| The original inhabitants
of the area around Cuernavaca were the Tlahuicas, a sub group
of the Nahuatl culture. They first settled the region in the
10th or 11th century and were related to the Aztecs who arrived
on the other side of the mountains in the valley of Mexico
at a later date. It was this early culture that built the
pyramids at Teopanzalco in downtown Cuernavaca.
The first known conquest of the Tlahuicas
was made by the second king of Tenochtitlan, Huitzilihuit
who ended up by marrying the daughter of the local king. From
this union was born Moctezuma Ilhuicamina, the great Moctezuma.
While Moctezuma was growing up the new king Itzcoatl, conquered
Cuauhnahuac (Cuernavaca). When Moctezuma Ilhuicamina became
Emperor he remembered his boyhood haunts and had beautiful
gardens and villas built on the Cuernavaca side of the mountains
at Oaxtepec where the natural springs made both a healthy
and warm retreat during the winter months.
The Aztec domination of the entire region
lasted until the advent of the Spaniard lead by Hernan Cortez
conquered and made allies of the Tlaxcalan tribes. These new
allies showed him the route to Tenochtitlan (Mexico City)
that led around the heavily defended direct route. It went
by the more easily passable southern route. Bernal Diaz del
Castillo, the historian who traveled as a soldier with Cortes'
army, describes the trail and the ultimate battle on the southern
side of the ring of mountains surrounding Cuernavaca. The
army moved through the valley taking Yautepec then Topoztlan
and finally arriving at a ravine used as a line of defense
by the inhabitants of Cuernavaca. The ravine was believed
to be uncrossable and so the line was lightly patrolled. The
Indian allies of Cortes discovered a spot along the ravine
where two huge trees grew out from either side of the ravine
and formed a rough natural bridge. The magnificent Diego Rivera
Mural in the Cortes Palace shows the Indians and some Spaniards
working their way across the intertwined branches. Three heavily
armored Spaniards fell to their deaths from here but the balance
of the force crossed unopposed and entered the city while
others repaired one of the felled bridges for the horses to
cross upon. The defending troops scattered at the sight of
the horses (supposedly the horse and man were considered to
be one being) and the city was burned and pillaged. When the
chiefs came down from the hills and prostrated themselves
before Cortes the carnage stopped.
After the conquest of Mexico City Cortes
returned to Cuernavaca to build his palace. In 1529 Cortes
was granted by the Spanish crown, as an award for his conquests,
a huge tract of land which included all of the present state
of Morelos, all the Indians then living on the land, the title
of Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca and power of life and death
over all the souls on his domains. Efforts were made early
to convert the Indians to Christianity and agriculture was
altered by new products and methods. The most lasting of these
was the cultivation of sugarcane. To economically compete
with Island grown sugarcane employing slave labor, the Spaniard
established the Hacienda system utilizing vast areas of land
and Indian labor maintained almost in complete servitude.
Some churchmen came to the defense of the Indians but the
Hacienda system thrived until 1917 and its evils permeated
the history of the region for almost 400 years. Cuernavaca
and the State of Morelos thrived under the Spanish yoke for
289 years. That is, the Spaniards thrived on the richness
of the hacienda produce which were sold abroad.
The natives survived and a great deal
of intermixing took place, which gave birth to a new race,
the Mexicans. Part Spanish and part Indian, they were called
Mestizos or mixed. The Mextizos grew in number and economic
importance but were excluded from all government posts as
were the Creoles, or Spaniards born in Mexico. All Appointments
were reserved for Spaniards born in Spain. This situation
developed slowly over the centuries but finally the native
born population arose to drive out the Spaniards and take
over their own lands. The War of Independence started in 1810
with the Cry of Dolores. A Creole priest named Father Miguel
Hidalgo rang his church bells in the town of Dolores and shouted,
" Long live the liberty of all the Americas." The
populace rose up and, after a protracted war the Spaniards
were forced to withdraw in 1821. From 1821 to 1864 relative
peace prevailed in the area with only a change of Hacienda
owners from Spaniards to Creoles or Mestizos.
With the French intervention of 1864-1867
Cuernavaca became the favorite watering place of the Imperial
court of Carlotta and Maximilian Von Hapsburg. They traveled
the cobbled trail carriage from the Capital in the mountains
above to this sun kissed plain where they could enjoy court
life and avoid the rigors of winter. The Empire was overthrown
in 1867 and Benito Juarez, the legitimate president was reinstalled
in office. Up to this time the area of the present State of
Morelos pertained at various times to the States of Guerrero,
Puebla and Mexico but in 1869 President Juarez published a
decree forming the sovereign State of Morelos, named after
the hero of the Was of Independence. It included Cuernavaca
as its capital and the districts of Yautepec, Jonacatepec,
and Tetecala.
Again a period of relative calm prevailed
but the hacienda system, with all its faults not only survived
but was strengthened by a ruthless enforcement of the completely
unequal land system whereby some 100 landowners owned all
the land and the Indians owned none at all. Their only hope
for earning any kind of a livelihood was to work for the hacienda
on the terms laid down by the owners. With time the workers
became virtual slaves not even permitted to leave the land
with out special permission. This situation was one of the
causes of the Revolution of 1910 against the dictatorial President,
Porfirio Diaz. Different parts of Mexico had their own regional
leaders and here in Morelos a native son led the battle with
the slogan LAND AND LIBERTY. His name of course was Emiliano
Zapata, whose name even today strikes awe in his native lands.
He fought against the hacienda system and after aiding three
different presidents defeated their predecessors he still
couldn't get any action on dividing the land. Finally he was
tricked into a trap and brutally murdered.
The fighting by all the various forces
between the Revolution of 1910 and the final peace in 1919
physically destroyed every village and town, hacienda and
ranch in the state. Because of the massive architecture introduced
by the Spaniards the walls of most of these buildings resisted
destruction but the roofs and all wooden beams were burnt
and not one single area escaped ruin. All of the historical
sites that one visits today have been perforce repaired in
part or in whole.
End
|
Another
interesting note to the story of Cuernavaca is the origin
of the name. I've heard that the Tlahuica name for the city
was Cuauhnahuac (coo-ahoo-NA-oo-ac) which means Place of the
Whispering Trees. The closest the Spaniard conquerors could
come to pronouncing this was cuerno-vaca, which, in Spanish,
is cow horn, a rather unfortunate approximation. I like the
first name better.