Chapter V: Part 5

"New Granada" attained its independence in 1819; and in 1821 "Guatemala" declared itself free. That the subsequent history of the Central American republics has been largely a record of civil war, maladministration and financial dishonesty, is perhaps due in part to racial inferiority. In part, however, it may be explained by the absence of any tradition of good government; perhaps also by the brevity and artificiality of the evolution which converted a debased slave-population into the citizens of modern democratic states. The five divisions of "Guatemala" were temporarily incorporated in the Mexican empire during 1822, but regained their autonomy (as Guatemala, Honduras, Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica) on the declaration of a Mexican republic, and in July 1823 combined to form the Republic of the United States of Central America. The Liberal or Federalist party, which was supreme in Honduras, found itself opposed by the Conservatives, including the clergy and former Spanish officials, who were very influential in Guatemala. A bitter and protracted struggle ensued. In 1837-1839 a Conservative rising, under Rafael Carrera, president of Guatemala, resulted in the overthrow of the Liberals, under General Francisco Morazan of Honduras; and in 1842, after a vain attempt to restore the Federal republic, Morazan was captured and shot. A fresh union of the republics (except Costa Rica) was concluded in 1842, and dissolved in 1845. The year 1850 was signalized by the conclusion, on the 19th of April, of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty (q.v.) between Great Britain and the United States, which was designed to facilitate the construction of an interoceanic canal. The history of this project is given in detail under PANAMA CANAL. One important result of the treaty was the abandonment, in 1860, of the British protectorate over the Mosquito Coast. This event had been preceded by a decade of political disturbances. In 1850 Honduras, Salvador and Nicaragua had combined to restore federal unity; but their allied armies were defeated by the Guatemalans under Carrera. In 1856 the American adventurer, William Walker, endeavoured to usurp the government of Nicaragua; in 1860 he invaded Honduras and was captured and shot. His object was to assist the slave-holders of the United States by adding new slave-states to the Union. A further attempt to restore federal unity failed in 1885, and its promoter, Justo Rufino Barrios, president of Guatemala, lost his life. In 1895 the Greater Republic of Central America was formed by the union of Nicaragua, Salvador and Honduras; and a constitution was framed providing for the admission of Guatemala and Costa Rica; in December 1898 it was dissolved, as unsatisfactory to Salvador. On the 4th of November 1903 Panama, which had since 1863 formed part of Colombia, declared itself an autonomous republic. Its independence was immediately recognized by the United States, and shortly afterwards by the European powers. The United States also forbade the landing of any Colombian force on the territories of Panama, and thus guaranteed the security of the new state.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--For a general description of Central America, and
especially of its physical features, the following monographs by K.
Sapper are of prime importance:--_In den Vulcangebieten Mittelamerikas
und Westindiens_ (Stuttgart, 1905); _Mittelamerikanische Reisen und
Studien aus den Jahren 1888 bis 1900_ (Brunswick, 1902), and _Das
nordliche Mittelamerika nebst einem Ausflug nach dem Hochland von
Anahuac_ (Brunswick, 1897); these all contain many useful
illustrations and maps. See also _Central America and the West
Indies_, by A.H. Keane, edited by Sir C. Markham (London, 1901, 2
vols., with maps and illustrations); _Central and South America_, by
H.W. Bates (London, 1882); _The Spanish American Republics_, by T.
Child (London, 1892); and _Expedition nach Zentral und Sudamerika_, by
P. Preuss (Berlin, 1901). For geology, see "The Geological History of
the Isthmus of Panama and Portions of Costa Rica," by R.T. Hill, in
_Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard_, vol. xxviii., No. 5 (1898); and the
following by K. Sapper:--"Grundzüge der physikalischen Geographic von
Guatemala," in _Petermann's Mitt._ Ergänzungsheft, No. 113 (1894),
"Über Gebirgsbau und Boden des nördlichen Mittelamerika," ibid., No.
127 (1899), and "Über Gebirgsbau und Boden des südlichen
Mittelamerika," _ibid_., No. 151 (1905). _The States of Central
America_, by E.G. Squier (New York, 1858), is still valuable, as are
others of the numerous essays, pamphlets, &c., on Central American
affairs left by this author; see the bibliography of his writings
published in New York in 1876. The _Bulletins of the Bureau of
American Republics_ (Washington, from 1893) give ample information on
commerce and industry. See also _History of Central America_, by H.
Bancroft (San Francisco, 1881-1887. 3 vols.).

