The Purepecha Empire (in Purepecha, Pꞌurhépecherio) or Tarascan State was a Mesoamerican State in Mexico, which encompassed part of both the Mesoamerican and Arid American regions and an extensive geographical area of the current Mexican state of Michoacán, parts of Jalisco, southern Guanajuato, Guerrero, Querétaro, Colima and the State of Mexico. At the time of the conquest it was the second largest state in Mesoamerica. Their government was monarchical and theocratic and like most pre-Hispanic cultures, the Tarascans were polytheistic.

The Tarascan state was founded near the beginning of the 14th century and lost its independence to the Spanish in 1521. The inhabitants of the empire were mostly Tarascans, but also included other ethnic groups such as the Nahua, Otomi, Matlatzinca and Chichimec. These ethnic groups were gradually assimilated by the majority group.

The state was made up of a network of tributary systems and was gradually centralized under the control of the state governor, who was called irecha. The Tarascan capital was located in Tzintzuntzan on the shores of Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacan; according to Tarascan oral tradition, it was founded by the first irecha Tariácuri and dominated by his lineage, the Uacúsecha ('eagles').

The Tarascan state was a contemporary and enemy of the Triple Alliance (Aztecs), against which it fought many times; it blocked the expansion of that nation to the west and southwest, and, through a series of fortifications, protected its borders; which possibly gave rise to the development of the first truly territorial state in Mesoamerica and Arid America. Between 1476 and 1477 the Tarascans defeated the Mexica commanded by the tlatoani Axayacatl and managed to invade their territory on numerous occasions, succeeding in several of them and conquering important cities such as Xicotitlán, Tollocan and Oztuma.

After hearing about the fall of the Mexica empire, the irecha Tangaxuan II sent emissaries to the Spanish victors. Some Spaniards went with them to Tzintzuntzan, where they introduced themselves and exchanged gifts. They returned with samples of gold and Cortés' interest in the Tarascan state was awakened. In 1522, a group of Spaniards under the command of Cristobal de Olid were sent to the Tarascan territory and arrived at Tzintzuntzan in a matter of days. The Tarascan army numbered many thousands, perhaps as many as 80,000 warriors, but at the crucial moment they decided not to fight. Tangaxuan surrendered the lordship to the Spanish Crown, which allowed him to maintain the throne and some autonomy. This led to a strange arrangement in which both Cortés and Tangaxuán were considered proper rulers of Michoacán in the following years: the population of the area paid homage to both of them.

Years later, in 1529, Cortés was stripped of the governorship of New Spain and traveled to Spain to resolve the matter. Meanwhile, Nuño de Guzmán, president of the First Audience of Mexico, had taken power. In 1529, with the news that Cortés was returning to Mexico, Nuño de Guzmán left for the west, which would lead him to pass through Michoacán and attack the irecha. There Nuño de Guzmán allied with a Tarascan nobleman Don Pedro Panza Cuinierángari, the result was the death of Tangaxuán. A period of violence and instability began. During the next decades, Tarascan puppet rulers were installed by the Spanish government. When Nuño de Guzmán had fallen from grace, Bishop Vasco de Quiroga was sent to the area to evangelize them. He quickly gained the respect and friendship of the natives who left the hostilities against the Spanish Empire.

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