THE PRE-TOLTEC PERIOD OF ABORIGINAL HISTORY.
Subdivision of the Subject -- Tzendal Tradition of the
Votanic Empire -- Votan's Book and its Contents as reported
by Nuñez de la Vega, Cabrera, and Ordoñez -- Testimony of
Manners and Customs, Religion, Languages, and Monuments of
the Civilized Nations respecting the Primitive Maya Peoples
-- The Quiché Record, or Popol Vuh -- Civilizing Efforts
of Gucumatz and his Followers -- Exploits of Hunahpu and
Xbalanque -- Conquest of Xibalba -- Migration from Tulan
Zuiva, the Seven Caves -- Meaning of the Quiché Tradition --
Nahua Traditions -- The Toltecs in Tamoanchan according to
Sahagun -- The Codex Chimalpopoca -- Pre-Toltec Nations in
Mexico -- Olmecs and Xicalancas -- The Quinames -- Cholula
and Quetzalcoatl -- The Totonacs -- Teotihuacan -- Otomís,
Miztecs, Zapotecs, and Huastecs -- The Toltecs in Huehue
Tlapallan -- Migration to Anáhuac -- The Chichimecs in
Amaquemecan -- Ancient Home of the Nahuatlacas and Aztecs --
Primitive Annals of Yucatan -- Conclusions.
[Sidenote: TREATMENT OF THE SUBJECT.]
[Sidenote: DIVISION OF THE SUBJECT.]
In order to render more vivid than it would otherwise have been a
picture of Nahua and Maya institutions as they were found in the
sixteenth century, I have devoted one chapter of a preceding volume to
an outline view of aboriginal history; to fill in so far as possible
its details, is my remaining task. The sketch alluded to will prove
convenient here, since it will enable me at various points to refer
intelligibly and yet briefly to events somewhat in advance of their
chronologic order. As has been stated, the sixth century is the most
remote period to which we are carried in the annals of Anáhuac by
traditions sufficiently definite to be considered in a strict sense as
historic records. Prior to the sixth century there were doubtless other
periods of Nahua greatness, for there is little evidence to indicate
that this was the first appearance in Mexico of this progressive
people, but previous development cannot be definitely followed--in a
historical sense--although affording occasional glimpses which supply
interesting matter for antiquarian speculation.
In the southern regions, where the Maya culture flourished, or what
may be considered geographically as Central America, we have seen that
the chronologic record is much less extensive and perfect even than in
the north, taking us back in an oft-broken line only a few centuries
beyond the Conquest. Yet we have caught traditional glimpses far back
in the misty past of a mighty aboriginal empire in these tropical
lands, of the earlier and grander stages of Maya culture, of Votan,
of Xibalba, of even the early periods of Nahua civilization and power.
Palenque, Copan, and their companions in ruin, the wonderful material
monuments of the ancient epoch, proving it to be no mere creation of
the imagination, have been described and pictured. With the breaking-up
of the Maya empire into separate nations at an unknown date, the
aboriginal history of Central America as a whole ceases, and down to
a period closely preceding the Conquest, we have only an occasional
event, the memory of which is preserved in the traditions of two or
three nations.
* * * * *
The history of the Native Races may be most conveniently subdivided
as follows;--1st. The Pre-Toltec Period, embracing the semi-mythic
traditions of the earliest civilization, extending down to a
date--always preceding the sixth century, but varying in different
parts of the territory--when the more properly historic annals of
the different nations begin, and including also the few traditions
referring to pre-Toltec nations north of Tehuantepec. 2d. The Toltec
Period, referring like the two following periods to Anáhuac alone,
and extending down to the eleventh century. 3d. The Chichimec Period,
extending from the eleventh century to the formation of the tri-partite
alliance between the Aztecs, Acolhuas, and Tepanecs in the fifteenth
century. 4th. The Aztec Period, that of Aztec supremacy during the
century preceding the Conquest. 5th. The annals of such Nahua nations
outside the limits of the Aztec Empire proper as cannot be conveniently
included in the preceding divisions. 6th. Historical traditions of
the Wild Tribes of the north. 7th. The Quiché-Cakchiquel nations of
Guatemala. 8th. Miscellaneous nations and tribes of Central America.
9th. The Maya nations of Yucatan.
The first division, the Pre-Toltec Period, to which the present chapter
is devoted, will include the few vague traditions that seem to point to
the cradle of American civilization, to the Votanic empire, to Xibalba,
and to the deeds of the civilizers, or culture-heroes, in Tabasco
and Chiapas. Who can estimate the volumes that would be required for
a full narration of all that actually occurred within this period,
had the record been made or preserved;--the development, from germs
whose nature is unknown, of American civilization; the struggles and
misfortunes of infant colonies; the exploits of native heroes; plots
of ambition, glorious success, utter failure; the rise and fall of
princes and of empires; wars, triumphs, defeats; oppression and revolt;
political combinations and intrigues; religious strife between the
fanatic devotees of rival divinities; seasons of plenty and of famine;
earthquake, flood, and pestilence--a tangled network of events spread
over the centuries;--to relate all that we may know of it a chapter
will suffice.
[Sidenote: VOTAN AND HIS DEEDS.]
I have told in another volume the mythic tale of Votan,[III-1] the
culture-hero, how he came to America and apportioned the land among
the people. He came by divine command from Valum Chivim by way of Valum
Votan, built a great city of Nachan, 'city of the serpents'--so called
from his own name, for he was of the race of Chan, a Serpent--and
founded a great empire in the Usumacinta region, which he seems to have
ruled over as did his descendants or followers for many centuries. He
was not regarded in the native traditions as the first man in America;
he found the country peopled, as did all the culture-heroes, but by
his teachings and by the aid of his companions he firmly established
his own ideas of religion and government. So far as his memory was
preserved by tradition he was a civilizer, a law-giver, the introducer
of the Maya culture, worshiped moreover, after his disappearance, as
a god. He came by sea from the east, but with the locality whence
he started I have nothing to do here; neither is it necessary to
indulge in speculation respecting the four mysterious visits which
he paid after his arrival in America to his original home in the Old
World, where it is gravely asserted he was present at the building
of Solomon's temple and saw the ruins of the tower of Babel. His
reported acts in the New World, whose people he came to civilize,
were;--the dividing or apportioning of the lands among the people;
their instruction in the new institutions they were required to adopt;
the building of a great city, Nachan, afterwards the metropolis of
an empire; the reception of a new band of disciples of his own race,
who were allowed to share in the success already achieved by his
enterprise; the subdividing of his empire after its power had become
wide-spread in the land into several allied monarchies subordinate in
a certain degree to Nachan, among whose capitals were Tulan, Mayapan,
and Chiquimula; the construction of a subterranean road or 'snake hole'
from the barranca of Zuqui to Tzequil; the deposit of a great treasure
with tapirs as sacred animals in a 'house of gloom' at Huehuetan in
Soconusco, protected by guardians called _tlapianes_, at whose head
was a Lady Superior; and finally the writing of a 'book' in which was
inscribed a complete record of all he had done, with a defense or proof
of his claims to be considered one of the Chanes, or Serpents.[III-2]
[Sidenote: THE BOOK OF VOTAN.]
This document is the authority, indirectly, for nearly all that is
known from Tzendal sources of Votan and his empire. Francisco Nuñez de
la Vega, Bishop of Chiapas, claims to have had in his possession[III-3] and
to have read this historical tract. He does not describe it, but from
his having been able to read the contents, it would seem to have been,
if genuine, not the original in hieroglyphics but an interpretation
in European letters, although still perhaps in the Tzendal language.
Of the contents, besides a general statement of Votan's coming as
the first man sent by God to portion out the land, and some of his
experiences in the Old World, this author says nothing definite.
He claims to have had much knowledge of Tzendal antiquity derived
from the work mentioned and other native writings, but he feared to
perpetuate this knowledge lest it might "confirm more strongly an
idolatrous superstition." He is the only authority for the deposit of
the treasure in the Dark House at Huehuetan, without saying expressly
that he derived his information from Votan's writings. This treasure,
consisting of aboriginal relics, the bishop felt it to be his duty
to destroy, and it was publicly burned in 1691. It is not altogether
improbable that a genuine Maya document similar to the _Manuscript
Troano_ or _Dresden Codex_,[III-4] preserved from the early times, may
have found a native interpreter at the time of the Conquest, and
have escaped in its disguise of Spanish letters the destruction that
overtook its companions.
The next notice of this manuscript is found in the writings of Dr Paul
Felix Cabrera,[III-5] who in the last part of the eighteenth century found
it in the possession of Don Ramon de Ordoñez y Aguiar, a native and
resident of Ciudad Real in Chiapas.[III-6] He describes the document as
consisting of "five or six folios of common quarto paper, written in
ordinary characters in the Tzendal language, an evident proof of its
having been copied from the original in hieroglyphics, shortly after
the conquest."[III-7] The manuscript, according to Cabrera, recounted
Votan's arrival with seven families, to whom he apportioned the lands;
his voyages to the Old World; and his reception of the new-comers.
Returning from one of his voyages "he found seven other families of the
Tzequil nation, who had joined the first inhabitants, and recognized
in them the same origin as his own, that is, of the Culebras. He
speaks of the place where they built their first town, which, from its
founders, received the name of Tzequil; he affirms the having taught
them refinement of manners in the use of the table, table-cloth, etc.;
that, in return for these, they taught him the knowledge of God and of
his worship; his first ideas of a king and obedience to him; and that
he was chosen captain of all these united families."