ARCHAEOLOGY OF CENTRAL AMERICA

Discoveries and investigations carried on during the 19th century have thrown much light on the splendid past of Central America. The still extant ruins of great buildings, unlike anything which is known in the old world, testify to the high culture attained in pre-Columbian days by several native peoples differing greatly from one another in speech and racial affinities. As a science the archaeology of Central America has scarcely yet emerged from its infancy. Entire branches are still wholly uninvestigated. Amongst the numerous problems which await solution must still be reckoned the decipherment of the inscriptions, which hitherto has not progressed beyond the discovery of calendar systems and the relative datings involved in such systems.

For a complete survey of this ancient civilization, so far as it has been investigated, it is necessary to include with Central America, properly so called, a considerable portion of the Mexican territories south and east of the isthmus of Tehuantepec. The peoples inhabiting Yucatan, Campeche, Guatemala, Chiapas and Oaxaca present at the first view striking ethnical differences. On a linguistic basis, however, they may be united into several large groups. Thus, Yucatan and the greater part of Guatamala are inhabited by the Mayas, with whom may be included the still savage Lacantun or Lacandones. Related to these linguistically are the Tzendals in Chiapas and the Quiches and Cackchiquels in Guatemala, as well as the less important tribes of the Mam, Pokoman, Pokonchi, Tzotzil, Tzutuhil and Ixil. Between these there are patches of country in which dialects of the Mexican are spoken. In Oaxaca there is an extraordinary mixture of languages, some of which, like that of the Huave of Tehuantepec, are of quite unknown affinities; the bulk of the population, however, is composed of Mixtecs and Zapotecs with which the Mixe and Zoque on the east are connected. Mexican dialects also occur in isolated parts of Oaxaca.

_Mayan Culture._--The civilization of the Mayas may well have been reared upon one more ancient, but the life of that culture of which the ruins are now visible certainly lasted no more than 500 years. The date of its extinction is unknown, but in certain places, notably Mayapan and Chichenitza, the highest development seems to be synchronous with the appearance of foreign, viz. Mexican or Nahua elements (see below). This quite distinctive local character suggests that the cities in question played a certain preponderating role, a hypothesis with which the scanty documentary evidence is in agreement. On the other hand the Mayan culture evinces an evident tendency to assimilate heterogeneous elements, obliterating racial distinctions and imposing its own dominant character over a wide area. Oaxaca, the country of the Mixtecs and Zapotecs, became, as was natural from its geographical position midway between Yucatan and Mexico, the meeting-ground where two archaeological traditions which are sharply contrasted in their original homes united.

Architecture

Central American architecture is characterized by a fine feeling for construction, and the execution is at once bold and aesthetically effective. Amongst the various ruins, some of which represent the remains of entire cities, while others are no more than groups of buildings or single buildings, certain types persistently recur. The commonest of such types are pyramids and galleries. The pyramids are occasionally built of brick, but most usually of hewn stone with a covering of finely-carved slabs. Staircases lead up to the top from one or more sides. Some pyramids are built in steps. Usually the platform on the top of a pyramid is occupied by buildings, the typical distribution of which is into two parts, viz. vestibule and sanctuary. In connexion with the pyramid there are various subsidiary structures, such as altars, pillars, and sacrificial stones, to meet the requirements of ritual and worship, besides habitations for officials and "tennis-courts" for the famous ball-game like that played by the Mexicans. The tennis-courts always run north and south, and all the buildings, almost without exception, have a definite orientation to particular points of the compass. Frequently the pyramids constitute one of the four sides of a quadrangular enclosure, within which are contained other pyramids, altars or other buildings of various dimensions.

