Having sketched the archæology of Mexico proper, explained as far as
possible by what we know of the religion and customs of the early
inhabitants, it now remains to consider the region to the south and
east which was the scene of a distinct, but related, culture, that of
the Maya. The area involved consists of Tabasco, Chiapas, Campeche
and Yucatan in Mexico, British Honduras, Guatemala and the northern
portion of Honduras. The task is one of far greater difficulty, since
the ruined remains scattered over the country give evidence of a higher
culture than that which prevailed at the conquest; but of the people
who evolved that culture we know nothing except by implication. The
sites which show the greatest architectural and artistic development
had been abandoned at any rate some considerable time before the coming
of the Spaniards, and the early chroniclers were unable to record
anything concerning them. In Yucatan alone were traditions preserved
which could be brought into relation with the ancient buildings, and
then only with the most modern of them, which bear evident traces of
non-Maya influence. The area now under consideration is separated
geographically from that which formed the subject of the preceding
chapters by the Tehuantepec depression; to the east of the latter, the
southern section, including the greater portion of Tabasco, Chiapas,
Guatemala (except the extreme north), and Honduras, are part of a
mountain system which extends, with interruptions, into South America,
and may be considered a continuation of the Sierra Madre to the
west and north. Campeche, Yucatan and the part of Guatemala excepted
above, constitute a sort of annexe to the former, formed of limestone,
low-lying, and of comparatively recent elevation from below the sea.
Guatemala (including British Honduras) is an elevated plateau with its
highest and steepest escarpment on the Pacific side, and sloping less
abruptly and in irregular fashion towards the Atlantic. In the south
is a volcanic system, giving rise to scenery of particular beauty,
especially where it includes such highland lakes as that of Atitlan.
The igneous range constitutes the main watershed, and consequently the
only rivers of importance, the Usumacinta and Motagua, drain into the
Atlantic, while in the low-lying region of Peten a number of lakes are
found. In Honduras the mountain system decreases in elevation into
hilly country, also with its principal slope towards the Atlantic,
traversed in various directions by ridges branching off from the
central plateau. The volcanic system extends from Guatemala along the
Pacific coast. As in Mexico, climate corresponds with the degree of
elevation, and in Guatemala the same three zones, _tierra caliente_,
_tierra templada_ and _tierra fria_, are found, with similar abrupt
transitions from one to the other. In the lower country cacao, vanilla,
rubber, coconuts, bananas and palms grow freely, while the uplands are
covered with oak and pine. The Atlantic side of Honduras produces a
variety of valuable tropical timber, while the higher ground is on the
whole more open than that of Guatemala, much of the vegetation being
herbaceous and affording good grazing. The climate of Yucatan is purely
tropical, and the rainfall is very heavy. Under such conditions, more
favourable to vegetable than human existence, the country is thickly
covered with forest which reappears as soon as cleared and renders
exploration a matter of great difficulty, besides making the country
very unhealthy from the point of view of the European. Indeed, the
thick vegetation which clothes the river valleys and lower lying
parts of the whole Maya area is the principal obstacle in the way of
archæological investigation, since not only does it render the ruins
extremely difficult to locate, but it also contributes very seriously
to their decay. The fauna is rich, and includes birds of brilliant
plumage in great variety, jaguar, peccary, deer and alligator; the deer
and the turkey being the most important from the economic point of view
of the early native.
[Illustration: FIG. 45.
1. Aztec.
2. Pipil.
3. Chontal.
4. Zotzil.
5. Tzental.
6. Chol.
7. Chanabal.
8. Chicomaceltec.
10. Cuje.
11. Jacaltec.
12. Mam.
13. Ixil.
14. Aguacatec.
15. Quiché.
16. Kakchiquel.
17. Tzutuhil.
18. Uspantec.
19. Kekchi.
20. Pokonchi.
21. Pokomam.
22. Chorti.
23. Maya.
24. Zoque.
25. Tapachula.
(1 and 2, Nahuatl; 3–23, Maya; 24 and 25, Zoquean.)]
