[center][b]Nation Sheet[/b]

[b]Name of Nation:[/b]
Mēxihcatl Empire

[b]Leader Name:[/b]
Huetlatoani Cuitlāhuac III

[b]Location On Map:[/b]
[hider=Mēxihcatl Empire][img]http://i.imgur.com/uDLLcF5.png[/img][/hider]
[b]Type of Government:[/b]
Constitutional Monarchy

[b]Flag:[/b]
[hider=Mēxihcatl Flag][img]http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/101/b/3/flag_of_the_new_aztec_empire_of_mexico_by_lyniv-d7e119p.png[/img][/hider]
[b]Brief History:[/b]
Though the Point of Divergence in the universe of the Mēxihcatl Empire was in the late 10th century, it would have little impact upon the New World until many centuries later. The Americas would develop much as they had in our universe, including the rise of the Triple Alliance dominated by the Mexica. The first major change in the New World was its discovery by the Old; it was not an Italian explorer hired by the Spanish who landed in the Bahamas, but instead was a young man named Khalid al-Khayri from Malta hired by the Sultan of al-Andalus. For centuries the Pyrenees had been the divider between Christianity and Islam in the West, after the Umayyad Caliphs had subjugated the Christian Kingdoms of the north. But in the east, the Bosporus served this purpose. For the Turks had never managed to take Constantinople and while Anatolia was under the rule of the Turkish Sarukhanid Empire, Byzantium held the straits. 

It was because of this that the Sultans of al-Andalus desired to find a route to the Far East, and the riches of the Orient. And it was Khalid al-Khayri who convinced them that he could reach the Far East, by sailing to the West. However, the Sultan was not entirely convinced, and while he funded the expedition westwards al-Khayri was only given a handful of ships to make his journey. And in 1499, he set out on his voyage to find the Orient. Several months later, in early 1500, al-Khayri would set foot on the island that would come to be known as Quba. When he returned to al-Andalus with news of this discovery, word of it spread like a wildfire. Al-Khayri himself would lead 2 more expeditions westwards, and the Christians to the north, not to be outdone by the Muslims, would send their own explorers as well. Powers such as al-Andalus, England, Anjou, and Mauretania would all send their own men out to explore and settle the new continent.

One such colony was the island of Quba, where Khalid al-Khayri first set foot in the New World, which was under the control of the Andalusian governor named Dawud ibn Yasir. It was in 1520 that he organized an expedition lead by his son-in-law Humam al-Qahir, who had already made a name for himself putting down a rebellion by the natives of several Andalusian colonies. However, ibn Yasir limited his expedition to the mainland to trading only, as he wanted the glory of claiming the land for Andalusia as his own. al-Qahir was not particularly pleased with this, and attempted to convince ibn Yasir otherwise, to no avail. But this made ibn Yasir suspicious of al-Qahir, believing that he would disobey his orders and so he cancelled the expedition. But when al-Qahir received word of this, he instead stepped up preparation for the expedition and when he set sail, he set sail as a criminal and mutineer.

Once on the mainland, al-Qahir scuttled the expeditions ships as he had discovered that some of his men were still loyal to the governor and wished to return to Quba. Afterwards, he began his trek through the sweltering mainland, exacting tribute from natives. When he learned of the existence of the Mexica and their Triple Alliance, however, he set his sights on them. He was able to convince many natives to join his men, as they were victims of the Mexica Flower Wars, wherein the Mexica would attack them for captives to sacrifice on a massive scale. Eventually the Andalusians made their way to Tenochtitlan where they were welcomed by Motecuhzoma, the ruler of the Triple alliance. 

According to records, Motecuhzoma received Humam al-Qahir in a great ceremony and treated them as honoured guests, even allowing him and his men to stay within the palace of his father Axayacatl. However, relations quickly turned sour when al-Qahir demanded that Motecuhzoma pledge fealty to the Sultan of al-Andalus, tear down their idols, and convert to Islam. This made the Mexica furious, and it resulted in the death of several Andalusian men at the hands of the Mexica. In return, al-Qahir took Motecuhzoma prisoner, using him as a hostage to prevent any further violence against his men while having Motecuhzoma execute those responsible for the killings of his men.

While in captivity, Motecuhzoma still ruled but was subject to al-Qahir's control. This included swearing an oath to the Sultan of al-Andalus as well as being forced to pay a tribute of gold to the Andalusians. It was then that al-Qahir received word that a force of Andalusians had landed under the order of ibn Yasir to take al-Qahir prisoner. So he was forced to take his best men out to meet the much larger Andalusian force, leaving only his least reliable soldiers to keep the peace in Tenochtitlan. Fortunately for al-Qahir, many of the newly landed Andalusians were easily swayed by the promise of gold and glory, and he convinced them to turn against and kill those loyal to the governor. After the short battle, al-Qahir made a rapid march back to Tenochtitlan, only to find it in chaos and disarray.

