Early History of Honduras
The history of Honduras is comprised of the history of its people. The country was inhabited by indigenous tribes of great linguistic and cultural diversity. The most powerful and advanced of these were the Mayans, who also populated
Yucatán, Belize, and the northeast of Guatemala, and built
their sacred city and ceremonial metropolis in Copán, in the
western part of the country.
After the collapse of the Mayan civilization, the history of Honduras becomes a series of struggles for the people who slowly
settled in various parts of the Honduran territory.
[Visit MayanIndians.com for the History of Honduras 's Mayans.]
Their languages
reveal a relationship with the Toltecs and Aztecs of Mexico, the
Chibchas of Colombia, and even tribes from the southwestern United
States. The western-central part of Honduras was inhabited by the
Lencas, who spoke a language of unknown origin. Throughout the history of Honduras, these autonomous
groups had their conflicts, but maintained their commercial
relationships with each other, and withpopulations as distant
as Panama and Mexico.
Descendants of these peoples and of the Mayas were the aborigines,
who would later oppose the Spanish conquest and produce the legendary
figures of Tecún Uman, Lempira, Atlacatl,
Diriagúacutan, Nicarao and Urraca, leaders for autonomy among
the native populations of Central America.
The vast history of Honduras tells us of the Garifuna people of the north coast, who have overcome many obstacles; theirs is an interesting history.
[Visit Garifuna.com for the History of Honduras 's Garifuna people.]
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Columbus Discovers Honduras
On July 30, 1502, during his fourth and last trip through the
Americas, Christopher Columbus reached the Bay Islands and soon
afterwards the coast of the mainland. This was the first time he saw
Honduran soil. From the Island of Guanaja, which he is said to have
named, Columbus set sail toward the northern continental coast and in
Punta Caxinas, now Puerto Castilla, he ordered the celebration of the
first mass on the Honduran main land. In the Rio Tinto (Tinto River),
which he named Rio de la Posesion, he claimed the territory in the
name of his sovereigns, Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of
Castile.
The first expeditionary forces arrived in Honduras in 1523 under
the command of Gil Gonzáles de Avila, who hoped to rule the
new territory. In 1524 Cristóbal de Olid arrived heading a
well organized regiment sent by the conqueror of Mexico,
Hernán Cortés. On Honduran soil, Olid founded the
colony Triunfo de la Cruz and tried to establish an independent
government. When Cortés learned of this, he decided to
reestablish his own authority by sending a new expedition, headed by
Francisco de las Casas. Olid, who managed to capture his rivals, was
betrayed by his men and assassinated. Cortés had to travel to
Honduras to resolve the struggle for power in the new colony. He
established his government in the city of Trujillo and returned to
Mexico in 1526.
Those first years of the conquest were filled with many perils according to the history of Honduras. The colony was almost abandoned. Upon the arrival from Guatemala of the adelantado Don Pedro de Alvarado, the foundation of San Pedro de Puerto Caballos, now San Pedro Sula, was established. Alvarado also ordered the founding of the city of Gracias a Dios, where he began to exploit the gold mines. Later, with the arrival of the adelantado Don Francisco de Montejo, the conquest was consummated, the city of Santa Maria de Comayagua was founded, the great insurrection stirred up by Lempira was put down, and the city of Gracias a Dios was refounded where it is now located.
Continue the history of Honduras here.
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