Jilotepec (Estado de Mexico), a space of frontier and traffic. New considerations on its regional character from the 16th to the 19th Centuries

Abstract

This work aims to reinforce the region character of the northwest of the current State of Mexico, specifically the former alcaldía mayor of Xilotepec, then a subdelegation and later a taxation district. What historical and geographical elements have given personality to this territory to consider it unitary in territorial terms? The answer offered, until now little noted in the literature is, on the one hand, the border character of Jilotepec during the conquering process of the New Spain territory (16th and 17th centuries) and, two, its feature of being a transit region (18th and 19th centuries); that is, a space through which the commercial flow intensified as a result of the existence of the so-called Camino Real de Tierra Adentro passing through it.