Formal name: Ahuitzotzin
Life: 14??-1502
Reign: 1486-1502, 1485-1502 (Tira de Tepechpan)
Name: Water possum, water creature
Place of Birth: Likely Tenochtitilan
Upon the death of Tizoc, the lords met and Tlacaelel began to advocate for his young grand nephew Ahuitzotl, a child at the time, according to Duran. Other sources say he was already an accomplished military leader and priest. Around 1486 Ahuitzotl was chosen to be the eighth tlatoani of Tenochtitlan and Huey Tlatoani of the Triple Alliance, overseeing an empire that stretched across the valley of Mexico to the mountains in the west and to the Gulf of Mexico to the east.
Ahuitzotl’s first effort was his inaugural campaign to put down a rebellion in the coastal region in northern Veracruz where the Huastec Nation was testing the new king. Recently subjugated by his brother Tizoc, Ahuitzotl led the army to victory and returned to Tenochtitlan with captives for his coronation festivities.
