The Origin Stories of Other Mexican States Revealed
In the heart of North America lies Mexico, a land rich in history and culture. Its states, each with a unique story, bear names that echo the past, telling tales of ancient rulers, indigenous peoples, and significant events. Let's delve into the fascinating origins of some of Mexico's states.
The state of Tabasco was named after Tabscoob, a ruler of the Chontal Maya of Pontonchán. The state of Colima's name's meaning is debated, but it may mean "where the water bends" or "place of the grandfather." On the other hand, the state of Chiapas was originally inhabited by the Chiapanecos, who were called by the Mexica as Tepetchiapan, meaning "water beneath the hill" or "river of the sacred chia."
Hernán Cortés founded the town of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz in 1519, which eventually became the city we know as Veracruz and gave the future state its name. The city of Mexico-Tenochtitlán's location in the center of Lake Texcoco is poetically referenced in the name Mexico, meaning "in the navel of the moon." The state of Mexico's name is derived from the colonial period, when Mexico City was part of the province of Mexico.
The state of Nayarit is the traditional home of the Indigenous Cora people. The name of the state Nayarit and the word Nayeeri, the Cora's name for themselves, come from the name of King Na'ayarij, a great Cora warrior who founded the Kingdom of Xécora in the Sierra Madre mountains. The kingdom of Xécora, spanning parts of present-day Nayarit, Durango, and Zacatecas, was founded by Na'ayarij in the late 15th century.
José María Morelos was the second of the rebel priests who led the first phase of Mexico's independence movement. The state of Morelos is named for him. The name of the state Yucatán may not mean "I don't understand" or "I'm not from here," but more likely comes from Yokot'an, the Chontal Maya people's name for their own language.
The city of Puebla was founded in an area of the Cuetlaxcoapan Valley that was shown to Julián Garcés, Dominican friar and first bishop of Tlaxcala, by angels in a dream. Miguel Gregorio Antonio Ignacio Hidalgo y Costilla Gallaga Mandarte y Villaseñor, better known as Miguel Hidalgo, is the priest whose call to rebellion kicked off the War of Independence. The state of Hidalgo is named for him.
The state of Quintana Roo was named after Andrés Quintana Roo, a poet, drafter of Mexico's declaration of independence, and holder of several high offices in the national government. The city of Puebla was founded in 1531 and was originally named Puebla de los Ángeles, but the name Puebla stuck.
In Mexican Spanish, the verb "campechanear" means to mix several things together. The state of Tlaxcala's name literally means "place of bread" in Nahuatl. The average Tlaxcalan eats almost 200 kilos of tortillas every year.
Querétaro's name is likely derived from Purepecha, but experts disagree on what Purepecha word was picked up by the Spanish. If it was "k'erhiretarhu," then the name means "great city-state." If it was "k'erendarhu," then it's "place of great rocks" or "the crag."
The state of Guerrero is named after Vicente Guerrero, a hero of Mexico's independence movement and the first Afro-descendant president of any country in the Americas. The state of Oaxaca's largest Indigenous ethnicities speak languages belonging to the Oto-Manguean language family, but the state's name is a Nahuatl word.
The ancient glyph for the Kingdom of Colliman, Colima's namesake, is an arm bent at the elbow emerging from water. The city of Campeche has several intermixed explanations, but it likely comes from the name of one of the Yucatán Peninsula's chiefdoms.
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