When the Spanish first invaded Mexico and Yucatan they brought with them a small number of horses, which animals were entirely unknown to the natives, and were made useful not only as cavalry but also in creating a superstitious reverence for the conquerors, since the Indians at first regarded the horse as endowed with divine attributes. Cortez in his expedition from the city of Mexico to Honduras in 1524, passed through the State of Chiapas near the ruins called Palenque,—of which ancient city, however, no mention is made in the accounts of that expedition,—and rested at an Indian town situated upon an island in Lake Peten in Guatemala. This island was then the property of an emigrant tribe of Maya Indians; and Bernal Diaz, the historian of the expedition, says, that “its houses and lofty teocallis glistened in the sun, so that it might be seen for a distance of two leagues.” According to Prescott, “Cortez on his departure left among this friendly people one of his horses, which had been disabled by an injury in the foot. The Indians felt a reverence for the animal, as in some way connected with the mysterious power of the white men. When their visitors had gone they offered flowers to the horse, and as it is said, prepared for him many savory messes of poultry, such as they would have administered to their own sick. Under this extraordinary diet the poor animal pined away and died. The affrighted Indians raised his effigy in stone, and placing it upon one of their teocallis, did homage to it as to a deity.”[25-*] At the hacienda of Don Manuel Casares called Xuyum, fifteen miles north-east from Mérida, a number of cerros, or mounds, and the ruins of several small stone structures built on artificial elevations, were pointed out to the writer; and his attention was called to two sculptured heads of horses which lay upon the ground in the neighborhood of some ruined buildings. They were of the size of life, and represented, cut from solid limestone, the heads and necks of horses with the mane clipped, so that it stood up from the ridge of their necks like the mane of the zebra. The workmanship of the figures was artistic, and the inference made at the time was, that these figures had served as bas reliefs on ruins in that vicinity. On mentioning the fact of the existence of these figures to Dr. Carl Hermann Berendt, who was about to revisit Yucatan, in 1869, he manifested much interest in regard to them, and expressed his intention to visit this plantation when he should be in Mérida. But later inquiries have failed to discover any further trace of these figures. Dr. Berendt had never seen any representation of horses upon ruins in Central America, and considered the existence of the sculptures the more noteworthy, from the fact that horses were unknown to the natives till the time of the Spanish discovery. The writer supposes that these figures were sculptured by Indians after the conquest, and that they were used as decorations upon buildings erected at the same time and by the same hands.
At the town of Izamal, and also at Zilam, the writer saw gigantic artificial mounds, with stone steps leading up to a broad level space on the top. There are no remains of structures on these elevations, but it seems probable that the space was once occupied by buildings. At Izamal, which was traditionally the sacred city of the Mayas, a human face in stucco is still attached to the perpendicular side of one of the smaller cerros or mounds. The face is of gigantic size, and can be seen from a long distance. It may have been a representation of Zamna, the founder of Mayan civilization in Yucatan, to whose worship that city was especially dedicated.
From this slight glance at the remains in the Mayan territory we are led to say a few words about their history. In the absence of all authentic accounts, the traditions of the Mayas, and the writings of Spanish chroniclers and ecclesiastics, offer the only material for our object. M. L’Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg, the learned French traveller and Archæologist, in his Histoire des Nations Civilisées du Mexique et de l’Amérique Centrale durant les siècles antérieurs à Christophe Columb, has given a very voluminous and interesting account of Mayan history prior to the arrival of Europeans. It was collected by a careful study of Spanish and Mayan manuscripts, and will serve at least to open the way for further investigation to those who do not agree with its inferences and conclusions. The well known industry and enthusiasm of this scholar have contributed very largely to encourage the study of American Archæology in Europe, and his name has been most prominently associated with the later efforts of the French in the scientific study of Mexican antiquities. A brief notice of some of the marked epochs of Mayan history, as he presents them, will not perhaps be out of place in this connection.
Modern investigations, in accord with the most ancient traditions, make Tobasco and the mouths of the Tobasco river, and the Uzumacinta, the first cradle of civilization in Central America. At the epoch of the Spanish invasion, these regions, and the interior provinces which bordered on them, were inhabited by a great number of Indian tribes. There was a time when the major part of the population of that region spoke a common language, and this language was either the Tzendale, spoken to-day by a great number of the Indians in the State of Chiapas, or more likely the Maya, the only language of the peninsula of Yucatan. When the Spaniards first appeared, the native population already occupied the peninsula, and a great part of the interior region of that portion of the continent. Learned Indians have stated, that they heard traditionally from their ancestors, that at first the country was peopled by a race which came from the east, and that their God had delivered them from the pursuit of certain others, in opening to them a way of escape by means of the sea. According to tradition, Votan, a priestly ruler, came to Yucatan many centuries before the Christian era, and established his first residence at Nachan, now popularly called Palenque. The astonishment of the natives at the coming of Votan was as great as the sensation produced later at the appearance of the Spaniards. Among the cities which recognized Votan as founder, Mayapan occupied a foremost rank and became the capital of the Yucatan peninsula; a title which it lost and recovered at various times, and kept until very near to the date of the arrival of the Spaniards. The ruins of Mayapan are situated in the centre of the province, about twenty-four miles from those of Uxmal. Mayapan, Tulha—situated upon a branch of the Tobasco river,—and Palenque, are considered the most ancient cities of Central America.