During al-Qahir's absence the man he had left in charge had butchered a group of Mexica nobles during a religious ceremony, which had lead to uprising from the Mexica inhabiting the city. Attempting to diffuse the situation, al-Qahir had Motecuhzoma order his people to allow the Andalusians to leave peacefully only to discover that the Mexica nobility had chosen Cuitlāhuac as Huetlatoani. This left Motecuhzoma useless to al-Qahir, who had him killed as a result and was then forced to flee from the city. The disastrous route was the turning point in the Invasion, as waves of Mexica warriors attacked the Andalusians and their native allies. Uncountable men died that night, including al-Qahir himself, and without his leadership the Andalusian forces fell apart in the aftermath. They were hunted and harried on their march to the sea, and only a small number survived. And then they were forced to take refuge with the Tlaxcala, one of the native groups that had allied with them. And it was among the Tlaxcala that a great plague would begin; the [i]huey ahuizotl[/i], more commonly known as smallpox.

The smallpox plague began among the Tlaxcala, but it would quickly spread throughout all the local natives, including the Mexica and Tenochtitlan. Over the course of 60 days, nearly half of the population would be killed. Fortunately, Huetlatoani Cuitlāhuac would be spared, but all could not be said of many in power, and not only because of the disease. The priests of the Mexica sacrificed untold numbers of people to their Gods in order to stop the plague. But as it continued unabated, dissatisfaction and anger with the priests among the lower classes rose, eventually culminating in a massive riot that resulted in the slaughter of a great many priests. Cuitlāhuac, seeing the way the winds were blowing, took it upon himself to arrest many of the surviving priests and had most of the highest ranks priests executed for failing in their duties. For it was plain to see that their sacrifices did not appease the Gods, and so Cuitlāhuac had the practice of life human sacrifice and ritualized cannibalism banned, though blood sacrifice was still practiced. Though many opposed this drastic action, especially those among the nobility, the edict coincided with the end of the epidemic and many took this to be a sign that Cuitlāhuac had restored the favour of the Gods.

It was then that the Mexica people met with another group of explorers, this time coming from the north. They were a strange people, dressed differently from al-Qahir's men and speaking a strange language. Though Cuitlāhuac invited them to Tenochtitlan, they did not receive the same welcome as al-Qahir had; they were constantly watched by Mexica warriors and their weapons had been confiscated. Thanks to a translator the explorers had taught their language, French, Cuitlāhuac came to learn that they were from another land across the sea known as Anjou and that they had a common enemy in al-Andalus. Though Anjou was not directly fighting the Andalusians, they were in constant competition in the New World and as an enemy of the Andalusians the Angevins were more than happy to trade with an aid the Mexica.

It was with this expedition that the Mēxihcatl-Angevin alliance was formed, as once news reached the King of Anjou he allowed trading and advising between the Mexica and Angevin colonies in the Caribbean. Because of this, Cuitlāhuac started out on a great project of reformation and conquest. He centralized power, transforming the Triple Alliance from a loose collection of hegemonic states to a centralized Empire ruled from Tenochtitlan. Those tlatoani who remained were replaced with calpixque that were appointed by the Huetlatoani himself. And he set out to conquer the nearby natives, especially those who had joined with the Andalusians, starting with the Tlaxcala.

Though the Mexica had also suffered from the smallpox epidemic, it had begun among the Tlaxcala and they had been hit the hardest. The Mexica warriors, now equipped with early firearms thanks to the Angevins and drilled by Angevin officers invited to the Empire by Cuitlāhuac, the Tlaxcala were quickly invaded and integrated into the Empire. Others such as the Tarascans and Mixtecs followed, subsumed by Cuitlāhuac's new state. Thanks to the efforts of Cuitlāhuac and the Angevins themselves, who taught the Mexica of more advanced technology, in only several years the Triple Alliance had been transformed into the Mēxihcatl Empire. But the Mēxihcatl-Angevin alliance was built upon one thing, and that was the mutual enemy of al-Andalus. Anjou was competing for control of the New World, while the Mēxihcah knew that the Andalusians would be coming again.

And come again the Andalusians did; in 1542 that the governor of Quba organized an invasion of Cuitlāhuac's empire with the blessing of al-Andalus's Sultan. Forces amassed in the Andalusian colonies along the Yucatan Coast, and invaded the Mēxihcatl lands. The city of Coatzacoalos was taken and sacked, and the Andalusians achieved many smaller victories in the opening stages of the war. But overconfidence would eventually lead them into a trap where a great many of them would be slaughtered by the armies of an Angevin general named Guillaume de Dax and Ixhuetzcatocatzin, the son of Cuitlāhuac. The Andalusian troops were lead into an ambush in the Oaxaca mountains where most of the Andalusian forces where annihilated and the remaining routed, where they would be hounded back to the Yucatan.

The Andalusians tried to recover from this defeat by sending more troops and supplies, but they were hampered by Angevin privateers to the point that it was considered a death sentence to fly the Andalusian flag anywhere near the mainland. Eventually the governor of Quba was forced to sign an armistice thanks to this and native uprising in the Yucatan colonies by the native Maya. Cuitlāhuac took advantage of these uprising by offering them aid and protection if they submitted to Mēxihcatl rule. In this way, he would expand his influence eastwards, taking the Mayan lands through both diplomacy and conquest. Unfortunately, another epidemic of smallpox would ravage the lands in 1546, and which would claim the life of Cuitlāhuac.