The normal type of gallery is an oblong building, of which the front facing inwards to the enclosure is pierced by doors. These divide it into a series of rooms, behind which again there may be a second series. Occasionally the rooms are distributed round a central apartment, but this is ordinarily done only when a second storey has to be placed above them. The gallery-buildings may rise to as much as three storeys, the height, size and shape of the rooms being determined by the exigencies of vaulting. The principle of the true arch is unknown, so that the vaults are often of the corbelled kind, the slabs of the side-walls being made to overlap in succession until there remains only so narrow a space as may be spanned by a single flat stone. At Mitla, where the material used in the construction of the buildings was timber instead of stone, the larger rooms were furnished with stone pillars on which the beams could rest. The same principle recurs in certain ruins at Chichenitza. The tops and sides of the doors are often decorated with carved reliefs and hieroglyphs, and the entrances are sometimes supported by plain or carved columns and pilasters, of which style the serpent columns of Chichenitza afford the most striking example. On its external front one of these galleries may have a cornice and half-pillars. Above this is a plain surface of wall, then a rich frieze which generally exhibits the most elaborate ornamentation in the whole building. The subjects are geometrical designs in mosaic, serpents' heads and human masks. The corners of the wall terminate in three-quarter pillars, above which the angles of the frieze frequently show grotesque heads with noses exaggerated into trunks. The roof of the gallery is flat and occasionally gabled.

_Principal Sites._--Such are the general characteristics of Central American buildings, but it must be understood that almost every site exhibits peculiarities of its own, and the number of the ruined settlements even as at present known is very large. The most considerable are enumerated below.

_Yucatan_.--Of the very numerous ruins which are distributed over Yucatan and the islands of the east coast the majority still await exploration. A few words of special notice may be devoted to one or two sites in the centre of the peninsula which have already become famous. At Uxmal the buildings consist of five considerable groups, viz.--the Casa del Adivino, which is a step-pyramid 240 ft. long by 160 ft. wide and 80 ft. high, crowned by a temple 75 ft. long by 12 ft. wide; the Casa de Monjas, a striking erection of four oblong buildings on an extensive terrace; the Casa de Tortugas, Casa del Gobernador, and Casa de Palomas, the last of which is a group of six galleries surrounding a court. At Izamal there is a very imposing group of ruins, as yet quite insufficiently explored. At Chichenitza, a city of first-rate importance, situated 22 m. west of Valladolid, the ruins consist of eight principal groups, the chief of which are as follows. The Casa de Monjas, a three-storeyed building, attributable to several distinct periods; the Caracol, a round structure with dome in imitation of a snail-shell, showing evident traces of Mexican influence; El Castillo, a large temple standing on a base 200 ft. long and 75 ft. high, approached by staircases on all four sides, and furnished with serpent-pillars of a kind unknown anywhere else except at Uxmal and Tula near Mexico; an unnamed temple-pyramid, which is remarkable for a group of caryatid figures; a tennis-court; and finally the Tiger Temple, which contains marvellous coloured reliefs representing figures of warriors and place-hieroglyphs, all executed in a distinctively Mexican style. Yet another evidence of Mexican influence at Chichenitza is to be noted in five figures of the so-called Chac-mol type, that is to say, horizontal figures in which the arms are extended to the navel which is indicated by a cup-like depression. This Chac-mol type is characteristic of such sites as Tlascala and Cempoallan.

Other important sites in Yucatan are Chacmaltun, with fine wall-paintings; Tantah, with remarkable pillared facades; the ruins of Labna, Chunhuhub, and the caves of Loltun; and Xlabpak de Santa Rosa, where there is a three-storeyed temple palace. Two sculptured reliefs are of great interest; they represent a person holding a staff on which is a figure of the god Ah-bolon-tzacab.

_Guatemala_.--The Guatemalan ruins are distributed over a wide area. The most numerous and extensive are on the Usumacinta river. The most important sites in that district are Piedras Negras, and Yaxchilan or Menche Tinamit, where there are temples covered with sculptured reliefs and hieroglyphic inscriptions, and stelae and slabs carved with human figures placed in niches. In the Peten district, Tikal is famous for its splendid sculptures representing Kukulkan and other divinities. Near the modern city of Guatemala are the vast ruins of Guatemala-Mixco. Chacujál, which Cortes visited on his expedition of 1524-1525 is very possibly to be identified with the modern Pueblo Viejo on the river Tinaja. Chaculá and Quen-Santo between the headwaters of the Rio de Chiapas and the Rio Lacantun are two sites of a strongly marked local character. Series of three pyramids are peculiar to these two settlements, as also are pyramids with human figures on their platforms. Stelae discovered at Quen Santo have a calendar character, which proves that Mayan science had penetrated into what was probably the home of an old Lacantun culture.