Ordoñez, at the time of Cabrera's visit, was engaged in writing his
great 'History of the Heaven and Earth,'[III-8] a work, as the learned
Doctor predicts, to be "so perfect in its kind, as will completely
astonish the world." The manuscript was never published, part of the
historical portion was lost, and the remaining fragments or copies
of them fell into the hands of Brasseur de Bourbourg, whose writings
contain all that is known of their contents; and it must be confessed
that from these fragments little or nothing of value has been extracted
by the abbé in addition to what Nuñez de la Vega and Cabrera had
already made known. Ordoñez was familiar with the Tzendal language
and character, with the ancient monuments of his native state, and
was zealously devoted to antiquarian researches; he had excellent
opportunities to collect and record such scraps of knowledge as
the Tzendal tribes had preserved from the days of their ancestors'
greatness;[III-9] but his enthusiasm seems rather to have led him to
profitless speculations on the original population of the New World and
"its progress from Chaldea immediately after the confusion of tongues."
Even after rejecting the absurd theories and speculations which seem
to have constituted the bulk of his writings, one cannot help looking
with some distrust on the few traditional statements respecting Votan
not given by other authors, and thinking of possible transformations
that may have been effected in Tzendal fables under the pens of two
writers like Ordoñez and Brasseur, both honest investigators, but
of that enthusiastic class of antiquarians who experience few or no
difficulties.
[Sidenote: TZENDAL TRADITIONS.]
The few items of information respecting the Votanic period not already
mentioned, some of them not in themselves improbable, but few traceable
to any very definite native source, are the following: The date of the
foundation of the empire, according to Ordoñez, was about 1000 B.C.
Whether he had any other reason for this supposition than his theory
that the building of Solomon's temple, attributed by some writers
to that period, took place during Votan's life, is uncertain. The
name Tzequiles, applied to Votan's followers by the aborigines,--or
rather, it would seem, by the first to the second division of the
Serpents--is said to mean in Tzendal 'men with petticoats,' and to have
been applied to the new-comers by reason of their peculiar dress.[III-10]
To them was given, after the permanent establishment of the empire,
one of the great kingdoms into which it was divided, with Tulan as
their capital city. This kingdom with two others, whose capitals were
Mayapan in Yucatan and Chiquimula, possibly Copan, in Honduras, were
allied with, yet to a certain degree subordinate to, the original
empire whose capital was Nachan, built and ruled by Votan himself and
his descendants. The only names which seem to have been applied in the
Tzendal traditions to the people and their capital city were Chanes,
or Serpents, and Nachan, or City of Serpents; but these names acquire
considerable historical importance when it is noted that they are the
exact equivalents of Culhuas and Culhuacan, names which will be found
so exasperatingly prevalent in the Nahua traditions of the north.
Ordoñez claims, however, that the name Quiché, at a later period that
of a Guatemalan kingdom, was also in these earlier times applied to
Votan's empire.[III-11]
Of Votan's death there is no tradition, nor is anything definite
reported of his successors, save, what is perhaps only a conjecture,
that their names are recorded in the Tzendal calendar as the names of
days,[III-12] the order being that of their succession. In this case it is
necessary to suppose that Votan had two predecessors, Igh and Imox; and
in fact Brasseur claims to find in one document a statement that Igh
brought the first colony to America.[III-13] Chinax, the last but two of
the line, a great soldier, is said to have been put to death by a rival
of another nation.[III-14] Nuñez de la Vega notes the existence of a family
of Votans in his time, claiming direct descent from the great founder;
and Brasseur states that a wild tribe of the region are yet known as
Chanes.[III-15]
[Sidenote: THE VOTANIC EMPIRE.]
Such are the vague memories of the Chiapan past so far as they were
preserved by the natives of the region, and collected by Europeans.
The nature of the traditions themselves, the sources whence they
sprang, the medium through which they are given to us, are not such
as to inspire great confidence in the accuracy of the details related,
although some of the traditions are not improbable and were very likely
founded on actual occurrences. But whatever value may be attached
to their details, the traditions in question have great weight in
establishing two general propositions--the existence in the remote
past of a great and powerful empire in the Usumacinta region, and a
general belief among the subjects of that empire that the beginning
of their greatness was due to a hero or demi-god called Votan. They
point clearly to the appearance and growth of a great race, nation,
or dynasty; and they carry us no farther. Respecting the questions
who or what was Votan, man or mythic creation, populator, colonizer,
civilizer, missionary, conqueror, foreign or native born? When, how,
and whence did he come to the central tierra caliente? Who were the
people among whom he wrought his mighty deeds, and what was their past
history? we are left to simple conjecture,--conjecture of a class which
falls without the limits of my present purpose, and to which the first
chapter of this volume has been devoted. Doubtless the Votanic was not
the first period of American civilization and power, but none earlier
is known to us. In addition to the Tzendal traditions there are several
other authorities bearing more or less directly on this primitive
empire, which I proceed to investigate.
* * * * *
In the second volume of this work I have described the physique,
character, manners and customs, arts, and institutions of the civilized
nations of our territory, dividing them into two great families or
groups, the Mayas and the Nahuas, "the former the more ancient, the
latter the more recent and wide-spread." The many contrasts observed
between the institutions of the northern and southern nations seemed
sufficiently marked to outweigh the frequently recurring resemblances,
and to justify me in the opinion there expressed that their culture
had either been distinct from the beginning, or--what is more probable
and for my purpose practically the same thing--that it had progressed
in different paths for a long time previous to the coming of the
Spaniards. The contrasts observed were attributed to a distinct origin
of the two national groups, or, with more probability, to their long
separation; while the analogies were to be referred either to unity
of origin, to the tendency of humanity to like development under like
circumstances, to frequent communication and friction by commerce or
war, or still better, to the influence of all these causes combined.
[Sidenote: THE MAYAS AND NAHUAS.]
The picture presented in the third volume of the myths and languages of
the same nations favored the view previously taken. In the religious
fancies, divinities, forms of worship, ideas of a future state,
physical, animal, and creation myths, to which the first part of
the volume was devoted, the analogies, it is true, seemed somewhat
stronger and the contrasts less striking than in the characteristics
previously portrayed; this was perhaps because the myths of any people
point farther back into their past than do the so-called manners and
customs; but in the consideration of languages which followed, the
contrasts between the two groups came out more distinctly marked than
at any previous stage of the investigation. A very large proportion
of the tongues of the civilized nations were found to belong more or
less closely to one or the other of two linguistic families. Finally,
in the fourth volume a study of material relics tended very strongly
to confirm the opinion before arrived at respecting the development
of Maya and Nahua culture in distinct channels, at least during the
historic period. I need not repeat here even en résumé the facts
exhibited in the preceding volumes, nor the lessons that have at
different points been drawn from them; but I may briefly mention some
general conclusions founded on the preceding matter which bear on my
present purpose of historical investigation. First, as already stated,
the Maya and Nahua nations have been within traditionally historic
times practically distinct, although coming constantly in contact.
Second, this fact is directly opposed to the once accepted theory of a
civilized people, coming from the far north, gradually moving southward
with frequent halts, constantly increasing in power and culture, until
the highest point of civilization was reached in Chiapas, Honduras,
and Yucatan, or as many believed in South America. Third, the theory
alluded to is rendered altogether untenable by the want of ruins in
California and the great north-west; by the utter want of resemblance
between New Mexican and Mexican monuments; by the failure to discover
either Aztec or Maya dialects in the north; and finally by the strong
contrasts between the Nahuas and Mayas, both in language and in
monuments of antiquity. Fourth, the monuments of the south are not
only different from but much more ancient than those of Anáhuac, and
cannot possibly have been built by the Toltecs after their migration
from Anáhuac in the eleventh century, even if such a migration took
place. Fifth, these monuments, like those of the north, were built by
the ancestors of the people found in possession of the country at the
Conquest, and not by an extinct race or in remote antiquity.[III-16] Sixth,
the cities of Palenque, Ococingo, and Copan, at least, were unoccupied
when the Spaniards came; the natives of the neighboring region knew
nothing of their origin even if they were aware of their existence,
and no notice whatever of the existence of such cities appears in
the annals of the surrounding civilized nations during the eight or
nine centuries preceding the Conquest; that is, the nation that built
Palenque was not one of those found by Europeans in the country, but
its greatness had practically departed before the rise of the Quiché,
Cakchiquel, and Yucatan powers. Seventh, the many resemblances that
have been noted between Nahua and Maya beliefs, institutions, arts,
and relics, may be consistently accounted for by the theory that at
some period long preceding the sixth century the two peoples were
practically one so far as their institutions were concerned, although
they are of themselves not sufficient to prove the theory. Eighth,
the oldest civilization in America which has left any traces for our
consideration, whatever may have been its pre-historic origin, was
that in the Usumacinta region represented by the Palenque group of
ruins.[III-17]
It is not likely that Américanistes of the present day will disagree
materially with the preceding conclusions, especially as they do not
positively assert the southern origin of the Nahua peoples or deny
their traditional migration from the north. The general theory alluded
to of a great migration from north to south, and the theory of a
civilized race of foreign origin extinct long before the Conquest,
will find few defenders in view of the results of modern research. It
is true that many writers attribute more or less positively the grand
ruins of Central America to the Toltecs after their migration southward
in the eleventh century; but their decision has been generally reached
without even considering the possible existence of any other civilized
nation in the annals of American antiquity. Their studies have shown
them that Palenque was not the work of an extinct race, and they have
consequently attributed the ruins to the oldest people mentioned in
the popular version of American traditional history--the Toltecs, and
the more naturally because that people, according to the tradition, had
migrated southward. Mr Stephens, who arrived at this conclusion in the
manner indicated, admits that from a study of the ruins themselves he
would have assigned the foundation of the cities to a much more remote
period.[III-18]
[Sidenote: MONUMENTS AND INSTITUTIONS.]
