Tariácuri


Tariácuri was a culture hero of the Purépecha people and one of the foremost rulers of the Tarascan state. Traditionally hailed as the state's founder, Tariácuri is credited with growing the Tarascan state from an individual city-state to the dominant power of the region.

Biography

Tariácuri was born into the uacúsecha clan, one of the most powerful families of the Lake Pátzcuaro basin, in the fourteenth century CE. His father and predecessor, Pauacume II, ruled as the lord of Pátzcuaro.
Tariácuri's career began with a prophetic dream he had, in which the sun god Curicaueri— the patron deity of the uacúsecha— sent him forth to create and expand a unified Tarascan state. To put this ambition into practice, he first joined forces with allied cities, including Urichu, Erongarícuaro, Pechátaro, and Jarácuaro; he then began expanding the state's territory, first to the southwest and then throughout the entire Pátzcuaro basin. Tariácuri's military record was not perfectly successful— at one point, "enemies from Curinguaro" are described as attacking his homeland and forcing his nephews into flight— but this seems to have been a temporary setback, after which Tariácuri managed to resume his program of expansion.
After Tariácuri's death, his domain was divided among several of his descendants: his son Hiquingaje received rulership of Pátzcuaro, while Tariácuri's nephews Tangaxoan and Hiripan were granted Tzintzuntzan and Ihuatzio respectively. They would follow Tariácuri's pattern, however, by maintaining an alliance and continuing efforts to expand the Tarascan state.