Santa Lucia Cozumalhuapa, on the Pacific slope of the Cordilleras, is a very peculiar site. The ruins are those of a settlement which had already been deserted before Alvarado's expedition of 1522. The sculptures of gods, goddesses and other figures, executed on enormous blocks of stone, show a distinctively Mexican character, with which, however, various Mayan features are blended. They may perhaps be attributed to some offshoot of the Nahua stock, probably the Pipil Indians, which developed on lines of its own in this remote corner.

Near the frontier of Honduras are the remarkable ruins of Quirigua, which rival Copan in importance and have suffered less from the ravages of the climate. The ruins of temples and palaces contain gigantic stone stelae of very fine workmanship, on which are sculptured human and animal figures representing hieroglyphs of the calendar dates.

_Honduras_.--Copan, one of the most important seats of Mayan civilization, lies close to the borders of Guatemala. The ruins comprise great buildings, temples, pyramids, &c. and contain sculptures of the highest interest. Especially noteworthy are altars in the form of a turtle and stelae covered with hieroglyphs. The hieroglyphs are of the kind usually found in such ruins, the meaning of which is so far clear that it is known that the commencement of an inscription records certain dates in the complicated calendar system of the Mayas. A collation of these dates demonstrates that the most ancient on record are separated from the most recent by an interval of only a few centuries. From this it may be concluded that the Mayan civilization, whether or not it was preceded by anything older, flourished for only a comparatively short period, the beginning of which cannot be placed many centuries before A.D. 1000.

According to Squier (_Honduras_, London, 1870, p. 75) the other principal ruins of Honduras are to be found in plains of the department of Comayagua, near Yarumela, near Lajamini, and in the ruined town of Cururu. They are "large, pyramidal, terraced structures, often faced with stones, conical mounds of earth and walls of stone." Further ruins, such as those of Calamulla, Jamalteca, Maniana, Guasistagua, Chapuluca and Chapulistagua, are found in the department of Comayagua in the side valleys and adjoining tablelands. The most interesting and most extensive are the ruins of Tenampua (Pueblo Viejo), about 20 m. south-east of Comayagua. Here ramparts, defence works, terraced stone mounds and numerous large pyramids are to be found. Squier found further ruins in the west of Honduras, which have also been described in part by Stephens, and were probably first mentioned in 1576 by Diego Garcia de Palacio (_Carta dirigida al Rei de España_, published by Squier, New York, 1860).

At Rio Ulloa are remains which testify to the existence of a large population in past days. Possibly they may be identified with a site of the name of Naco mentioned by Las Casas and by Bernal Diaz (_Histoire véridique de la conquête de la Nouvelle Espagne_, translated by D. Fourdanet, 2nd ed., Paris, 1877, ch. 178, p. 690).

_Chiapas_ (Mexico).--The principal site is Palenque, the ruins of which were amongst the earliest of all to attract attention. The style of architecture, with the gigantic vaults and singular comb-shaped gables, distinguishes Palenque from Copan and Quirigua, which it surpasses also in the unequalled magnificence of its sculptures. Five out of the remarkably uniform series of buildings may be specially mentioned. They are the Great Palace, a complex structure of galleries and courts commanded by a three-storeyed tower, the Temples of the Cross, which are galleries constructed on terraces and containing the well-known reliefs, the Temple of Inscriptions, the Sun Temple and the Temple of the Relief. The sculptured figures of Palenque are familiar from many reproductions. The most characteristic groups represent a deity standing between worshippers who hold a staff surmounted by the water-god Ah-bolon-tzacab, the "god of the nine medicines." The inscriptions on the famous Cross and in the Sun Temple contain calendar-datings which are remarkable as showing a particular combination of numbers and hieroglyphs, which does not occur elsewhere.

A whole series of sites is included within the geographical limits of Chiapas, which from the archaeologist's standpoint must be considered as belonging properly to Guatemala. The country has been quite insufficiently explored.

