The Maya Chronicles | Page 5

impelled him to
collect all those who spoke his language, and leaving the other tribes,
he returned to the neighborhood of Panuco and settled there
permanently.[23-2]
The annals of the Aztecs contain frequent allusions to the Huastecs.
The most important contest between the two nations took place in the
reign of Montezuma the First (1440-1464). The attack was made by the
Aztecs, for the alleged reason that the Huastecs had robbed and killed
Aztec merchants on their way to the great fairs in Guatemala. The

Huastecs are described as numerous, dwelling in walled towns,
possessing quantities of maize, beans, feathers and precious stones, and
painting their faces. They were signally defeated by the troops of
Montezuma, but not reduced to vassalage.[24-1]
At the time of the Conquest the province of the Huastecs was densely
peopled; "none more so under the sun," remarks the Augustinian friar
Nicolas de Witte, who visited it in 1543; but even then he found it
almost deserted and covered with ruins, for, a few years previous, the
Spaniards had acted towards its natives with customary treachery and
cruelty. They had invited all the chiefs to a conference, had enticed
them into a large wooden building, and then set fire to it and burned
them alive. When this merciless act became known the Huastecs
deserted their villages and scattered among the forests and
mountains.[24-2]
These traditions go to show that the belief among the Aztecs was that
the tribes of the Maya family came originally from the north or
northeast, and were at some remote period closely connected with their
own ancestors.
§ 4. Political Condition at the Time of the Conquest.
When the Spaniards first explored the coasts of Yucatan they found the
peninsula divided into a number of independent petty states. According
to an authority followed by Herrera, these were eighteen in number.
There is no complete list of their names, nor can we fix with certainty
their boundaries. The following list gives their approximate position.
On the west coast, beginning at the south--
1. Acalan, on the Bahia de Terminos. 2. Tixchel (or Telchac?) 3.
Champoton (Chakanputun, or Potonchan). 4. Kinpech (Campech or
Campeche). 5. Canul (Acanul or H' Canul). 6. Hocabaihumun. 7.
Cehpech, in which Merida was founded. 8. Zipatan, on the northwest
coast.
On the east coast, beginning at the north--

9. Choaca, near Cape Cotoche. 10. Ekab, opposite the Island of
Cozumel. 11. Conil, or of the Cupuls.[TN-3] 13. Bakhalal, or Bacalar.
14. Chetemal. 15. Taitza, the Peten district.
Central provinces--
16. H' Chel (or Ah Kin Chel) in which Itzamal was located. 17. Zotuta,
of the Cocoms. 18. Mani, of the Xius. 19. Cochuah (or Cochva, or
Cocolá), the principal town of which was Ichmul.
As No. 15, the Peten district, was not conquered by the Spaniards until
1697, it was doubtless not included in the list drawn up by Herrera's
authority, so that the above would correspond with his statement.
Each of these provinces was ruled by a hereditary chief, who was called
batab, or batabil uinic (uinic=man). He sometimes bore two names, the
first being that of his mother, the second of his father, as Can Ek, in
which Can was from the maternal, Ek from the paternal line. The
surname (kaba) descended through the male. It was called hach kaba,
the true name, or hool kaba, the head name. Much attention was paid to
preserving the genealogy, and the word for "of noble birth" was ah
kaba, "he who has a name."
Each village of a province was organized under a ruler, who was styled
halach uinic, the true or real man. Frequently he was a junior member
of the reigning family. He was assisted by a second in command,
termed ah kulel, as a lieutenant, and various subordinate officials,
whose duties will be explained in the notes to Nakuk Pech's narrative.
Personal tenure of land did not exist. The town lands were divided out
annually among the members of the community, as their wants required,
the consumption of each adult being calculated at twenty loads (of a
man) of maize each year, this being the staple food.[27-1]
§ 5. Grammatical Observations.
Compared with many American languages, the Maya is simple in
construction. It is analytic rather than synthetic; most of its roots are

monosyllables or dissyllables, and the order of their arrangement is
very similar to that in English. It has been observed that foreigners,
coming to Yucatan, ignorant of both Spanish and Maya, acquire a
conversational knowledge of the latter more readily than of the
former.[28-1]
An examination of the language explains this. Neither nouns nor
adjectives undergo any change for gender, number or case. Before
animate nouns the gender may be indicated by the prefixes ah and ix,
equivalent to the English he and she in such