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Tollan,Tolan, orTolán is a name used for the capital cities of twoempires ofPre-ColumbianMesoamerica; first forTeotihuacan, and later for theToltec capital,Tula, both inMexico. The name has also been applied to thePostclassic Mexican settlementCholula.
Tollan is a word inNahuatl used in Spanish colonial documents. Traditionally,tollan was interpreted as a Nahuatl toponym forTula, Hidalgo, Mexico. More recent scholarship suggests some kind of broader meaning, such asa place of the reeds. Instead of a toponym for a specific settlement, it is also used as a qualifier to denote a category of densely populated cities.[1]
Teotihuacan seems to have been the first city known by this name. After the collapse of the Teotihuacan empire, centralMexico broke into smaller states. The Toltec created the first sizable Mexican empire after the fall of Teotihuacan, and their capital was referred to by the same name as a reference to the earlier greatness of Teotihuacan.
InAztec accounts at the time of the arrival of theConquistadores, Teotihuacan and the Toltec capital sometimes seem to be confused and conflated.
The epithet "Tollan" was also sometimes applied to any greatmetropolis or capital.Cholula, for example, was sometimes called "Tollan Cholula", and the Aztec capital ofTenochtitlán was likewise given the title "Tollan". TheMixtec translation of this,Ñuu Co'yo is still the Mixtec name forMexico City to this day.
Tollan is the name given to the mythical place of origin in many Mesoamerican traditions, including those of theAztecs and theK'iche'Maya.[2] In the K'iche' epicPopol Vuh, the first people created are gathered at Tollan, the place of seven caves, where they receive their languages and their gods.[3]