_Oaxaca_ (Mexico).--The bulk of the population of the province of Oaxaca is composed of a distinct racial group, best represented by the Zapotecs, who have been for an unknown length of time the intermediaries between the Nahua civilization of Mexico on the west and the Mayan on the east. The influence of the two separate currents may be detected in the bastard calendar system no less than in the still undeciphered inscriptions. The principal ruins are those of Mitla, the burial city of the priests and kings of the ancient Zapotecs, which bear a quite distinct character, though presenting certain analogies with the Mexican. One of the chief structures is a step-pyramid, rising in three steps to a height of 130 ft., another is a pyramid of brick. Besides these there are courts, surrounded by palaces which represented necropolises, the dwellings of the priests, of the chief priest, and of the king (with an audience-hall). The wall paintings of the "palaces" are especially admirable, and it is to be noted that the deities represented in them are those of the Mexican pantheon.

Monte Alban is interesting for the definitely Zapotec character of its sculptures. Quiengola near Tehuantepec is a site with extensive ruins including a fine tennis court.

_British Honduras_.--The antiquities of British Honduras have been but little investigated. In the scanty literature relating to them a few accounts of ruined places are to be found. In style these buildings closely resemble those of the neighbouring Yucatan. The ruins in the colony New Boston, mentioned by Froebel (_Central America_, p. 167), are of this kind. F. de P. Castells (see _American Antiquarian_, Chicago, 1904, vol. xxvi. pp. 32-37) describes the ruins, in the north of the colony, of "Ixim chech," supposed to be the Indian form of the English name "Indian Church." They are on the road to the Lake of Yaxha (green water), where further ruins are to be found. Thomas Gann gives detailed accounts of numerous mounds also in the northern part of British Honduras (see _19th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology_, Washington, 1900, part i. pp. 661-692, with plates). The most interesting ruins are those which have been discovered in Santa Rita, at the mouth of the New River, near the town of Corosal. Here wonderful wall paintings in stucco came to light, which unfortunately Gann could only save in part. The remainder were destroyed by Indians. It should be remarked that a number of the mounds in Santa Rita were erected over ruins of buildings which must therefore be of older date than the mounds.

_Salvador_.--Pedro de Alvarado in his expedition of 1524 calls this whole district _Cuscatan_ (Mex. _Cozcatlan_), that is, "Land of precious stones, of treasures, of abundance." A further description of the land is given by Palacio (l.c.) in 1576. Although there are numerous relics of Mayan civilization buried in the earth; few ruins are to be seen on the surface. Karl Sapper has described three large ruins: Cuzcatlan near the capital, Tehuacan near S. Vicente, and Zacualpa on the Lake of Güija in the extreme north-west of the country. The ruins show a distinct affinity in style to those of the Mayan buildings in Guatemala, but they are less fine and artistically perfect. Probably the central and western districts of San Salvador were originally peopled by the same race of Mayas, and these tracts of country were later settled by the Mexican-speaking Pipiles.

A characteristic feature of the extensive ruins of Zacualpa is that the pyramids and ramparts have perpendicular steps which are higher than they are broad, and this peculiarity may be attributed to the influence of the Maya tribes, who are related to the Mams of Guatemala.

_Decipherment of the Mayan Hieroglyphs._--The key to the decipherment, so far as this has progressed at present, was furnished by the _Historia de las Cosas de Yucatan_, a work written by Diego de Landa, the first bishop of the country. This professed to give, with much other more or less doubtful information, the full account of a calendar system analogous to that of the Mexicans, which was said to have been used by the Mayas (see MEXICO). The signs for each of the 20 days and for the 18 weeks of 20 days are figured by Landa. The first step was to compare these with the hieroglyphic characters contained in the few Mayan picture manuscripts (Codex Troano, Cortesianus, Peresianus, Dresden Codex) which have survived the destructive fanaticism of the Spanish missionaries. Förstemann's acute analysis detected that the bars and dots which occur along the margin and in the body of the pictorial scenes represented numerals, dots standing for each integer up to five, while for five a bar was used. Next, it was found that the order in which these numeral-signs are placed is regular, and that there are never more than five in a group. It was established that the first sign in such a group is that for the numeral 1 (_Kin_), the next that for 20 (_Uinal_), the third for 18×20 (_Tun_), the fourth for 18×20×20 (_Katun_), and the fifth for 18×20×20×20, that is to say, a cycle.

