The Poton Lenca Federation of 900 AD
Note: Based on list of villages in the Maya Lenca history. Some locations are guessed, such as Camaguayquin, which is coastal, and Silaiquin, which is referred to as the municipal seat of Las Flores, Chalatenango, and could refer to either Chalatenango or Suchitoto. Also, it is not known which Lenca villages in Honduras were part of this federation.
The Maya Lenca history says that this federation was started when noble refugees from Copan arrived after the collapse of Copan in 900 AD. It is possible that these were Chorti Maya, but it is more likely that Lenca nobility were living in Copan prior to its fall and this is who returned to establish a federation based out of Sesori.
A few things are striking when looking at this map. First, the Lenca avoided the central volcanic range where the most fertile soils are. Most likely they had a collective memory of the destruction following Ilopango eruption in 210 AD and later the eruption that buried Joyas de Ceren in about 600 AD.
Second, nearly all of these place names still exist. The only exceptions are Yusique, which was conquered by the Pipiles and became Chinameca, and three which became Spanishized: Queiquin (San Alejo), Saco (San Jose), and Sinsimontique (San Simon). Besides the 60 villages on the map, there are many more Poton place names of villages, mountains, rivers, and streams throughout central and eastern El Salvador.
So even with the Pipiles conquering most of western and parts of central El Salvador and the Spanish taking over the whole country, the Poton names remain. The early Spanish occupiers said that the east was a desolate land not good for much. But I think that the main reason for the predominance of Lenca place names is that the Lenca were never totally conquered. They maintained their identity, their names, and, to a lesser extent, their culture.
And they maintained their fighting spirit. How else do you explain the correlation between the next two maps? The first shows the areas under FMLN control in 1984 and the second the Lenca federation of 900 AD.
Note: Source of 1984 Conflict Map, "Promised Land, Peasant Rebellion in Chalatenango, El Salvador," Jenny Pearce.
This is not to suggest that the FMLN had a 'Lenca strategy', but it is hard to consider these two maps without realizing that the former Lenca villages have been the heart of modern rural organizing in El Salvador. And it's not just the mountainous areas of Chalatenango and Morazan, where this is true. Even the Lenca coastal areas of San Miguel and Usulutan had a lot of rural organizing and at times were under FMLN control during the conflict.
That is why I venture to say that the Poton Lenca people have never been truly conquered.
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