amilies in early Aguascalientes, including Romo de Vivar, Macias Valdez, and Tiscareno de Molina.
In 1617, Aguascalientes was separated from Lagos de Moreno and given the status of an alcaldía mayor. Aguascalientes continued to grow in the next two centuries, in spite of periodic epidemics, which wreaked havoc on the indigenous population. One of these epidemics took place in 1738-1739, when, according to the burial register of Aguascalientes Parish, 1,018 people died, the majority of them Indian citizens of the area. The 1760 parish census indicated that 640 Indians and 6,386 non-Indians family lived within the bounds of the church jurisdiction. This translated into 20,441 persons who were qualified to receive Communion and Confession within the Church. If one considers infants and young children or people not attending church, the total population was probably about 34,000 persons.
During both colonial times and after independence, Aguascalientes was frequently the subject of jurisdictional battles between its neighboring states, Jalisco and Zacatecas. In 1804, the region became a subdelegación of Zacatecas. With the end of the Mexican Revolution, Aguascalientes became an independent political entity on June 22, 1821. However, soon after, in 1824, the small territory was incorporated as part of the State of Zacatecas and for the next 14 years it remained attached to its northern neighbor.
However, in 1835, the ruling party of Zacatecas rebelled against the national government. Soon, Federal forces under General Antonio López de Santa Anna were making their way to Zacatecas with the intention of quelling the revolt. On May 11, 1835, the Zacatecas militia, under the command of Francisco Garcia, was defeated at the Battle of Guadalupe by Santa Anna's forces. Soon after this victory, Santa Anna's forces ransacked the city of Zacatecas and the rich silver mines at Fresnillo.
In addition to seizing large