Zamna however was revered by the Mayas as their greatest lawgiver, and as the most active organizer of their powerful kingdom. He was a ruler of the same race as Votan, and his arrival took place a few years after the building of Palenque. The first enclosure of Mayapan surrounded only the official and sacred buildings, but later this city was much extended, so that it became one of the largest of ancient America. Zamna is said to have reigned many years, and to have introduced arts and sciences which enriched his kingdom. He was buried at Izamal, which became a shrine where multitudes of pilgrims rendered homage to this benefactor of their country. Here was established an oracle, famous throughout that whole region, which was also resorted to for the cure of diseases.
Mayan chronology fixes the year 258 of the Christian era as the date when the Tutul-Xius, a princely family from Tulha, left Guatemala and appeared in Yucatan. They conciliated the good will of the king of Mayapan and rendered themselves vassals of the crown of Maya. The Tutul-Xius founded Mani and also Tihoo, afterwards the modern city of Mérida. The divinity most worshipped at Tihoo was Baklum-Chaam, the Priapus of the Mayas, and the great temple erected as a sanctuary to this god was but little inferior to the temple of Izamal. It bore the title “Yahan-Kuna,” most beautiful temple. A letter from Father Bienvenida to Philip II., speaks of this city in these terms, “The city is 30 leagues in the interior, and is called Mérida, which name it takes on account of the beautiful buildings which it contains, because in the whole extent of country which has been discovered, not one so beautiful has been met with. The buildings are finely constructed of hammered stone, laid without cement, and are 30 feet in height. On the summit of these edifices are four apartments, divided into cells like those of the monks, which are twenty feet long and ten feet wide. The posts of the doors are of a single stone, and the roof is vaulted. The priests have established a convent of St. Francis in the part which has been discovered. It is proper that what has served for the worship of the demon should be transformed into a temple for the service of God.”[29-*]
Later in history a prince named Cukulcan arrived from the west and established himself at Chichen-Itza. Owing to quarrels in the Mayan territory, he was asked to take the supreme government of the empire, with Mayapan as the capital city. By his management the government was divided into three absolute sovereignties, which upon occasion might act together and form one. The seven succeeding sovereigns of Mayapan embellished and improved the country, and it was very prosperous. At this time the city of Uxmal, governed by one of the Tutul-Xius, began to rival the city of Mayapan in extent of territory and in the number of its vassals. The towns of Noxcacab, Kabah, Bocal and Nŏhpat were among its dependencies.
The date of the foundation of Uxmal has been fixed at A. D. 864. At this epoch, great avenues paved with stone, were constructed, the most remarkable of which appeared to have been that which extends from the interior to the shores of the sea opposite Cozumel, upon the North-East coast, and the highway which led to Izamal constructed for the convenience of pilgrims. A long peace then reigned between the princes of the several principal cities, which was brought to an end by an alliance formed against the King of Mayapan. The rulers of Chichen and Uxmal dared openly to condemn the conduct of the king of Mayapan, because he had employed hirelings to protect himself against his own people, who were provoked by his tyrannical exactions, and had transferred his residence to Kimpech, upon which town and neighborhood, alone, he bestowed his royal favors. His people were especially outraged by the introduction of slavery, which had been hitherto unknown to them. A change of rulers at Mayapan failed to allay the troubles in the empire, and by a conspiracy of the independent princes, the new tyrant of Mayapan was deposed, and he was defeated in a three days battle at the city of Mayapan. The palace was taken, and the king and his family were brutally murdered. The city was then given to the flames and was left a vast and desolate heap of ruins.
Then one of the Tutul-Xius, prince of Uxmal, on his return, was crowned and received the title of supreme monarch of the Mayas. This king governed the country with great wisdom, extending his protection over the foreign mercenaries of the former tyrant, and offering them an asylum not far from Uxmal, where are now the remains of the towns Pockboc, Sakbache and Lebna. It is believed that the city of Mayapan was then rebuilt, and existed shorn of some of its former greatness, but later it was again the cause of dissension in the kingdom, and was again destroyed. This event is said to have occurred in A. D. 1464. Peace then reigned in Yucatan for more than twenty years, and there was a period of great abundance and prosperity. At the end of this time the country was subjected to a series of disasters. Hurricanes occurred, doing incalculable damage; plagues followed with great destruction of life; and thus began the depopulation of the peninsula. Then the Spaniards arrived, and the existence of Indian power in Yucatan came to an end.
The foregoing is necessarily an abridged, hastily written, and very imperfect sketch of some of the more prominent facts connected with the supposed early history of Mayan civilization, which have been brought together with care, labor, and great elaboration, by the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg. Much of this history is accepted as correct from the weight of the authorities which support and corroborate it, but the whole subject is still an open one in the opinion of scholars and archæologists.