largest of which, taking a southern course by the great volcan of Mexico, wound round the ancient city of Cholula, and finally settled in the district of country overshadowed by the sierra of Tlascala. The warm and fruitful valleys locked up in the embraces of this rugged brotherhood of mountains, afforded means of subsistence for an agricultural people, while the bold eminences of the sierra presented secure positions for their towns.
After the lapse of years, the institutions of the nation underwent in important change. The monarchy was divided first into two, afterwards into four separate states, bound together by a sort of
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