Puebla - History

History

The territory of the state was one of the first in modern Mexico to be inhabited by humans. Most of the earliest settlements have been found in the valley of Tehuacán, with the oldest near the Agujereado Mountain, which dates back to 10,000 BCE. At this site the oldest sample of corn ever found in the world has been found, which dates back to 1500 BCE. Along with Agujereado Mountain, there are more than 450 prehistoric sites in the Tehuacan Valley alone. Stone tools date to between 6500 and 4900 BCE, and evidence of agriculture to 3500 and 2000 BCE in areas such as Aljojuca, Totimiuacan, Cholula and Izucar. By 900 BCE, there is ample evidence of the cultivation of corn, beans, squash, chili peppers and cotton. The rise of city states was established by 700 BCE.

By the Mesoamerican period, the area was inhabited by a number of ethnicities. The regions of Acatlán and part of Chiautla were dominated by the Mixtecs. Tepexi was dominated by the Popolocas. The central part of the state was dominated by the Olmec-Xicalancas and Nahuas, with strong cultural links to the Toltec-based culture at Cholula. The north was populated by the Totonacas, the Mazatecos and the Otomi, whose cultural center was in El Tajín. In the 14th century, Nonoalca ruler Xelhua, came to dominate almost all of the territory of Puebla. In the 15th century, Aztec domination took over the same area and more. Initially, the center and south areas were under the control of Tenochtitlan with Texcoco dominant in the north. Aztec domination continued until the Spanish Conquest.

Hernán Cortés entered the area which is now Puebla state in 1519, along with his indigenous allies from Veracruz, on his way to Tlaxcala . The Spanish takeover of the Puebla area was relatively easy. Many of the peoples here were under Aztec domination and saw the foreigners as a way to escape. One notable exception was the city of Cholula. While negotiating with the city’s leaders, Cortés was told of a plot to attack him and his men. Cortés ordered his army to commit the Massacre of Cholula on 12 October 1519. This act terrified those who opposed the Spanish and they submitted. In 1520, after his initial defeat in Tenochtitlan (La Noche Triste) Hernán Cortés founded a Spanish settlement at Tepeaca, and took areas such as Huaquechula and Itzocan. Many natives leaders then provided men and supplies for the conquest of Tenochtitlan in 1521, and later to go with Pedro de Alvarado to Guatemala . Local indigenous governments survived in the very early colonial period, subject to the Spanish. These included Tuchpa, Tzicoac, Metztitlán, Tlapacoyan, Atotonilco, Tlatlaquitepec, Huaxtepec, Tepeaca, Tlacozautitlán, Quiauhteopan, Yoaltepec, Teotitlán del Camino, Cuautochco and Coixtlahuacan.

The origins of the modern state lie in the founding of the city of Puebla in the Cuetlaxcoapan Valley in 1531 by Toribio de Benaventa and Juan de Salmerón. The city was laid out by Hernando de Elgueta, marking out residential areas, commercial areas etc. The city received its royal seal in 1532 but flooding forced the settlement to move across the San Francisco River and start over that same year. The city’s (and now state’s) seal was granted in 1538. The city of Puebla was created to secure the route between Mexico City and the port of Veracruz, and was initially populated by soldiers and those who made a living by providing shelter and supplies to travelers between the two cities. However, it soon became the economic and cultural center of the valley areas between the Valley of Mexico and the Gulf Coast, as it provided a starting point for Spanish settlement. The area’s economy expanded rapidly as many Europeans and indigenous decided to settle permanently, with the settlement of Puebla reaching city status in 1532 with the name of Ciudad de los Angeles.

The Franciscans were in charge of the evangelization process in the state, starting from 1524, when they founded the monastery of Huejotzingo. Between 1540 and 1560, they founded others such as those in Tecamachalco, Quecholac, Tecali, Calpan, Cuautinchán, Zacatlán, Cholula, Huaquechula, Tepeaca, Tehuacán, Xalpa and Coatepec. The Augustinians arrived next, constructing monasteries in Chiautla, Chietla, Huatlatlauca, Tlapa, Xicotepec and Papaloticpac. The last of the evangelists were the Dominicans, who built monasteries at Izúcar de Matamoros, Tepapayeca, Huehuatlán and Tepexi. The bishopric was established in 1526. Initially, the seat was in the Yucatán, but it was eventually moved to Tlaxcala, then to Pueba by 1550. Eventually, its extension included the current states of Tlaxcala and Puebla during much of the colonial period.

In 1783, the royal government in Spain divided New Spain into “intendencias” or provinces, one of which was centered on the city of Puebla. The first governor of Puebla was Manuel de Flon, Count of La Cadena. Initially, this intendencia included Tlaxcala, but it was separated out in 1793. Other parts were eventually separated out into other provinces/states such as Mexico, Guerrero and Veracruz.