Thus the monumental relics of Central America by themselves and by
comparisons with other American ruins, point directly to the existence
of a great empire in the Palenque region; and the observed phenomena
of myths, language, and institutions agree perfectly with such a
conclusion, which, however, unaided, they could not have established.
We may then accept as a reality the Votanic Maya empire on the
authority of the native traditions confirmed by the tangible records of
ruined cities, and by the condition of the southern civilized nations
in the sixteenth century. It is more than probable that Palenque was
the capital, as Ordoñez believes--the Nachan of the Votanic epoch--and
not improbable that Ococingo, Copan, and some of the older Yucatec
cities were the centres of contemporaneous, perhaps allied powers.[III-19]
[Sidenote: TRADITIONS OF THE QUICHÉS.]
I pass next to the traditions of the Quiché nations as preserved in
the _Popol Vuh_, or National Book, and known to the world through
the Spanish translation of Ximenez and the French of Brasseur de
Bourbourg.[III-20] These traditions, the authenticity and general accuracy
of which there is no reason to doubt, constitute a hopelessly entangled
network of mythic tales, without chronology, but with apparent
although vague references here and there, to actual events in the
primitive history of the peoples whose descendants were the Quichés
and Cakchiquels, and with a more continuous account in the closing
chapters, of the Quiché annals of a much later period, immediately
preceding the Conquest. In the introduction we read: "This is the
origin of the ancient history of Quiché. Here we write the annals of
the past, the beginning of all that has taken place in the city of
Quiché, among the tribes of the Quiché nations. Behold we bring about
the manifestation of what was in obscurity, its first dawning by the
will of the Creator and of the Former, of Him who begets and of Him who
gives being. Their names are Hunahpu Vuch--'shooter of the blowpipe at
the opossum,' Hunahpu Utïu--'shooter of the blowpipe at the coyote,'
Zaki Nima Tzyiz--'great white pricker,' Tepeu--the 'dominator,' and
Gucumatz--the 'plumed serpent;' Heart of the Lakes, Heart of the Sea,
Master of the Verdant Planisphere, Master of the Azure Surface. Thus
it is that these also are named, sung, and celebrated--the grandmother
and the grandfather, whose names are Xpiyacoc and Xmucane, preserver
and protectrice; twice grandmother and twice grandfather, as it is
stated in the Quiché annals; concerning whom was related all that
they did afterwards in the light of life, in the light of the word,
(civilization). Behold that which we shall write after the word of
God, and in Christianity; we shall bring it to light because the _Popol
Vuh_, the national book, is no longer visible, in which it was clearly
seen that we came from beyond the sea--'the narrative of our life
in the land of shadow, and how we saw the light and life,' as it is
called. It is the first book, written in olden times; but its view is
hidden from him who sees and thinks. Wonderful is its appearance, and
the narrative of the time when he (the Creator) finished everything in
heaven and on earth."[III-21]
Then follows an account, which has already been presented in a
condensed translation,[III-22] of a time when all was silent, and there
was yet no earth, and no living thing, only the immobility and silence
of a boundless sea, on the surface of which floated the Creator and
his companion deities named above, including Gucumatz, the 'plumed
serpent.' Then the light appeared and the earth with its vegetation
was created by Gucumatz and the Dominator at the word of Hurakan,
Heart of Heaven, the Thunderbolt. Life and fecundity were given to the
animals and birds, who were distributed as guardians of the forests
and mountains, and called upon to speak and praise the names of those
that had made them; but the poor animals, after efforts twice repeated,
could not obey, and were assigned a position far below that which they
had been intended to fill. Two attempts at the creation of intelligent
beings followed, both failures. First man was made of earth, and
although he could speak, he was intellectually stupid and physically
clumsy, unable to stand erect, and soon mingled with the water like a
man of mud. He was destroyed by the disgusted creators. The sorcerers,
Xpiyacoc and Xmucane, grandmothers of the sun and of the moon, were
consulted in the second creation, and the 'chief of Toltecat' is
mentioned in addition to the names already given. Lots were cast, all
needful precautions were taken, and man was made again of wood and
pith; but he lacked intelligence, led a useless life, and forgot the
Heart of Heaven. They became numerous on the face of the earth, but
the gods were wroth and sent upon them a flood, and a resinous shower
from heaven; their houses refused to cover them, the trees shook them
from the branches where they sought shelter, the animals and even the
household implements turned against the poor wooden men, reviling and
persecuting them, until all were destroyed, save a few who remained as
a memorial in the form of apes.[III-23]
At this point the character of the narrative changes somewhat, and,
although an account of a third and final creation of man, given on a
subsequent page,[III-24] should, in the opinion of Brasseur, be introduced
here, I proceed with a résumé of the Quiché tradition in the order
of its arrangement in both the Spanish and French version, devoting a
paragraph to each chapter of the French translation.
There was sky and earth, but little light; and a man named Vucub Cakix,
'seven aras, or paroquets,' was puffed up with pride and said, "those
that were drowned were like supernatural beings;[III-25] now will I be
great above all created beings. I am their sun and their moon; great
is my splendor." He was not the sun, nor did his view reach over the
whole earth, but he was proud of his riches. This was when the flood
destroyed the wooden manikins. Now we will tell when Vucub Cakix was
defeated and man was made.
[Sidenote: VUCUB CAKIX AND ZIPACNA.]
This is the cause of his destruction by two young men, Hunahpu (or
Hunhunahpu) and Xbalanque, 'little tiger,' who were really gods, and
thought it not good that Vucub Cakix should swell with pride and offend
the Heart of Heaven; and they plotted against his life and wealth.
He had two sons, Zipacna and Cabrakan, the 'earthquake,' by his wife
Chimalmat. Zipacna's work was to roll the great mountains which he made
in a night, and which Cabrakan shook at will. The death of the father
and son was resolved upon by the two young men.
Vucub Cakix was shot by them while eating the fruit called _nanze_ in
a tree-top, and his jaw broken, although in revenge he carried home the
arm of Hunahpu, which he hung over the fire. But an old man and an old
woman, Zaki Nim Ak and Zaki Nima Tzyiz--divinities already named, in
human disguise--were induced by the two young men to volunteer their
services in curing the jaw of Vucub Cakix, who seems to have been a
king, for they found him on his throne howling with pain. They pulled
out his broken teeth of precious stones, in which he took great pride,
substituting grains of maize; they dimmed his eyes, took away his
riches, and recovered the missing arm. Then the king died as did his
wife, and the purpose of Hunahpu and Xbalanque was accomplished against
him who was proud and regarded not the will of the Heart of Heaven.
These are the deeds of Zipacna, son of Vucub Cakix, who claimed to
be creator of the mountains. Bathing at the river-side he found four
hundred young men striving in vain to carry away a tree which they
had cut. Generously he bore the burden for them, and was invited to
join their band, being an orphan; but they soon plotted against him,
casting a tree upon him in a deep pit they had employed him to dig. He
cunningly took refuge in a branch gallery, cut off his hair and nails
for the ants to carry up to his foes, waited until the four hundred had
become intoxicated in their rejoicing at his supposed death, emerged
from the pit, and toppled over their house upon them so that not one
escaped.
But in his turn Zipacna was conquered by Hunahpu and Xbalanque, who
were grieved that the four hundred had perished. Zipacna, bearing the
mountains by night, wandered in the day by the river and lived on fish
and crabs; by an artificial crab his two foes enticed him in a time of
hunger to crawl on all fours into a cavern at the bottom of a ravine,
where the mountain, previously mined, fell upon him. Thus perished and
was turned to stone, at the foot of Mt Meavan, the self-styled 'maker
of the mountains,' the second who by his pride displeased the deities.
One only now remained, Cabrakan. "It is I who destroy the mountains,"
he said; but it was the will of Hurakan, 'the thunderbolt,' that his
pride also should be humbled, and the order was given to Hunahpu and
Xbalanque. They found him at his favorite employment of overturning
the hills, enticed him eastward to exhibit his skill and overthrow a
particularly high mountain which they claimed to have seen, killed a
bird with their blowpipe on the way, and poisoned it with earth before
it was given Cabrakan to eat. Thus was his strength destroyed; he
failed to move the mountain, was tied, and buried.
[Sidenote: THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.]
Thus ends the first of the four divisions of the _Popol Vuh_.[III-26]
Next we are to hear something of the birth and family of Hunahpu and
Xbalanque. The recital is, however, to be covered with mystery, and
only half is to be told of the relation of their father.[III-27] Xpiyacoc
and Xmucane had two sons, Hunhunahpu and Vukub Hunahpu, the first being
as the French translation unintelligibly renders it a sort of double
personage. The former had also by his wife Xbakiyalo two sons, Hunbatz
and Hunchouen, very wise, great artists, and skillful in all things;
the latter never married. All four spent the day in playing at dice and
at ball, and Voc, the messenger of Hurakan, came to see them, Voc who
remained not far from here nor far from Xibalba.[III-28] After the death of
Xbakiyalo, the two played ball, journeying toward Xibalba, having left
Hunbatz and Hunchouen behind, and this became known to Hun Came and
Vukub Came, monarchs of Xibalba, who called together the council of the
empire and sent to summon them or to challenge them to a game of ball,
that they might be defeated and disgraced.