Practically the whole of the population of this area, with the
exception of an enclave of Nahua-speakers in southern Guatemala, spoke
dialects of the language known as Maya in the broadest sense, to which
the tongues of the Huaxtec and Totonac also belonged. The distribution
of the various tribes is best seen from the accompanying map, after
Thomas (Fig. 45), but it is hardly necessary to discuss them in detail,
since their present positions cannot be taken necessarily as affording
any indication of their positions in pre-Spanish times, and from only
a very few have legends been collected which shed any light upon their
former history. The dialect spoken in Yucatan is known as Maya in the
narrower sense, and seems to bear a nearer relation to that which
prevailed among the nations of the older culture, since the Yucatec at
the conquest were using a script which corresponded closely with that
found upon the monuments. Their dialect extends to the Rio de la Pasion
and the western and southern Usumacinta, where it is spoken by the
so-called Lacandons who have preserved certain of the ancient customs
and beliefs. The Lacandons to the west speak the Chol dialect, though
there are indications that both divisions of this people originally
spoke Maya, that is to say the dialect of Yucatan. Besides the Yucatec,
practically the only tribes of historical importance are grouped around
lake Atitlan; the Quiché occupying the largest area to the north, south
and west of the lake, extending from the Pacific to central Guatemala,
the Kakchiquel to the west and south of the lake, also extending to
the Pacific, and the Tzutuhil wedged in between them on the southern
shore of Atitlan. South-east of the Kakchiquel are the Pipil, a
Nahua-speaking tribe, and Nahua dialects are found in San Salvador
and even further to the south-east, as far as Nicaragua and Panama,
pointing to a stream of Nahua migration by an overland route. The Pipil
themselves preserved a tradition that they had reached their present
abode from Tuxtla. The Maya language as a whole exhibits certain points
of similarity to that of the Mixtec and Zapotec, but its structure is
more akin to that spoken on the islands of the Mexican Gulf and the
northern coast of South America. A tradition existed in Yucatan that
an early section of the inhabitants had come from the east, and the
Maya of this neighbourhood were certainly good seamen, since large
canoes with sails were met by the expedition of Columbus, so it is at
least possible that a section of the early population were immigrants
from the Antilles. But at present too little is known of the languages
of Central America to admit of the formulation of definite theories
based upon linguistic arguments, which constitute a class of evidence
requiring extreme caution on the part of those who would make use of it.
The early history of the Maya tribes is by no means easy to extract
from the traditions which have survived until the present day.
The chief sources of information are as follows. The traditions
relating to the Tutul-Xiu family, the centre of whose power at the
time of the conquest lay at Mani in Yucatan, which were reduced to
writing, under the name of the “Books of Chilan Balam” (Chilan Balam
meaning Tiger-priest) in Spanish times. The legends of the Quiché,
who in historical times occupied the plateau around Santa Cruz and
Quetzaltanango, with their capital at Utatlan, contained in the Popol
Vuh. The “Annals” of the Xahila family of the Kakchiquel tribe, whose
chief city was Iximché near the modern Tecpan Guatemala. Finally the
scattered traditions collected from the natives by such early writers
as Landa and Cogolludo. The Yucatec traditions alone can be brought
into any direct connection with the ruined sites of the early and
architecturally more advanced Maya culture, but all of them agree in
fixing Tulan as the starting-point of their respective migrations.
Again the Books of Chilan Balam are the only traditions which are
accompanied throughout by definite dates, according to a system which
is explained later, and these dates can be correlated with our own
time owing to the fact that each version fixes with great precision
the death of a certain Ahpula, which occurred in 1536. Unfortunately
the different versions do not agree as to the earlier dates, and in
some cases extended time-periods appear to have been interpolated.
I think however by careful comparison it is possible to reduce the
discrepancies to a minimum, and I have therefore drawn up a scheme of
chronology, based in the main on the version current at Mani, for which
some degree of accuracy may, I think, be claimed. I do not pretend that
these dates are more than tentative, but they will at least serve as
a frame-work into which the main facts of Maya history may be fitted
(Appendix III). The tradition current in Yucatan at the time of Landa
was that the country had been peopled by two sets of immigrants, one
from the east under a god or high-priest Itzamna, the other from the
west under Kukulkan (the Maya equivalent of Quetzalcoatl), who later
departed westward in the direction of Mexico. The first immigrants
are said to have built Chichen Itza, and Kukulkan is related to have
ruled there for a time, though afterwards his votaries built the city
of Mayapan, where he reigned as a sort of overlord of the Yucatec.
