people attached to a tlahtoani; possibly "palace people" (if tecpantlaca is meant) or "palace inhabitant" (see Siméon, p. 442); or, possibly supervisor, given that tepan is given in Molina as "sobre alguno, o sobre algunos" (Coyoacan, mid-sixteenth century)
In the list of people belonging to Don Juan de Guzmán, gobernador of Coyoacan ca. 1560–70, we see the term "tepantlaca." Hundreds of men and widows are counted in this list, associated with various smaller polities within the Coyoacan region. (Coyoacan, mid-sixteenth century)