The messengers were owls, four in number; and the players, after a
sad parting from their mother, Xmucane, and from the young Hunbatz
and Hunchouen, followed them down the steep road to Xibalba from
the ball-ground of Nimxob Carchah.[III-29] Crossing ravines and rivers,
including one of blood, they came to the royal palace of Xibalba, and
saluted two wooden figures as monarchs, to the great amusement of the
latter and the assembled princes. Then the brothers were invited to a
place on the seat of honor, which proved to be a red-hot stone, and the
contortions of the guests when they sat upon it provoked a new burst of
laughter which well-nigh resulted in apoplexy. Five ordeals are here
mentioned as existing in Xibalba, to the first of which only, that of
the House of Gloom,[III-30] were the brothers subjected; then they were
sacrificed and their bodies buried together. But the head of Hunhunahpu
was hung in a tree, which at once became covered with gourds from which
the head could not be distinguished, and it was forbidden to all in
Xibalba to approach that tree.
But Xquiq, a virgin princess, daughter of Cuchumaquiq, heard of
the tree, and went alone to taste the forbidden fruit. Into her
outstretched hand the head of Hunhunahpu spat, and the spittle caused
the young girl to conceive, and she returned home, after a promise from
the head that no harm should result to her. All this was by the order
of Hurakan. After six months her condition was observed by her father,
and in spite of her protestations that she had known no man, the owls,
the royal messengers, were ordered to sacrifice her and bring back her
heart in a vase. She persuaded and bribed the royal officers, however,
by the promise of future emoluments, to carry back to the kings the
coagulated sap of the blood-wort instead of her blood and heart, and
she escaped; thus were Hun Came and Vukub Came tricked by this young
girl.
Xquiq, far advanced in pregnancy, went for protection to the place
where Xmucane was living with the young Hunbatz and Hunchouen. The old
woman was not disposed at first to credit the stranger's tale that she
was with child by Hunhunahpu, and therefore entitled to protection as
a granddaughter at the hands of Xmucane; but by calling upon the gods
and gathering a basket of maize where no maize was growing, the young
girl proved the justice of her claim, and was received by the great
grandmother of her unborn children.
[Sidenote: HUNAHPU AND XBALANQUE.]
The virgin mother brought forth twin sons, and they were named Hunahpu
and Xbalanque. From their very birth they were ill-treated. They were
turned out of the house by their grandmother for crying, and throughout
childhood and youth were abused by Hunbatz and Hunchouen, by reason of
jealousy. They passed their time shooting birds in the mountains with
their blowpipes, while their brothers, great musicians, painters, and
sculptors, remained at home singing and playing the flute. But at last
Hunbatz and Hunchouen were changed by the young heroes into monkeys.
Xmucane was filled with sadness, and she was offered the privilege of
beholding again the faces of her favorite grandsons, if she could do
so without laughing; but their grimaces and antics were too ludicrous;
the old lady failed in three interviews to restrain her laughter, and
Hunbatz and Hunchouen appeared no more. Hunahpu and Xbalanque became in
their turn musicians and played the air of _hunahpu qoy_, the 'monkey
of Hunahpu.'[III-31]
The first work undertaken by the twins was the clearing of a milpa
or cornfield. It was not very difficult on the first day, for their
enchanted tools worked by themselves while the young agriculturists
went hunting, taking care to put dirt on their faces and to pretend
to be at work when their grandmother brought their lunch at noon. In
the night, however, the wild beasts met and replaced all the trees and
shrubbery that the brothers had removed. Hunahpu and Xbalanque watched
for them the next night, but in spite of their efforts the beasts all
escaped--although the deer and rabbit lost their tails--except the rat,
which was caught in a handkerchief. The rat's life was spared by the
youths and in return this animal revealed the glorious deeds of their
fathers and uncles, their games at ball, and the existence of a ball
of India rubber with other implements of the game which they had left
about the house. All of the implements and the ball came into their
possession with the knowledge of the secret.
Joyful at their discovery Hunahpu and Xbalanque went away to play in
the ball-ground of their fathers, and the monarchs of Xibalba, Hun
Came and Vukub Came, heard them and were angry, and sent messengers
to summon them as their fathers had been summoned to play at Xibalba.
The messengers came to the house of Xmucane, who, filled with alarm,
dispatched a louse to carry the summons to her grandsons. On the way
the louse consented, to insure greater speed, to be swallowed by a
toad, the toad by a serpent, and the serpent by the great bird Voc. On
arrival a series of vomitings ensued, until the toad was free; but in
spite of his most desperate efforts he could not throw up the louse,
who, it seems, had played him a trick, lodged in his gums, and not been
swallowed at all. However, the message was delivered, and the players
returned home to take leave of their grandmother and mother. Before
their departure they planted each a cane in the middle of the house,
the fate of which should depend upon their own, since it would wither
at their death.
The ball-players set out for Xibalba by the route their fathers had
followed, passing the bloody river and the river Papuhya; but they sent
in advance an animal called Xan, with a hair of Hunahpu's leg to prick
the kings and princes. Thus they detected the artificial men of wood,
and also learned the names of all the princes by their exclamations and
mutual inquiries when pricked. On their arrival at court they refused
to salute the manikins or to sit upon the red-hot stone; they even
passed through the first ordeal in the House of Gloom, thus thrice
avoiding the tricks which had been played upon their fathers.
The kings were astonished and very angry, and the game of ball was
played, and those of Xibalba were beaten. Then Hun Came and Vukub
Came required the victors to bring them four bouquets of flowers,
ordering the guards of the royal gardens to watch most carefully, and
committed Hunahpu and his brother to the House of Lances--the second
ordeal--where the lancers were directed to kill them. Yet a swarm of
ants in the brothers' service entered easily the royal gardens, the
lancers were bribed, and the sons of Xquiq were still victorious. Those
of Xibalba turned pale, and the owls, guards of the royal gardens, were
punished by having their lips split.
Hunahpu and Xbalanque were subjected to the third ordeal in the House
of Cold, but warmed by burning pine-cones they were not frozen. So in
the fourth and fifth ordeals, since they passed a night in the House
of Tigers and in the House of Fire without suffering injury; but in the
House of Bats, although the occupants did them no harm, Hunahpu's head
was cut off by Camazotz, 'ruler of bats,' who came from on high.
The beheading of Hunahpu was by no means fatal, but after a combination
of events utterly unintelligible, including an assemblage of all the
animals, achievements particularly brilliant by the turtle and rabbit,
and another contest at ball-playing, the heroes came out uninjured from
all the ordeals to which they were subjected in Xibalba.
[Sidenote: DEATH OF THE TWIN BROTHERS.]
At last, instructing two sorcerers, Xulu and Pacam, that those of
Xibalba had failed because the brutes were not on their side, and
directing them also what to do with their bones, Hunahpu and Xbalanque
stretched themselves voluntarily face down on a funeral pile, still in
Xibalba, and died together. Their bones were pulverized and thrown into
the river, where they sank and were changed into fine young men.
On the fifth day they re-appeared, like man-fishes; and on the day
following in the form of ragged old men, dancing, burning and restoring
houses, killing and restoring each other to life, and performing other
wonderful things. They were induced to exhibit their skill before the
princes of Xibalba, killing and resuscitating the king's dog, burning
and restoring the royal palace; then a man was made the subject of
their art, Hunahpu was cut in pieces and brought to life by Xbalanque.
Finally, the monarchs of Xibalba wished to experience personally the
temporary death; Hun Came, the highest in rank, was first killed, then
Vukub Came, but life was not restored to them; the two shooters of
the blow-pipe had avenged the wrongs of their fathers; the monarchs of
Xibalba had fallen.
Having announced their true names and motives, the two brothers
pronounced sentence on the princes of Xibalba. Their ball was to appear
no more in the favorite game, they were to perform menial service,
with only the beasts of the woods as vassals, and this was to be their
punishment for the wrongs they had done; yet strangely enough, they
were to be invoked thereafter as gods, or rather demons, according to
Ximenez. The character of the Xibalbans is here described. They were
fond of war, of frightful aspect, ugly as owls, inspiring evil and
discord; faithless, hypocritical, and tyrants, they were both black
and white, painting their faces, moreover, with divers colors. But
their power was ruined and their domination ceased. Meanwhile, the
grandmother Xmucane at home watched the growth of the canes, and was
filled alternately with grief and joy, as these withered and again
became green according to the varying fortunes of the grandsons in
Xibalba.[III-32] Finally, to return to Xibalba, Hunahpu and Xbalanque
rendered the fitting funeral honors to their fathers who had perished
there, but who now mounted to heaven and took their places as the sun
and moon; and the four hundred young men killed by Zipacna became stars
in the skies. Thus ends the second division of the National Book of the
Quichés.[III-33]
[Sidenote: MIGRATION FROM TULAN.]
The first chapter of the third division relates another and final
creation of man from maize, in Paxil, or Cayala, 'land of divided and
stagnant waters,' and has already been translated in full in another
volume.[III-34] According to Brasseur's opinion it should follow the
account of the preceding creations,[III-35] and precede the narrative of
the struggle with Xibalba; but was introduced here at the beginning
of the Quiché migrations intentionally in order to attach the later
Quiché nations more closely to the heroic epochs of their history.