According to this author the Tutul-Xiu entered Yucatan from the south,
and joined the Mayapan confederacy. To judge from their own legend the
Tutul-Xiu left their original abode, Nonoual in Tulan Zuiva, about the
year 418 A.D. (though it is possible that this event may have
occurred earlier, viz. in 161, but I think the evidence is in favour
of the later dating). Their leader was Holon Chantepeuh, and their
first settlement was at Chacnouitan, and subsequently, under Ahmekat
Tutul-Xiu, at Balcalar. Whilst there, they heard of Chichen Itza, and
later removed to this site, about the year 496. The fact that they
are stated to have heard of Chichen Itza while they were at Balcalar
seems to prove that some settlement already existed at the former
place, and one version of the tradition represents them as setting out
in search of it. For over a century they resided at Chichen Itza, and
then removed to Champoton, probably owing to difficulties with their
neighbours, since it is stated that Chichen was “destroyed.” Their
stay at Champoton is estimated at about two centuries and a half, at
the end of which period they wandered back to Chichen Itza and again
established themselves there. Not long afterwards Uxmal was “founded”
by one of the Xiu family, Ahzuitok Tutul-Xiu, about 989, and the famous
“league” of Mayapan was formed. For some time, about two hundred years,
a central government was maintained at Mayapan, the city associated
so closely with Kukulkan, and no doubt the paramount chieftains were
satisfied with little more than the bare recognition of suzerainty.
But the centrifugal action so noticeable in the political history of
the American peoples began to assert itself, the league split up and
Mayapan fell. The exact circumstances which led to the downfall of the
paramount city are obscure. The family of the Cocomes were the rulers
of Mayapan at the time, and it would appear that they had begun to
exercise a closer control over their vassals. To support the harsher
methods which they introduced they commenced to employ the services of
mercenaries, “Mexicans,” recruited in Tabasco and Xicalanco, and by
their aid levied tribute upon the other members of the league to an
extent which the latter were not prepared to suffer. The accounts of
the Books of Chilan Balam are obscure, but they agree in the names
of the personages who played the principal parts in the events which
followed. Chac-Xib-Chac was the “Governor” of Chichen Itza, and it
would appear that he conspired against the ruler of Mayapan, Hunac
Ceel, who drove him out, according to the, no doubt, partisan account
of the Xiu house, by “treachery.” This treachery probably implies the
employment of the foreign mercenaries mentioned above, since Hunac
Ceel’s agents are called the “seven men of Mayapan,” and their names,
which are recorded, are Nahua rather than Maya. Ulil, the ruler of
Itzamal, also appears to have been implicated in the conspiracy against
the ruling house. But whatever was the exact course of events, the
net result was that Chichen Itza was depopulated about the year 1187;
meanwhile the Nahua mercenaries had influenced the ethnography of the
country by the introduction of the bow as a weapon. But the end was
not yet, the people of Chichen Itza nursed their revenge, and about a
century later instigated a general rising which resulted in the sack of
Mayapan and the slaughter of the ruler and all his sons except one, who
was at the time absent in the Uloa valley. The survivor on his return
collected the remnants of the Cocomes and settled at Sotuta, the Xiu
faction retiring to Mani. The Mexican mercenaries, who no doubt formed
too formidable a section to be attacked directly, were allowed to
form a settlement at Ahcanul, north-east of Campeche. Itzamal however
survived; a noble of high rank, Ahchel, who had married the daughter
of a high-priest of Mayapan, took up his residence at Tikoch near
the coast, with his numerous sons. The family increased in numbers
and importance, and later constituted a ruling house, known as the
Chel, with its capital at Itzamal. Subsequent history relates various
struggles between the Xiu, Cocomes and Chel, the Cocomes preventing
the Chel from obtaining game and cereals from the interior, and the
Chel refusing salt and fish to the Cocomes. But in spite of this the
population at large was prosperous, and increased in numbers, until a
severe hurricane wrought much damage throughout the land, chiefly by
causing the thatched roofs of the houses to catch fire. This disaster
was followed by a plague, and then a series of sanguinary wars, after
which smallpox appeared. Finally the Xiu, wishing to perform certain
ceremonies at their old home, Chichen Itza, asked for a passage through
the territory of the Cocomes. This was granted, but the party was
enticed into a building which was set on fire and the inmates were
massacred. Meanwhile the Spaniards had appeared in the country, and
native history had reached its close.
