Toltec

The Toltecs were an ancient Indian people who dominated much of central Mexico between the 10th and 12th centuries AD. Their language - Nahuatl - was also spoken by the Aztecs.

A militaristic people, they may have sacked the city of Teotihuacan (ca. 750). The Toltec fused the many small states in Central Mexico into an empire ruled from their capital, Tulum[?] (also known as Tolán), near Tula, Mexico. They were accomplished temple builders. Their influence spread through much of MesoAmerica in the post-Classic era. The Toltec Influence on the Maya of Yucatan is heavy, especially evident at the city of Chichen Itzá.

The Toltecs (or, some say, a fictionalized version of them) have been made famous in the last decades by writer Carlos Castaneda.