The remaining chapters of the division have also been translated in
substance.[III-36] In them are related the adventures of Balam-Quitzé,
Balam-Agab, Mahucutah, and Iqi-Balam, the product of the final creation
by Gucumatz and his companion deities, and the founders of the Quiché
nations. The people multiplied greatly in a region called the East, and
migrated in search of gods to Tulan-Zuiva, the 'seven caves,' where
four gods were assigned to the four leaders; namely, Tohil, Avilix,
Hacavitz, and Nicahtagah. Here their language was changed or divided,
and the division into separate nations was established. Suffering
from cold and endeavors to obtain fire while they were awaiting the
sun, are the points most dwelt upon during their stay in Tulan, and in
connection with these troubles the coming of an envoy from Xibalba is
mentioned,[III-37] which circumstance may indicate that Tulan was in the
Xibalban region. But they determined to abandon or were driven from
Tulan, and after a tedious journey, including apparently a crossing
of the sea, they reached Mt Hacavitz, where at last they beheld the
sun. Mt Hacavitz was apparently in Guatemala, and the events mentioned
in the record as having occurred subsequently to the arrival there,
although many are of a mythical nature and few can be assigned to any
definite epoch, may best be referred to the more modern history of
the Quiché-Cakchiquel nations in Guatemala, to be treated in a future
chapter.
The events preceding the rising of the sun on Mt Hacavitz, are not
easily connected with the exploits of Hunahpu and Xbalanque; but to
suppose that they follow in chronologic order, and that the traditions
in question reflect vaguely the history of the heroes or tribes that
prevailed against Xibalba is at least as consistent as any theory that
can be formed. The chief objection is the implied crossing of the
sea during the migration from Tulan, which may be an interpolation.
A lamentation which they chanted on Mt Hacavitz has considerable
historical importance. "Alas," they said, "we were ruined in Tulan,
we were separated, and our brothers still remain behind. Truly we
have beheld the sun, but they, where are they now that the dawn has
appeared? Truly Tohil is the name of the god of the Yaqui nation, who
was called Yolcuat Quitzalcuat (Quetzalcoatl) when we parted yonder in
Tulan. Behold whence we set out together, behold the common cradle of
our race, whence we have come. Then they remembered their brothers far
behind them, the nation of the Yaqui whom their dawn enlightened in the
countries now called Mexico. There was also a part of the nation which
they left in the east, and Tepeu and Oliman were the places where they
remained."[III-38]
A Cakchiquel record of what would seem to be the same primitive
traditions contained in the _Popol Vuh_, exists but has never been
published. It is only known through an occasional reference or
quotation in the writings of Brasseur de Bourbourg. From one of these
references[III-39] we learn that the barbarian Utïu, Jackal, or Coyote,
that conducted Gucumatz to Paxil where maize was discovered, was
killed by one of the heroes or deities; hence the name Hunahpu Utïu,
'shooter of the blowpipe at the coyote.' The following quotation from
the same document refers to the name Tulan, which with its different
spellings occurs so perplexingly often in all the primitive traditions
of American civilization. "Four persons came from Tulan, from the
direction of the rising sun, that is one Tulan. There is another Tulan
in Xibalbay and another where the sun sets, and it is there that we
came; and in the direction of the setting sun there is another where
is the god: so that there are four Tulans; and it is where the sun sets
that we came to Tulan, from the other side of the sea where this Tulan
is, and it is there that we were conceived and begotten by our mothers
and our fathers."[III-40]
[Sidenote: MEANING OF THE QUICHÉ TRADITIONS.]
Such in a condensed form are the tales that make up the primitive
annals of the Quiché nations of Guatemala. We may be very sure that,
be they marvelous or common-place, each is founded on an actual
occurrence, and has its meaning. That meaning, so far as details are
concerned, has been doubtless in most instances lost. We may only
hope to extract from the tenor of the record as a whole, a general
idea respecting the nature of the historic events thus vaguely
recorded; and even this would be perhaps a hopeless task, were it
not for the aid derived from the Tzendal traditions, with monumental,
institutional, and linguistic arguments already considered, and the
Nahua records yet to be examined. It is not altogether visionary to
behold in the successive creations by Gucumatz, the 'plumed serpent,'
and his companions, as we have done in the coming of Votan, the
introduction or growth of a new civilization, new forms of government
or religion, new habits of life in America; even if we cannot admit
literally the arrival at a definite time and place of a civilizer,
Gucumatz, or hope to reasonably explain each of his actions. It is
not necessary to decide whether the new culture was indigenous or of
foreign origin; or even to suppose it radically different from any
that preceded or were contemporaneous with it. We need not go back
to ancient times to see partisans or devotees attach the greatest
importance to the slightest differences in government or religion,
looking with pity or hatred on all that are indifferent or opposed.
Thus in the traditions before us opponents and rivals are pictured as
the powers of darkness, while tribes that cling to the freedom of the
forests and are slow to accept the blessings of civilized life, are
almost invariably spoken of as brutes. The final creation of man, and
the discovery of maize as an essential element in his composition,
refer apparently to the introduction among or adoption by the new
people or new sect of agriculture as a means of support, but possibly
to the creation of a high rank of secular or religious rulers. Utïu,
the Jackal, a barbarian, led Gucumatz and his companions to Paxil
Cayala where maize was found, but was killed by the new-comers in the
troubles that ensued. Early in the narrative, however, the existence
of a rival power, the great empire of Xibalba, almost synonymous with
the infernal regions, is explicitly indicated, and a large portion
of the _Popol Vuh_ is devoted to the struggle between the two. The
princes and nations of Xibalba, symbolized in Vukub Cakix, Zipacna,
Cabrakan, Hun Came, and Vukub Came, were numerous and powerful, but,
since the history is written by enemies, they were of course bad.
Their chief fault, their unpardonable sin, consisted in being puffed
up with pride against the Heart of Heaven, in refusing to accept the
views of the new sect. Consequently the nations and chiefs that had
arrayed themselves on the side of Gucumatz, represented by Xbalanque
and Hunahpu, of several generations, struggle long and desperately
to humble their own enemies and those of the supreme god, Hurakan.
The oft-repeated struggles are symbolized by games at ball between
the rival chiefs. The ball grounds or halls are battle-fields. The
animals of the forests often take a prominent part on one side or the
other; that is, the savage tribes are employed as allies. Occasionally
men are for some offense or stupidity changed to monkeys, or tribes
allied with the self-styled reformers and civilizers prove false to
their allegiance and return to the wild freedom of the mountains.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to determine the meaning of that
portion of the narrative which recounts the immaculate conception of
the princess Xquiq; but Brasseur, not without reason, sees in the birth
of Hunahpu and Xbalanque from a Xibalban mother, an indication that
the rival nations became more or less mixed by intermarriage. The same
author conjectures that the quarrels between the two twins and their
elder half-brothers record dissensions that arose between the chiefs
of pure and mixed blood. After a long series of wars with varying
results, symbolized by the repeated games of ball, and the ordeals
to which Xbalanque and his brother were successively subjected, the
princes of Xibalba were defeated. From the terms in which the victory
is described in the tradition, the general impression is conveyed
that it was not a conquest involving the destruction of cities and the
extermination or enslaving of the people; but rather the overthrow of
a dynasty; the transfer of the supreme power to nations that formerly
occupied subordinate positions. The chief feature in the celebration of
the triumph was the apotheosis of the heroes who had fallen during the
struggle.
After the triumph of Gucumatz' followers, the written tradition is
practically silent. Of the greatness of the newly constituted empire we
know nothing; the record only re-opens when misfortune has again come
upon the nations and they are forced to abandon Tulan for new homes.
Neither their defeats nor the names of their conquerors were thought
worthy of a place in the annals of the Quiché nations, afterwards so
powerful in Guatemala; yet we can hardly doubt that the princes of
Xibalba contributed to their overthrow. Forced to leave Tulan, spoken
of as the cradle of their race, they migrated in three divisions,
one towards the mountains of Guatemala, one towards Mexico, and the
third toward the east by way of Tepeu and Oliman, which the Cakchiquel
manuscript is said to locate on the boundary of Peten and Yucatan.
[Sidenote: CONQUEST OF XIBALBA.]
The Quiché traditions, then, point clearly to, 1st, the existence in
ancient times of a great empire somewhere in Central America, called
Xibalba by its enemies; 2d, the growth of a rival neighboring power;
3d, a long struggle extending through several generations at least,
and resulting in the downfall of the Xibalban kings; 4th, a subsequent
scattering,--the cause of which is not stated, but was evidently war,
civil or foreign,--of the formerly victorious nations from Tulan, their
chief city or province; 5th, the identification of a portion of the
migrating chiefs with the founders of the Quiché-Cakchiquel nations in
possession of Guatemala at the Conquest. The National Book, unaided,
would hardly suffice to determine the location of Xibalba, which
was very likely the name of a capital city as well as of the empire.
Utatlan, in the Guatemalan highlands, is clearly pointed out as the
place whence Xbalanque set out for its conquest, and several other
names of localities in Guatemala are also mentioned, but it should
be noted that the tradition comes through Guatemalan sources, and it
is not necessary even to suppose that Utatlan was the centre of the
forces that struggled against the powers of darkness. Yet since we know
through Tzendal traditions and monumental relics, of the great Votanic
empire of the Chanes, which formerly included the region of Palenque,
there can hardly be room for hesitation in identifying the two powers.
The description of Paxil Cayala, 'divided and stagnant waters,' "a
most excellent land, full of good things, where the white and yellow
maize did abound, also the cacao, where were sapotes and many fruits,
and honey; where all was overflowing with the best of food," agrees at
least as well with the Usumacinta region as with any other in Central
America. The very steep descent by which Xbalanque reached Xibalba
from Utatlan, corresponds perfectly with the topography of the country
towards the Usumacinta. The statement that in the final migration from
Tulan to Guatemala, two parties were left behind, one of which went to
Mexico, and the other was left in the east, also seems to point in the
same direction. The _Cakchiquel Manuscript_ tells us that there was
a Tulan in Xibalba, evidently the one whence the final migration took
place, and from the Tzendal tradition through Ordoñez we have learned
that Tulha, or Tulan, was one of the great cities of Votan's Empire.