The history of the Quiché exhibits some connection with that of the
Kakchiquel, and further displays certain points of resemblance with the
early legends of the Mexicans. Though both the Quiché and Kakchiquel
accounts give lists of kings who ruled over their respective tribes,
yet they furnish no dates, and the lengths of the various reigns can
only be conjectured. Quiché history, like the Mexican, begins in myth,
with the final or historical creation. The creating-gods fashioned four
men out of maize, Balam-Quitzé, Balam-Agab, Mahucutah and Iqi-Balam. Of
these the first three were the ancestors of the three Quiché divisions,
the Cavek, Nihaib and Ahau-Quiché respectively. The fourth had no
descendants, and therefore no place in the later history. We are told
that besides these four individuals, the “Yaqui” or “sacrificers”
(a name given in later times to the Mexicans) existed in numbers,
and further the ancestors of various other tribes to the east (of
the original Quiché home) were created, including the Tepeuh Oloman
(probably the Olmec), the Tamub and Ilocab (the early inhabitants of
the country later occupied by the Quiché), the seven tribes of Tecpan
(perhaps the Pokomam and Pokonchi), the Kakchiquel, the Rabinal
(later at Zamaneb), the Tziquinaha (of Atitlan), and others. The four
Quiché ancestors however were too perfect to please the gods, being
omniscient, so the latter dimmed their intellects, but, as some sort of
compensation, provided them with wives. The sun as yet was not created,
all the world was dark, and mankind had no knowledge of ritual. So they
set out for Tulan Zuiva, where each tribe received its god under whose
leadership it commenced its migration. Before the general separation
however the need of fire was felt, and the Quiché god, Tohil, who
was a thunder-god, provided his votaries with a constant supply, by
striking it from his sandal. The other tribes begged fire from the
Quiché, but they, on the advice of a messenger in bat-form from the
underworld, Xibalba, demanded in return that the recipients should
consent to be united with their god “beneath their girdles and beneath
their armpits.” This dark saying implied the gift of their hearts in
sacrifice, and the other tribes, failing to understand the true import,
fell into the trap, with the exception of the Kakchiquel, whose bat-god
stole fire from the smoke without agreeing to the terms. The migrations
then took place, many of the tribes going eastward, while the Quiché,
together with the Kakchiquel, Tamub, Ilocab, Rabinal and Tziquinaha,
travelled to Guatemala, where on a mountain they assumed their tribal
names and “awaited the dawn, looking for the morning star.” The phrase
recalls very distinctly the Mexican legend related on p. 10. Finally
the morning star made its appearance, followed by the sun, to which
incense brought from Tulan was offered, but the tribal gods, who had
meanwhile expressed the wish to be secluded in sanctuaries apart
from the settlements of men, were turned into stone. After this the
four Quiché leaders withdrew themselves from association with their
followers, but were occasionally seen, together with the gods, in the
mountains and forests; human sacrifice, practised secretly, began
to make its appearance, and strife with the other tribes arose. The
operations of the hostile tribes seem to have been directed chiefly
towards the capture of the Quiché gods, and after the failure of
various stratagems, a direct attack was made upon the Quiché, now
living in a palisaded settlement in the mountains, but was repulsed
with great slaughter. The death of the original leaders next follows
in the legend; they summon the people, sing the song with which they
greeted the sun on its first rising and then disappear, leaving behind
a bundle afterwards known as “veiled majesty.” The song opens, “The
king of the deer is ready; his sign appears in the sky,” and the words
suggest the stellar god of the Mexican hunting-tribes, Mixcoatl, with
his two-headed deer, while the “medicine-bundle” is not unknown to
Mexican mythology (see pp. 33 and 55).
