History of Honduras

Honduras was already occupied by many indigenous peoples when the Spanish arrived in the 16th century. The western-central part of Honduras was inhabited by the Lencas, the central north coast by the Tol, the area east and west of Trujillo by the Pech (or Paya), the Mayans and Sumo. These autonomous groups maintained commercial relationships with each other and with other populations as distant as Panama and Mexico.

Archaeologists have demonstrated that Honduras has a multi-ethnic prehistory. An important part of that prehistory was the Mayan presence around the city of Copán in western Honduras near the Guatemalan border. Copán was a major Maya city that began to flourish around 150 A.D. but reached its height in the Late Classic (700-850 A.D.). It has left behind many carved inscriptions and stelae. The ancient kingdom, named Xukpi, existed from the 5th century to the early 9th century, and had antecedents going back to at least the 2nd century.

The Mayan civilization began a marked decline in population in the 9th century, but there is evidence of people still living in and around the city until at least 1200. By the time the Spanish came to Honduras, the once great city-state of Copán was overrun by the jungle, and the surviving Ch’orti’ were isolated from their Choltian linguistic peers to the west. The non-Maya Lencas were then dominant in western Honduras.

Honduras was first sighted by Europeans when Christopher Columbus arrived at the Bay Islands on 30 July 1502 on his fourth voyage. On 14 August 1502 Columbus landed on the mainland near modern Trujillo. Columbus named the country Honduras ("Depths") for the deep waters off its coast.

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