He was the mythic leader and chief divinity of the Aztecs, dominant tribe of the Nahua nation.
In Mexico itself the languages of the Nahua nations, of which the Aztec is the best-known dialect, show no connexion of origin with the language of the Otomi tribes, nor either of these with the languages of the regions of the ruined cities of Central America, the Quiche of Guatemala and the Maya of Yucatan.
Earliest of the Nahua nations, the Toltecs are traditionally related to have left their northern home of Huehuetlapallan in the 6th century; and there is other evidence of the real existence of the nation.
After the Toltecs came the Chichimecs, whose name, derived from chici, dog, is applied to many rude tribes; they are said to have come from Amaquemecan under a king named Xolotl, names which being Aztec imply that the nation was Nahua; at any rate they appear afterwards as fusing with more cultured.
The Aztecs moving from place to place in Anahuac found little welcome from the Nahua peoples already settled there.