Finally there is absolutely nothing in the narrative which points to
any other location.
[Sidenote: XIBALBA THE VOTANIC EMPIRE.]
Xibalba was then the Empire of the Serpents, to which tradition assigns
Votan as a founder; the same name was applied also to its capital city
Nachan, probably identical with Palenque; and Tulan, or Tulha, the
centre of nations which were successively subjects, allies, rivals,
and conquerors of the imperial city, may be conjecturally identified
with the ruined Ococingo or Copan. Vukub Cakix, the last but two of
the Xibalban monarchs, was perhaps the same as Chinax who occupied the
same position in the Tzendal tradition and calendar. But who were the
followers of Gucumatz, the nations before whose leaders, Hunahpu and
Xbalanque, the pride of Xibalba was humbled, and to whom the traditions
thus far studied have assigned no name? It is most natural to identify
them with the Tzequiles, who, according to the tradition, arrived
during Votan's absence, gave his followers new ideas of government
and religion, were assigned lands, and became a powerful people with
Tulan as their capital. This makes the Tzendal tradition much more
intelligible and complete, and agrees much better with the Quiché
record, than the opposite one adopted without any apparent reason by
Brasseur de Bourbourg. According to the Quiché chant of lamentation,
one division of the refugees from Tulan went north to Mexico, where
they found their 'dawn,' their greatness. This seems to point toward
the Nahua nations, which alone achieved greatness in Mexico during
historic times. The tribes which migrated northward are called, in the
_Popol Vuh_, Yaqui, a name which according to Brasseur de Bourbourg,
has much the same signification etymologically as Nahuatl, and was
commonly applied by the Maya-Quiché peoples of Central America to the
Mexicans. Moreover, their god, Tohil, was called by these Yaqui tribes,
even while they were yet in Tulan, Yolcuat Quitzalcuat, while the most
prominent of the Nahua divinities is well known to the readers of the
preceding volumes to have been Quetzalcoatl. Chanes, the only name
given to the subjects of Votan and his successors, is the equivalent
of Culhuas, a word which, especially in composition, is of frequent
occurrence in all the native tongues. Culhuacan was one of the most
celebrated cities of Anáhuac, as the Acolhuas were among the most noted
peoples. Again Tulan Zuiva is defined as the Seven Caves, in the Nahua
tongues Chicomoztoc, which the Aztecs are well known to have claimed as
a former home. One of the divinities engaged in the creation, or in the
propagation of the new doctrines in the region of Xibalba was the chief
of Toltecat, another name prominent in all Nahua traditions as that of
their most famous nation, the Toltecs; and finally Gucumatz, the great
leader of Xibalba's conquerors, was identical with Quetzalcoatl, since
both names signify equally the 'plumed serpent,' the former in Quiché,
the latter in Aztec. These facts seem significant and naturally direct
our attention to an examination of the early Nahua records.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: THE NAHUAS IN TAMOANCHAN.]
The records of the Nahua nations, so far as they relate to the
pre-Toltec period, if more extensive and numerous, are not less
confused than those of the south. To bring into any semblance of order
this mass of contradictory semi-mythical, semi-historic details, to
point out and defend the historic meaning of each aboriginal tale,
is an impossible task which I do not propose to undertake. The only
practicable course is to present the leading points of these early
traditions as they are given by the best authorities, and to draw from
them, as I have done from the Tzendal and Quiché records, some general
conclusions respecting the most probable course of primitive history;
for conclusions of a very general nature, and bearing on probabilities
only, are all that we can expect to reach respecting pre-Toltec
America. Sahagun, justly esteemed as one of the best authorities,
speaks in substance as follows:[III-41]
Countless years ago the first settlers arrived in New Spain. Coming
in ships by sea, they approached a northern port; and because they
disembarked there it was called Panutla, or Panoaia, 'place where
they arrived who came by sea,' now corruptly called Pantlan (Pánuco);
and from this port they began to follow the coast, beholding the
snowy sierras and the volcanoes, until they reached the province of
Guatemala; being guided by a priest carrying their god, with whom he
continually took counsel respecting what they ought to do. They came
to settle in Tamoanchan, where they remained a long time, and never
ceased to have their wise men, or prophets, called _amoxoaque_, which
means 'men learned in the ancient paintings,' who, although they came
at the same time, did not remain with the rest in Tamoanchan; since
leaving them there, they re-embarked and carried away with them all
the paintings which they had brought relating to religious rites and
mechanical arts. Before their departure they spoke as follows:--"Know
that our god commands you to remain here in these lands, of which he
makes you masters and gives you possession. He returns to the place
whence he and we came; but he will come back to visit you when it shall
be time for the world to come to an end; meantime you will await him
in these lands, possessing them and all contained in them, since for
this purpose you came hither; remain therefore, for we go with our
god." Thus they departed with their god wrapped in blankets, towards
the east, taking all the paintings. Of the wise men only four remained,
Oxomoco, Cipactonal, Tlaltetecui, and Xuchicaoaca, who, after the
others had departed, consulted together, saying:--A time will come
when there will be light for the direction of this republic; but during
the absence of our god, how shall the people be ruled? What order will
there be in all things, since the wise men carried away their paintings
by which they governed? Therefore did they invent judicial astrology
and the art of interpreting dreams; they composed the calendar, which
was followed during the rule of the Toltecs, Mexicans, Tepanecs, and
Chichimecs. By this calendar, however, it is not possible to ascertain
how long they remained in Tamoanchan,--although this was known by the
paintings burned in the time of the Mexican ruler, Itzcoatl, in whose
reign the lords and princes agreed that all should be burned that they
might not fall into the hands of the vulgar and be unappreciated. From
Tamoanchan they went to sacrifice at Teotihuacan, where they built two
mountains in honor of the sun and moon, and where they elected their
rulers, and buried the lords and princes, ordering the tumuli, still to
be seen, to be made over their graves. Some description of the mounds
follows, with the statement that they were the work of giants. The town
of Teotl, or god, was called Teotihuacan, because the princes who were
buried there were made gods after death, and were thought not to have
died but to have waked from a sleep. From Tamoanchan certain families
went to settle the provinces called Olmeca Vixtoti. Here are given some
details of these Olmecs and of the Huastecs, to be spoken of later.
After the centre of power had been a long time in Tamoanchan, it was
afterwards transferred to the town called Xumiltepec. Here the lords
and priests and the old men discovered it to be the will of their god
that they should not remain always in Xumiltepec, but that they were
to go farther; thus all gradually started on their migration, having
first repaired to Teotihuacan to choose their leaders and wise men. In
this migration they came to the valley of the Seven Caves. There is no
account of the time they remained there, but finally the Toltecs were
told by their god that they must return (that is towards Teotihuacan,
or Anáhuac), which they did and came to Tollancingo (Tulancingo), and
finally to Tulan (Tollan).
[Sidenote: THE NAHUA TRADITIONS.]
In the introduction to the same work[III-42] we are told also that the
first settlers came from towards Florida, followed the coast, and
landed at the port of Pánuco. They came in search of the 'terrestrial
paradise,' were called Tamoanchan, which means 'we seek our house,' and
settled near the highest mountains they found. "In coming southward to
seek the earthly paradise, they did not err, since it is the opinion of
those that know that it is under the equinoxial line."
In Sahagun's version of the tradition we find Tamoanchan,[III-43] the
first home of the Nahua nations in America, definitely located down
the coast from Pánuco in the province of Guatemala. The coast region
of Tabasco was probably included in this author's time in Guatemala; at
least it is as near Guatemala as the new-comers could get by following
the coast. The location therefore agrees with that of Xibalba and
the Votanic empire as derived from other sources; and in fact the
whole narrative may with great plausibility be applied to the events
described in the Quiché tradition--the arrival of Gucumatz and his
companions (although Sahagun does not name Quetzalcoatl as the leader
of the immigrants), the growth of a great power in the central region,
and the final forced migration from Tulan Zuiva, the Seven Caves. The
absence of the name Tulan, as applied to a city or county in Central
America, from the northern traditions as they have been preserved for
our examination, may be very satisfactorily accounted for by the fact
that another great city founded much later in Anáhuac, the capital
of the Toltec monarchy, was also called Tollan; consequently such
traditions as the Spaniards gathered from the natives respecting a
Tulan, were naturally referred by them to the later city. It is to be
noted, moreover, in this connection, that the descriptions given by the
Spanish writers of Tollan, with its luxuriant vegetation, and birds of
brilliant plumage, often apply much better to the southern than to the
northern Anáhuac. In addition to the points mentioned in the Quiché
record, we learn from Sahagun that the Toltec calendar was invented or
introduced during the stay in that southern country of Tamoanchan;[III-44]
that the Nahua power in the south extended north to Anáhuac and
embraced Teotihuacan, a holy city and religious centre, even in those
remote times; that the Olmecs, Miztecs, and Huastecs belonged to the
same group of nations and their rise or appearance to the same period;
and that from the Seven Caves the Toltecs migrated--that is their
centre or capital was transferred--to Tulancingo, and later to Tollan.
All these points we shall find confirmed more or less directly by other
authorities.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: THE CODEX CHIMALPOPOCA.]