His son Ixhuetzcatocatzin would become Huetlatoani after his death, though it would lead to unrest amongst many. There were still those who were against the reforms of his father, and wished for his father's more traditional cousin Cuauhtémoc to take the throne. Though Ixhuetzcatocatzin was a hero following his defeat of the Andalusians, many felt that allowing the Angevins such a continued presence in their lands was a mistake and that it would lead to ruin. While unrest between the supporters of both men grew, the Angevin king would die and Richard II Plantagenet would come to the throne. Richard would come to demand more concessions of Ixhuetzcatocatzin, which he would disallow and would eventually culminate in the expulsion of all Angevins from the the empire, with the exception of Guillaume de Dax, whom Ixhuetzcatocatzin had come to regard as a friend and who would eventually come to marry his sister.

But this would end the Mēxihcatl-Angevin Alliance, and lead to increased friction in the New World as the Mēxihcatl now looked to expand their holdings even more. With Ixhuetzcatocatzin continuing his father's policies of expansion among the Maya, though the last kingdom would not fall to the Huetlatoani until 1654, it brought them into conflict once more with the Andalusians. But this time it would be the Mēxihcatl who would initiate hostilities, beginning the Third Mēxihcatl-Andalusian War in 1562 with Ixhuetzcatocatzin having his men quickly attack the Andalusian colonies in the Yucatan, aided by the oppressed Maya of the region. In response to the rapid victories of the Mēxihcatl the Andalusians would sail reinforcement to the Yucatan, but they would unfortunately be caught in a storm off the coast.

And even more unfortunately, one of the men among the soldiers was Ali ibn Muhammad, Prince of Andalusian. Sultan Muhammad VI had allowed Ali to travel to the colonies for glory since he was his sixth son. But his other sons had unfortunately suffered accidents and sickness that would leave Ali as Muhammad's heir when his ship was sunk under the sea and he washed up on shore and was captured by Mēxihcatl warriors. When they learned who he was Ixhuetzcatocatzin would force Muhammad to sign the Treaty of Coatzacoalos, officially renouncing all claim to any land north of the Polochic river and recognizing it as the sovereign territory of the Mēxihcatl Empire. This would lead to the end of most major hostilities between the Mēxihcatl and Andalusians, though Ali himself would attempt to invade the mainland several times during his reign as Sultan. All of which would end in failure, and Ali himself would die remembered as an unremarkable ruler and without any children by any of his numerous wives.

[b]Main Export:[/b]
Oil, Automobiles, Electronics

[b]Main Import:[/b]
Machinery, Machine Parts, Computers

[b]Cultural Description:[/b]
The official language of the Mēxihcatl Empire is Nahuatl, which is spoken throughout the Empire. However, it is far from the only language in the Empire as the non-Nahua peoples incorporated into the Empire were allowed to keep their own languages provided they also learned Nahuatl; the largest groups are the Mayan, Zapotec, and Mixtecan languages and in addition there continues to be small minorities of Andalusian Arabic speakers in the North Yucatan, though their language has been heavily influenced by Nahuatl.

The Mēxihcatl Empire still continues to use the calendars of old; it consists of two calendars: the Xiuhpohualli and Tonalpohualli. The Xiuhpohualli is the main calendar and consists of 165 days, which are all separated into 18 20-day 'months' and separate period of 5 days at the end of the year. The other, the Tonalpohualli, consists of 20 13-day periods. The start of the two calendars coincide every 52 years. The calendars are important because each specific 'month' of the Xiuhpohualli is connected with a deity (or deities) and there is a specific festival/holiday every month. Though the holidays began as religious days, in more modern times they're mostly cultural in nature. And while human sacrifice has been outlawed for centuries though some of the major festivals do still involve bloodletting, mostly performed by the clergy and the Huetlatoani himself.

[b]Main Religion:[/b]
Almost all of the Empire follows the Mēxihcatl religion, with its extensive pantheon of Gods. Though there are many Gods some are more important than others, and some are more important in certain regions than others. The religion itself is also codified and organized, with a hierarchy of priests with the Huetlatoani being considered the head of the religion (though in modern times this position is mostly nominal). In addition,the religion itself is not truly polytheistic, as the actual theology states that the individual Gods are aspects of a singular and transcendent unity. However, they are often viewed as an worshiped as individuals by laymen. 

In addition to this, there are small populations in the North Yucatan who are descendants of Andalusian colonists and most continue to follow their own for of Sunni Islam. There was a small movement in the 1700s that attempted to preach that the transcendent unity that the Mēxihcatl Gods belong to was Allah, but it was rejected by most Mēxihcatl and Muslims alike, and today the movement is nearly extinct with numbers in the triple digits.

[b]Other:[/b]
TBD

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