The greater portion of the account given at present must of course be
regarded as belonging to the region of myth, but at this point the
narrative becomes more “historical” in nature. The Popol Vuh naturally
exalts the Quiché at the expense of the other tribes, but it appears
from other sources that they did actually exercise a certain, though
variable, supremacy over their neighbours. Hitherto they had obviously
been under a priestly domination, and the leaders of the migration
wielded an authority arising from their association with the gods
which they received at Tulan. But their sons had no such right to
command, and so set out on a pilgrimage to the related tribes in the
east, i.e. those who had taken a more easterly route, to obtain the
_insignia_ of temporal rule. On their return the Quiché began
to expand, stone-built cities were constructed to be the centres of
ceremonial and political life of the three tribal divisions, the
government was organized, and though the Ilocab revolted against the
growing Quiché power, they were subdued and the attempt only had
the effect of inaugurating the public sacrifice of prisoners. It is
interesting to note that one of their early kings, whose name Gukumatz
is the equivalent of the Nahua Quetzalcoatl, is credited with the
performance of many miraculous feats; but the first kings important
from a historical point of view were Quicab and Cavizimah. Under them
the Kakchiquel and Rabinal were conquered, colonies and garrisons
were placed in subject towns and, on their own account, continued to
extend the Quiché power by conquest, though many of the leaders broke
away from the main stock and set up as independent chieftains. In this
reign we first hear of prisoners of war being executed by the shooting
sacrifice as practised by the Mexicans. Quicab appears to have been by
far the most important of the Quiché rulers, but the power which he
gained was not maintained even throughout his reign. For the events
which commenced the decline of the Quiché domination we must go to the
annals of the Kakchiquel, in which it is stated that two of Quicab’s
sons, who no doubt occupied the position of sub-chiefs, took advantage
of certain discontent among his subjects to refuse the tribute due to
their father and overlord. The sedition seems to have succeeded to the
extent that Quicab’s authority was considerably weakened, and it was
followed by a more serious defection in the form of a revolt on the
part of the Kakchiquel as related below. None of Quicab’s successors
wielded the power which he exercised in his most prosperous years, and
at the time of the conquest the Kakchiquel, Tzutuhil and other tribes
had regained their independence.
In the Kakchiquel annals we find again a list of kings, though five
fewer than the corresponding list of Quiché chiefs, but dates are
for the most part lacking, though the revolt of a sub-tribe in the
reign of the sixth ruler can be fixed as the starting-point of the
chronological system current at the discovery. Again we find Tulan
mentioned as the point of departure, but the statement is made that
there are four Tulans, one in the east, one in the west (whence the
Kakchiquel themselves came), one at Xibalba (the underworld) and one
“where god is.” It is impossible not to see in this a reference to the
four cardinal points, which, as has been pointed out, were of such
ceremonial importance among the Mexicans. The names of the ancestors
of the Xahila division of the Kakchiquel are given as Gagavitz and
Zactecauh, and after the creation they brought tribute to Tulan
together with the Zotzil, the other division, consisting of jade,
silver, feather-work and carvings. All that they brought away with them
were their arms, bows and shields, and throughout the early portion of
the annals insistence is continually being made on the fact that the
Kakchiquel were warriors of the hills. “Let your rounded shields be
your riches, your bows, your bucklers ... there in the hills shall you
lift up your faces.” Various other tribes are mentioned as starting
from Tulan about the same time, including the Rabinal, Tzutuhil, and
Tukuchi, the last becoming subject subsequently to the Kakchiquel. A
number of place-names occur in the account of the migration, which do
not admit of identification, and at one point the sea is said to have
been crossed by means of a causeway of sand which miraculously made
its appearance. Finally the travellers come to Tapcu Oloman, where
they fought with those of Nonoualcat, who come against them in boats,
a statement which must surely point to the Olmec and the region east
of the Totonac (between the rivers Papaloapan and Usumacinta) known
to the Mexicans as Nonoualco. Whilst here they made an attack upon
Zuiva, but were defeated. At this point the wandering peoples, who
included the Quiché, adopted tribal names, and they then retraced their
footsteps over the route by which they had come, fighting with various
tribes by the way, until apparently they turned south and arrived in
Guatemala. During the journey Zactecauh fell into a ravine and was
killed, but Gagavitz, whose influence hitherto seems to have been
purely priestly, like that of other leaders of migration, was invested
with the _insignia_ of temporal power and became chief of the
Xahila and Zotzil divisions. At this time the tribes were evidently in
a neighbourhood which was the scene of considerable volcanic activity,
and in one of their wars they captured the ruler of a hostile tribe,
by name Tolgom (“Son of the Mud-that-Quivers”), and executed him
with arrows. In commemoration of this episode an annual festival was
instituted at which children were offered up in an arrow-sacrifice.