During the Mexican War of Independence, the city of Puebla remained loyal to the viceroy in Mexico City, sending troops to defend it at the Battle of Monte de las Cruces against Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. Ecclesiatical authorities in the Cathedral excommunicated insurgent priests and battles took place in Izúcar and Chiautla. Most of the south of the state, especially Izucar and the Sierra Mixteca were firmly in insurgent hands. Control then bypassed the capital and reached the more northern settlements of Tehuacan and Atlixco. After Independence, the first governor of the state was Carlos García Arriaga in 1821. The first state congress was seated in 1824, with the first state constitution adopted the same year. The new state was divided initially into 21 parts. The Spanish were expelled from the state in 1827. In 1849, the state was reorganized into eight departments and 162 municipalities and again in 1895 with 21 districts and 180 municipalities.

During the rest of the 19th century, the state developed economically through industry. The first mechanized textile mill was established in 1831, soon followed by 17 others in the city of Puebla. Progress was interrupted by Santa Anna’s siege of the city in 1845 and two years later when the Americans under General Winfield Scott took the city on their way to Mexico City. The Americans left three years later at the end of the war.

Much of the rest of the century was occupied with civil strife such as the insurrection of Francisco Ortega against the federal government, the Reform War and the French Intervention. The last provoked the Battle of Puebla on 5 May 1862, when 6,000 French troops attacked the forts named Loreto and Guadalupe outside of the city of Puebla, but they were repelled by forces under Ignacio Zaragoza. Zaragoza died some months after this battle, and he would be later honored by having his name added to that of the city. However, less than a year later, the city would be taken and shortly after, Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico would be installed. However, his rule would be brief and the French, along with their conservative Mexican allies, expelled from the state in 1867.

From this time to the Mexican Revolution, a number of important infrastructure projects were undertaken. One was the Puebla-Veracruz rail line in 1873 and the Escuela Normal para Profesores (Teachers’ College) in 1879. In 1907, a hydroelectric plant was built in Necaxa. However, the economic policies of this area caused widespread unrest, beginning with workers’ strikes. Directly against the regime of Porfirio Díaz was the Club Antireeleccionista (Anti-reelection Club) headed by Aquiles Serdán in 1909. In November 1910, after long government surveillance, troops attacked the Serdán house in Puebla killing Aquiles and his brother Máximo. For this reason, the state claims one of the first battles of the Mexican Revolution .

In 1912, the Liberation Army of the South or Zapatistas took over a number of communities in the state. In 1914, they were challenged by forces loyal to Venustiano Carranza, which occupied the capital briefly. However, the Zapatistas would hold power for the rest of the war. Under the 1917 Constitution, the state was reestablished with 222 municipalities. One of the last skirmishes of the war occurred in Aljibes, Puebla in May 1920 when forces of Álvaro Obregón attacked those of Carranza as he was headed to Veracruz. Carranza was assassinated in Tlaxcalantongo in the Sierra Norte de Puebla soon thereafter.

The 1920s immediately after the war is marked by instability. The governorship changed hands frequently with resistance to whoever was in power from other parts of the state. Despite this, the Universidad de Puebla was established by Maximino Ávila Camacho during this decade. True political stability would not come until the governorship of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz in 1942.

Since the Mexican Revolution, the city of Puebla and its suburbs are one of the most industrialized areas in Mexico, with the metropolitan area ranked fourth in size. Its position near both Mexico City and the Gulf coast continues to be an advantage. However, modern development of the city area has been restricted to outside the city center, in order to preserve its traditional look. This historic center was named a World Heritage Site in 1987, with the Biblioteca Palafoxiana named as part of the Memory of the World Programme in 2005. Today, Puebla’s economic development is centered on its capital. This capital is part of the megalopolis centered on Mexico City.

In 1977, the center of the city of Puebla was named a “Zone of Historic Monuments.” The same area was later named a World Heritage Site in 1987. In 1979, Puebla was the scene of Pope John Paul II's early papal visits to Mexico for that year's CELAM conference.

In 1998, the state was declared in a state of emergency due to 122 forest fires with affected 2,998 hectares of land over two weeks. Many of the fires were started by fires on agricultural lands and the extremely dry conditions made the fires out of control.

The 1999 Tehuacán earthquake did major damage to much of state, especially many of its colonial era churches, and the colonial buildings of the historic center of the city of Puebla. The state of Puebla was declared a disaster area.

In the 2000s, Organizations such as Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) have accused state governmental officials of restricting and suppressing the press. Some of the threats against reporters have included false arrests and death threats.