A very important Nahua record, written in Aztec with Spanish letters by
an anonymous native author, and copied by Ixtlilxochitl, which belonged
to the famous Boturini collection, is the _Codex Chimalpopoca_.[III-45]
Unfortunately it has never been published, and its contents are only
known by occasional references in the works of Brasseur de Bourbourg,
who had a copy of the document. From the passages quoted by the abbé
I take the following brief account, which seems of some importance in
connection with the preceding:
"This is the beginning of the history of things which came to pass
long ago, of the division of the earth, the property of all, its
origin and its foundation, as well as the manner in which the sun
divided it six times four hundred plus one hundred plus thirteen years
ago to-day, the twenty-second of May, 1558." "Earth and the heavens
were formed in the year Ce Tochtli; but man had already been created
four times. God formed him of ashes, but Quetzalcoatl had perfected
him." After the flood men were changed into dogs.[III-46] After a new
and successful attempt at creation, all began to serve the gods,
called Apantecutli, 'master of the rivers,' Huictlollinqui, 'he who
causes the earth to shake,' Tlallamanac, 'he who presides on the
earth,' and Tzontemoc, 'he whose hair descends.' Quetzalcoatl remained
alone. Then they said, "the vassals of the gods are born; they have
already begun to serve us," but they added, "what will you eat, O
gods?" and Quetzalcoatl went to search for means of subsistence. At
that time Azcatl, the 'ant,' going to Tonacatepetl, 'mount of our
subsistence,' for maize, was met by Quetzalcoatl, who said, "where
hast thou been to obtain that thing? Tell me." At first the Ant would
not tell, but the Plumed Serpent insisted, and repeated, "whither
shall I go?" Then they went there together, Quetzalcoatl
metamorphosing himself into a 'black ant.'[III-47] Tlaltlauhqui
Azcatl, the 'yellow ant,'[III-48] accompanied Quetzalcoatl
respectfully, as they went to seek maize and brought it to Tamoanchan.
Then the gods began to eat, and put some of the maize in our mouths
that we might become strong.[III-49] The same record implies that
Quetzalcoatl afterwards became obnoxious to his companions and
abandoned them.[III-50]
In this document we have evidently an account of substantially the
same events that are recorded in the Tzendal and Quiché records:--the
division of the earth by the Sun in the year 955 B.C., or as Ordoñez
interprets the Tzendal tradition, by Votan 'about 1000 B.C.'; the
formation of the earth by the supreme being, and the successive
creations of man, or attempts to introduce civilization among savages
through the agency of Quetzalcoatl,--acts ascribed by the Quiché
tradition to the same person under the name of Gucumatz; the flood
and resulting transformation of men into dogs, instead of monkeys as
in the _Popol Vuh_, symbolizing perhaps the relapse into savagism of
partially civilized tribes;--the adoption of agriculture represented
in both traditions as an expedition by Quetzalcoatl, or Gucumatz, in
search of maize. According to the _Popol Vuh_ he sought the maize in
Paxil and Cayala, 'divided and stagnant waters,' by the aid of Utïu,
'the coyote;' while in the Nahua tradition, aided by Azcatl, 'the ant,'
he finds the desired food in Tonacatepetl, 'mount of our subsistence.'
Finally, the _Codex Chimalpopoca_ identifies the home of the Nahua
nations, whence the search for maize was made, with Tamoanchan, which
Sahagun has clearly located in Tabasco.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: PRIMITIVE NATIONS OF MEXICO.]
Before considering the traditions that relate the migration of the
Toltecs proper to Tollan in Anáhuac, it will be most convenient to
give the little that is known of those nations that are supposed to
have preceded the Toltecs in Mexico. The chief of these are the
Quinames, Olmecs, Xicalancas, Totonacs, Huastecs, Miztecs, Zapotecs,
and Otomís.[III-51] The Olmecs and Xicalancas, who are sometimes
represented as two nations, sometimes as divisions of the same nation,
are regarded by all the authorities as Nahuas, speaking the same
language as the Toltecs, but settled in Anáhuac long before the
establishment of the Toltec Empire at Tollan. As nations they both
became extinct before the Spanish Conquest, as did the Toltecs, but
there is little doubt that their descendants under new names and in
new national combinations still lived in Puebla, southern Vera Cruz,
and Tabasco--the region traditionally settled by them--down to the
coming of the Spaniards. They are regarded as the first of the Nahua
nations in this region and are first noticed by tradition on the
south-eastern coasts, whither they had come in ships from the east.
Sahagun, as we have seen, identifies them with certain families of the
Nahuas who set out from Tamoanchan to settle in the northern coast
region. Ixtlilxochitl tells us they occupied the land in the third age
of the world, landing on the east coast as far as the land of
Papuha,[III-52] 'muddy water,' or in the region about the Laguna de
Terminos. Veytia names Pánuco as their landing-place, and gives the
date as a few years after the regulation of the calendar, already
noticed in Sahagun's record.[III-53] Their national names are derived
from that of their first rulers Olmecatl and Xicalancatl. Two ancient
cities called Xicalanco are reported on the gulf coast; one of them,
which flourished nearly or quite down to the time of the Conquest, and
whose ruins are still said to be visible,[III-54] was just below Vera
Cruz; the other, probably the more ancient, stood at the point which
still bears the name of Xicalanco at the entrance to the Laguna de
Terminos. This whole region is also said to have borne the name of
Anáhuac Xicalanco.[III-55] Mendieta and Torquemada[III-56] relate that
the followers of Xicalancatl peopled the region towards the
Goazacoalco, where stood the two cities referred to. The people of
that part of the country were generally known at the time of the
Conquest as Nonohualcas. The chief development of this people, or of
its Olmec branch, was, so far as recorded in tradition, in the state
of Puebla further north and inland.
[Sidenote: OLMECS AND XICALANCAS.]
This tradition of the arrival of strangers on the eastern coast,
and the growth of the Olmec and Xicalanca powers on and north of
the isthmus, in view of the facts that these nations are universally
regarded as Nahuas and as the first of the race to settle in Anáhuac,
cannot be considered as distinct from that given by Sahagun respecting
the Nahua race, especially as the latter author speaks of the departure
of certain families from Tamoanchan to settle in the provinces of
Olmeca Vixtoti. It is most natural to suppose that the new power
extended gradually northward to Puebla as well as inland into Chiapas,
where it came more directly in contact with its great rival. This view
of the matter is likewise supported by the fact that Quetzalcoatl, the
culture-hero, is said to have wrought his great works in the time of
the Olmecs and Xicalancas--according to some traditions to have been
their leader when they arrived on the coast. Sahagun also applies the
name Tlalocan, 'land of riches,' or 'terrestrial paradise,' to this
south-eastern region, implying its identity with Tamoanchan.[III-57]
Our knowledge of Olmec history subsequent to their first appearance,
is confined to a few events which occurred in Puebla. Here, chiefly on
the Rio Atoyac near Puebla de los Angeles and Cholula, they found the
Quinames, or giants, a powerful people who long kept them subordinate
in rank and power, or, as the tradition expresses it, 'enslaved them.'
These Quinames, as Ixtlilxochitl states, were survivors of the great
destruction which closed the second age of the world. They were,
according to Veytia, "more like brutes than rational beings; their food
was raw meat of birds and beasts which they hunted indiscriminately,
fruits and wild herbs, since they cultivated nothing; but they knew
how to make pulque with which to make themselves drunk; going entirely
naked with disheveled hair." They were cruel and proud, yet they
received the strangers kindly, perhaps through fear of their great
numbers, they being so few, and magnanimously permitted them to settle
in their lands. The Olmecs were treated well enough at first, although
they looked with terror upon the giants. The latter, aware of the fear
they inspired, became more and more insolent, claiming that as lords
and masters of the land they were showing the strangers a great favor
in permitting them to live there. As a recompense for this kindness
they obliged the Olmecs to serve as slaves, neither hunting nor fishing
themselves, but depending on their new servants for a subsistence.
Thus ill-treated, the Nahuas soon found their condition insupportable.
Another great cause of offence was that the Quinames were addicted
to sodomy, a vice which they refused to abandon even when they were
offered the wives and daughters of the newcomers. At last it was
resolved at a council of the Olmec chiefs to free themselves once for
all from their oppressors. The means adopted were peculiar. The giants
were invited to a magnificent banquet; the richest food and the most
tempting native beverages were set before the guests; all gathered at
the feast, and as a result of their unrestrained appetites were soon
stretched senseless like so many blocks of wood on the ground. Thus
they became an easy prey to the reformers, and perished to a man. The
Olmecs were free and the day of their national prosperity dawned.
[Sidenote: THE QUINAMES, OR GIANTS.]
The Quinames, traditionally assigned as the first inhabitants of nearly
every part of the country, have been the subject of much discussion
among the Spanish writers. Veytia indeed rejects the idea that a race
of giants actually existed, and Clavigero considers their existence
as a race very doubtful, although admitting that there were doubtless
individuals of great size. Most other writers of this class accept
more or less literally the tradition of the giants who were the first
dwellers in the land, deeming the discovery of large bones in various
localities and the scriptural tales of giants in other parts of the
world, to be sufficient corroborative authority. Veytia thinks the
Quinames were probably of the same race as the Toltecs, but were tribes
cast out for their sloth; Ixtlilxochitl records the opinion entertained
by some that they were descended from the Chichimecs. The former fixes
the date of their destruction as 107, the latter as 299, A.D. Oviedo
adopts the conclusion of Mendoza that the giants probably came from
the Strait of Magellan, the only place where such beings were known
to exist. Boturini saw no reason to doubt the existence of the giants.
Being large in stature, they could out-travel the rest of mankind, and
thus became naturally the first settlers of distant parts of the world.
