UC Merced Undergraduate Research Journal

This paper argues that migration was a key part of how the legacy of Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl spread across Mesoamerica. Instead of viewing his departure from Tollan as exile or failure, this study reframes it as a form of political migration. The movement of Toltec elites was not random or by chance, but structured, as they carried systems of authority, legitimacy, and belief into new regions. Using sources such as the Florentine Codex and Nicholson, this paper shows how this legacy appears in figures like Kukulkan and Nacxit. Ultimately, migration functioned as a powerful political and cultural process that sustained and reshaped Quetzalcoatl’s legacy over time.