The tribes then settled, dividing the land amongst themselves, and
since Gagavitz remained with the Tzutuhil, the Kakchiquel were left
without a chief, and a man named Baquahol succeeded in obtaining the
power, apparently by purchase or bribery. Here again the Kakchiquel
account is brought into relation with other migration legends, since it
is stated that the “dawn” appeared. The actual words used are rather
interesting, and they are quoted in full later on. Though Baquahol had
obtained the power, yet Gagavitz was not without descendants, and his
two sons Cay Noh and Cay Batz took service with a chief named Tepeuh,
“king of Kauke, to whom all paid tribute.” It has been conjectured with
some reason that this ruler is to be identified with the Quiché chief
Iztayul, but in any case he appears to have been an overlord of the
whole district, and sufficiently powerful to place Cay Noh and Cay Batz
as rulers over the Kakchiquel. Cay Noh was succeeded by his son Citan
Quatu, but the son of the latter did not rule; in fact for the time the
power appears to have been divided among a number of petty chieftains.
However, the tribes were again united by Huntoh and Vukubatz, the
former being the grandson of Citan Quatu, though the Kakchiquel had not
yet attained complete independence, since they recognized the Quiché
ruler, now Quicab, as their overlord. But freedom was in sight, and an
opportunity was offered by the troubles which marred the final years of
Quicab’s reign. The actual excuse of the Kakchiquel revolt was slender
enough, a woman selling bread had her wares seized by certain Quiché
soldiers, and the Kakchiquel espoused her cause. Quicab appears to have
failed to recognize the real nature of the movement, and neglected
to take immediate steps to suppress it, with the result that the
Kakchiquel were able to declare their independence and now appear as a
rival power. Hostilities between the peoples continue, and finally the
Kakchiquel under Cablahuh Tihax and Oxlahuh Tzii defeat the Quiché in a
pitched battle, capturing their joint rulers Tepepul and Iztayul, who
have meanwhile succeeded Quicab.[4] The description of the battle is
given in part on p. 292. The power of the Kakchiquel now appears at its
zenith, but their expansion aroused the jealousy of their neighbours.
A revolt occurred of the Tukuchi subject tribe, which was however
suppressed, and with such slaughter that the incident became a landmark
in history. From this point in the annals the number of days which
elapsed subsequent to the revolt is given, with the result that the
revolt itself can be attributed almost with certainty to the year 1494.
The rest of the history until the arrival of the Spaniards consists
in accounts of fights with neighbours, which the annals usually
characterize as the suppression of revolts. Two items of information
however are of importance. Before the death of Oxlahuh Tzii, which
occurred in 1509 or 1510, we read that certain “Yaqui” (i.e. Mexican
traders) were put to death for siding with the revolted Akahal, while
in 1511 messengers were received by Hunyg and Lahun Noh, then ruling,
from Montecuzoma.
It is perhaps impossible in the present state of our knowledge to
unravel the myths given above sufficiently to determine with accuracy
the routes taken by the different tribes, but still the general trend
of migrations may perhaps be gathered from them. The place-name
Nonoual, which occurs both in the books of Chilan Balam and the annals
of the Kakchiquel, is valuable as a fixed point, since it seems
possible to determine the locality with reasonable certainty. The
Kakchiquel obviously reached Nonoual from the west, and then retraced
their steps before turning southward into Guatemala; thus they always
regarded Nonoual as lying in the east. For the Tutul Xiu however it
lay in the west, and this people had settled at Balcalar in southern
Yucatan before they moved north to Chichen Itza. If we add to this
the information found in the Kakchiquel annals that the inhabitants
lived in boats, the conclusion seems inevitable that Nonoual lay
somewhere on the coast between the lower reaches of the Papaloapan
and of the Usumacinta. This agrees absolutely with the site of the
region known to the Mexicans as Nonoualco, and the “sea” crossed by
the Quiché and Kakchiquel before they arrived there may be one of the
lagoons of the Papaloapan basin. The name of Tulan, the starting-point
of the migrations, affords greater difficulties. Tulan is usually
mentioned with the addition of the name Zuiva, and the Popol Vuh gives
it a further title which means the “seven caverns,” and so brings it
into direct relation with the Chicomoztoc at which the various Nahua
tribes foregathered before they descended upon the Mexican valley
(see p. 14). For the Kakchiquel, Tulan was also the starting-point,
but Zuiva lay beyond Nonoual, and evidently not far from it; and this
agrees with the Books of Chilan Balam, since in the latter Nonoual
appears to be a district of the realm known as Tulan Zuiva. A further
point in confirmation of this may perhaps be extracted from the fact
that certain tribes called Tepeu Oliman (Popol Vuh), or Tapcu Oloman
(Kakchiquel annals), are associated with this particular region, while
the inhabitants of the latter were known to the Mexicans as Olmec.