Torquemada, followed by Veytia, identifies them with a similar race
that traditionally appeared at a very early time in Peru, where they
were destroyed by fire from heaven.[III-58]
The Quinames were of course not giants, and it is not at all probable
that they were savage tribes. Such tribes are described as animals
rather than giants in the American traditionary annals. The spirit
of the narrative, the great power ascribed to the Quinames, their
kind reception of the strangers, their growing insolence, even their
vices, point clearly, here as in Chiapas, to a powerful nation, at
first feared as masters, then hated as rivals, but finally ruled as
subjects by the newly risen power. While it is impossible to decide
authoritatively in the matter, it may be regarded as more than likely
that this foe was a branch of that overthrown in the south; that the
Xibalban power, as well as that of the Nahuas, extended far towards
Anáhuac in the early days; that the great struggle was carried on in
the north as well as in the south.
About the time the Quinames were defeated, the pyramid of Cholula was
erected under the direction of a chief named Xelhua. The occasion of
its being built seems to have been connected in some way with a flood,
probably that mentioned in the Quiché tradition, the reports of which
may or may not be founded on an actual inundation more than usually
disastrous in a country subject to periodical overflow. The authorities
are not agreed whether the mighty mound was intended as a memorial
monument in honor of the builder's salvation from a former flood, or
as a place of refuge in case the floodgates of the skies should again
be opened; neither is it settled whether Xelhua was an Olmec or a
Quiname chieftain, although most authors incline to the former opinion.
Pedro de los Rios tells us that the bricks for the construction of the
pyramid were manufactured at Tlalmanalco and passed by a line of men
from hand to hand for a distance of several leagues. Of course the
Spanish writers have not failed to connect this pyramid in some way
with the Hebrew traditions respecting the tower of Babel, especially as
work on the Cholula tower was stopped by fire, sent from heaven by the
irritated deities.[III-59]
[Sidenote: QUETZALCOATL, THE CULTURE-HERO.]
During the Olmec period, that is, the earliest period of Nahua
power, the great Quetzalcoatl appeared. We have seen that in the
_Popol Vuh_ and _Codex Chimalpopoca_ this being is represented as the
half-divinity, half-hero, who came at the head of the first Nahuas
to America from across the sea. Other authorities imply rather that
he came later from the east or north, in the period of the greatest
Olmec prosperity, after the rival Quinames had been defeated. To such
differences in detail no great importance is to be attached; since
all that can be definitely learned from these traditions is the facts
that Quetzalcoatl, or Gucumatz, was the most prominent of the Nahua
heroes, and that his existence is to be attributed to this earliest
period, known in Mexico as Olmec, but without a distinctive name in
the south. Quetzalcoatl was a white, bearded man, venerable, just, and
holy, who taught by precept and example the paths of virtue in all the
Nahua cities, particularly in Cholula. His teachings, according to the
traditions, had much in common with those of Christ in the Old World,
and most of the Spanish writers firmly believed him to be identical
with one of the Christian apostles, probably St Thomas. During his
stay in this region his doctrines do not seem to have met with a
satisfactory reception, and he left disheartened. He predicted before
his departure great calamities, and promised to return in a future
year Ce Acatl, at which time his doctrines were to be fully accepted,
and his descendants were to possess the land. Montezuma is known to
have regarded the coming of Cortés and the Spaniards as a fulfillment
of this prediction, and in his speech to the new-comers states further
that after his first visit Quetzalcoatl had already once returned,[III-60]
and attempted unsuccessfully to induce his followers to go back with
him across the sea. The first part of the prophet's prediction actually
came to pass, as traditions tell us, for only a few days after his
departure occurred the earthquake which destroyed the pyramid at
Cholula, the American Babel, and ushered in the new or fourth age of
fire, according to Ixtlilxochitl. On the ruins of the pyramid was built
a temple to Quetzalcoatl, who was afterwards worshiped as a god.[III-61]
We shall find very similar traditions of another Quetzalcoatl who
appeared much later, during the Toltec period, and who also made
Cholula a centre of his reform. As we shall see, the evidence is
tolerably conclusive that the two are not the same, yet it is more than
likely that the traditions respecting them have been considerably mixed
both in native and European hands. After the time of Quetzalcoatl we
know nothing of Olmec or Xicalanca history down to the establishment of
the Toltec empire, when these nations were still in possession of the
country of Puebla and Tlascala. Boturini conjectures that, being driven
from Mexico, they migrated to the Antilles and to South America. There
is not, however, the slightest necessity to suppose that the Olmecs
ever left the country at all. Their institutions and language were the
same as that of the Toltec peoples that nominally succeeded them, and
although like the Toltecs they became extinct as a nation, yet there is
no reason to doubt that their descendants lived long in the land, and
took part in the new political combinations that make up Nahua history
down to the Conquest.[III-62]
[Sidenote: THE TOTONACS AND TEOTIHUACAN.]
[Sidenote: APOTHEOSIS OF NANAHUATZIN.]
The Totonacs are included by the authorities among the primitive,
or Pre-Toltec nations in Anáhuac. At the time of the Conquest they
occupied central Vera Cruz, their chief city being Zempoala; but they
claimed to have migrated from the valley of Mexico, and to have lived
long near the banks of Lake Tezcuco, where they built the pyramids
at Teotihuacan, a place already noticed as a religious centre in
this early period. Torquemada seems to be the original authority for
the Totonac traditions respecting their primitive history, having
obtained his information from an aged native. His brief account,
quoted in substance by all others who have mentioned the subject, is as
follows:--"Of their origin they say that they set out from the place
called Chicomoztoc, or Seven Caves, together with the Xalpanecs; and
that they were twenty divisions, or families, as many of one as of
the other; and although thus divided into families, they were all of
one language and of the same customs. They say they started from that
place, leaving the Chichimecs still shut up there; and they directed
their journey towards this part of Mexico, and having arrived at the
plains on the lake, they halted at the place where Teotihuacan now is;
and they affirm that they built these two temples which were dedicated
to the sun and moon. Here they remained for some time, but either not
contented with the place, or with a desire to pass to other places,
they went to Atenamitic, where Zacatlan now stands." Thence they
gradually moved eastward until at last they settled on the coast in
their present location. That the pyramids of Teotihuacan[III-63] were built
by the Nahuas--the Olmecs or one of their companion nations--and became
their religious centre and the burial-place of their kings and priests
long before the establishment of the empire of Tollan, there can be
but little doubt; nor is it improbable that the Totonacs were, as they
claim to be, a pre-Toltec tribe in Anáhuac; but that they were in this
early time a Nahua tribe, a nation contemporaneous with the Olmecs and
of the same institutions, that they were the builders of Teotihuacan,
is only proved by their own claim as recorded by Torquemada. This
evidence must probably be regarded as insufficient in view of the
fact that the Totonac language is wholly distinct from the Nahua.[III-64]
It is true that, as will be seen later, all the ancient tribes, that
adopted more or less the Nahua institutions, and joined in the struggle
against the rival Maya powers, did not speak the same language; but it
is also very probable that many nations in later times, when the Nahua
power as represented by the Aztecs had become so predominant, claimed
ancient Nahua affinities to which they had no right.[III-65] In addition
to what has already been said respecting Teotihuacan, only one event is
mentioned in its pre-Toltec history,--the apotheosis of Nanahuatzin, an
event which probably preceded rather than followed the erection of the
pyramids. The strange fable respecting this event, already related in
a preceding volume,[III-66] is, briefly, to the effect that the gods were
assembled at Teotihuacan for the purpose of inducing the sun to appear
and illumine their darkness. A great fire having been kindled, and the
announcement made that the honors of apotheosis would be given to him
who should give himself up as a living sacrifice, Nanahuatzin threw
himself into the fire, was instantly devoured and transformed into the
sun, which at once appeared in the east. Metztli followed the example
of Nanahuatzin, and took his place in the heavens as the moon, less
brilliant than his companion, since the heat of the fire had somewhat
abated before his sacrifice. The true historic signification of this
account we cannot hope to ascertain, yet it is of great interest, since
it seems to point to the introduction in these regions of sun-worship
and of human sacrifice; indeed, the _Codex Chimalpopoca_, according
to Brasseur, expressly states that "then began divine immolation at
Teotihuacan." The same authority gives this event also as the beginning
of a new chronologic period called Nahui Ollin Tonatiuh, 'the sun in
its four movements,' thus suggesting some connection between this
assemblage and that mentioned by Sahagun as having taken place in
the south, when the new calendar was invented. The remark in the same
document that "on that day the kings did tremble," may point to this
epoch as that of the great revolution--carried on chiefly in Chiapas,
but which may have extended to Anáhuac--by which the kings of Xibalba
were overthrown; especially since the narrative of the sacrifice
at Teotihuacan bears a striking resemblance to the apotheosis of
Hunhunahpu and his fellow-heroes at Xibalba.[III-67]
* * * * *
So far as the other so-called primitive nations of New Spain are
concerned, little can be said, except that they claim and have always
been credited with a very ancient residence in this land, dating
back far beyond the beginning of the historic period. The Otomís, one
division of whom are known as Mazahuas, differ entirely from the Nahua
nations in language, having possibly a slight linguistic affinity with
the Totonacs, and although far from being savages, they have always
been to a certain extent an outcast and oppressed race, the 'Jews of
Anáhuac,' as one writer terms them, down-trodden in succession by
Toltec, Chichimec, and Aztec. They probably occupied a very large
portion of Anáhuac and the surrounding mountains, when the Toltecs
proper established their power. Ixtlilxochitl, followed by Veytia,
represents the Otomís, though differing in language, as having been
one of the Acolhua tribes that made their appearance in Anáhuac many
centuries later, but the event referred to as their coming to the
country at that period, may probably be their coming down from the
mountains and adopting more or less the civilized life of the Acolhuas
at Tezcuco.[III-68]