Tulan, the starting-point therefore, cannot be identified with the
Zuiva, or Tulan Zuiva near Nonoual, nor indeed is there any need that
such an identification should be made. The original Tulan, wherever it
lay, was regarded evidently as the home of a large number of peoples,
and there is a tendency, visible all over the world, for migrating
tribes to name their subsequent settlements after their original or
legendary birthplace. Perhaps the best example of this propensity is
presented by the number of Hawaikis scattered over the Pacific, Hawaiki
being the name of the original starting-point of Polynesian migrations.
That this Tulan Zuiva near Nonoual was an important kingdom in the
youth of the Quiché and Kakchiquel peoples is obvious; the Kakchiquel
admit defeat at the hands of its inhabitants, and though it is not
expressly so stated, the account of the Popol Vuh seems to indicate
that the _insignia_ of temporal power were obtained from the ruler
of this district, a chief named Nacxit. The name Nacxit is interesting,
since Tezozomoc states that it was an appellation of Quetzalcoatl, and
we have already observed the importance which the Mexican immigrants
attached to Toltec blood as giving the possessor the right to reign,
Tulan being closely associated with this god. That there were more
Tulans than one seems evident from the Kakchiquel statement that
there were four, although the number quoted appears to have a certain
ceremonial reference to the points of the compass. That the Quiché and
Kakchiquel had come in contact with the later Nahua immigrants into the
Mexican valley seems evident both from certain points of similarity
in their migration legends, and also from the highly important fact
that they used the bow, a weapon which was unknown to the Tutul Xiu
until a later date. From these considerations, and also from the
evidence afforded by the short list of kings which the legends of these
tribes furnish, one feels inclined to regard the Tulan from which they
started as the region ruled by the Toltec of the Mexican valley, and
to conjecture that the Tulan Zuiva with which Nonoual was connected,
was perhaps one of the now ruined sites in the Usumacinta basin. The
association of the word Zuiva with the original Tulan in the Quiché
account may be due to one of two causes. It may on the one hand be the
result of confusion, or on the other it is possible that “Tulan” and
“Zuiva” may be the same name but belong to different dialects. The
question which Tulan gave the name to the other is more complex, and
can only be decided after the date of these ruins has been discussed,
but it may be mentioned that there is nothing inherently impossible in
the suggestion that one of the Usumacinta sites may have been named
Tulan, for we do not know the original names of any of them. The net
result of a comparison of the migration legends which we possess is
therefore as follows. The Quiché and Kakchiquel appear to have been
closely connected throughout, and the Tutul Xiu show little trace
of connection with either. The former two tribes seem to have been
brought into contact with the later Nahua, while the Tutul Xiu were
not, and the Tulan from which the Tutul Xiu migration started was not
the Tulan which the Quiché and Kakchiquel regarded as their original
home, though it is possible that the two were intimately connected. The
first stage of Quiché and Kakchiquel migration seems to have been from
west to east, through those districts which, from Tuxpan to Tabasco,
were regarded as the daughter-states of the Mexican Tulan, and their
route, or at any rate some portion of it, lay along the coast. After
this they retraced their steps for a short distance, and then turned
south and west into Guatemala, probably passing through south-western
Vera Cruz, western Oaxaca, and Chiapas. Further consideration of this
complicated question must be deferred until some account has been given
of the religion, ethnography, and ruined sites of the Maya area.