Had the available material for study been confined to the manuscripts, little more progress would have been made beyond establishing subsidiary details in the actual calendar. But when a similar analysis was applied to the numerous monuments discovered and figured by Maudslay and others, some important results of a general bearing were obtained. It was found that many of the hieroglyphs of various forms upon the stones were also of numeral value, and, what was of great importance, that they all referred back to a single starting-point. This starting-point or zero is no doubt the mythological date at which, according to Mayan cosmology, the world was created. It is placed at nine or ten cycles before the time when Copan and Quirigua were erected and the picture manuscripts made. And it is by reference to it in the inscriptions that such students as Seler, Goodman and others have been enabled, as already stated, to obtain a record of the relative chronology of the most famous monuments, to confine the period of their erection within the space of a few centuries, and approximately to fix even their absolute antiquity. Though much yet remains to be done, these are substantial results which have already been won from the study of the hieroglyphs.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The _Antiquités mexicaines_ of Dupaix (Paris, 1834),
the _Voyage pittoresque et archéologique dans la province d'Yucatan_
of F. de Waldeck (Paris, 1838), and the _Monuments anciens du Mexique_
of Brasseur de Bourbourg and Waldeck (Paris, 1866) are quite out of
date and superseded. Stephen's _Incidents of Travel in Central
America, Chiapas and Yucatan_ (New York, 1841 and 1867), and B.M.
Norman's _Rambles in Yucatan_ (New York, 1843), are still of value,
the first-mentioned especially for the drawings by Catherwood. Among
the earlier writers may also be mentioned Charnay, _Les Anciennes
Villes du Nouveau Monde_ (Paris, 1885) and _Cités et ruines
américaines_ (Paris, 1863), the latter written in collaboration with
Viollet-le-Duc. Those, however, who are not primarily bibliophiles
will be content to study the following:--Maudslay (in Godman and
Salvin's _Biologia Centrali-Americana_, sect. _Archaeology_, London,
1889, &c.), a pioneer work containing the admirably presented results
of scientific exploration. Maler, in _Memoirs of the Peabody Museum_,
vol. ii. 1, 2 (Cambridge, U.S.A., 1901 and 1903); Holmes,
_Archaeological Studies among the Ancient Mexicans_ (Field Columbian
Museum, Chicago, 1895); E. Seler, _Die alten Ansiedelungen von
Chacula_ (Berlin, 1901), _Wandmalereien von Mitla_ (Berlin, 1895),
_Ges. Abhandlungen_, vol. i. (Berlin, 1902) and vol. ii. (1904),
_Fuhrer von Mitla_ (Berlin, 1906). E. Förstemann has contributed many
valuable essays to _Globus_ and the _Zeitschrift fur Ethnologie_
(Berlin); especially important are his commentaries to the _Dresden
Codex_ (Dresden, 1901), to the _Codex Tro-Cortesianus Madrilensis_
(Danzig, 1902), and to the _Codex Peresianus_ (Danzig, 1903). See also
"The Archaic Maya Inscriptions," by F.T. Goodman (in _Biologia
Centrali-Americana_, section _Archaeology_, viii., 1897), and _Report
of an Archaeological Tour in Mexico in 1881_, by A.F. Bandelier
(Boston, 1884). Valuable bibliographies have been made by Bandelier
(_Notes on the Bibliography of Yucatan and Central America_,
Worcester, U.S.A., 1881) and by K. Häbler ("Die Maya Literatur und der
Maya Apparat zu Dresden," in the _Zentralblatt fur Bibliothekwesen_,
xii., 1895). The Mayan picture MSS. have been published in facsimile
as follows:--the _Dresden Codex_ by Förstemann (Leipzig, 1880, and
Dresden, 1892), and the _Codex Tro_ by Brasseur de
Bourbourg--_Manuscrit Troano, étude sur le système graphique et la
langue des Mayas_ (Paris, 1869-1870), the _Codex Cortesianus_ by Léon
de Rosny (Paris, 1883) and by F. de Dios de la Rada y Delgado and F.L.
de Ayala y del Hierro (Madrid, 1893), the _Codex Peresianus_ by Duruy
and Brasseur de Bourbourg (Paris, 1864) and by L. de Rosny (Paris,
1887). The following relate especially to the ruins in Salvador:--_La
Universidad_, by D. Gonzalez, vol. ii. ser. 3, No. 6, p. 283 (San
Salvador, 1892-1893); _Le Salvador pré-Colombien, études
archéologiques_, by F. de Montcasus de Ballore (Paris, 1891), 25
plates; Karl Sapper in _Arch. fur Ethnologie_, 9, p. 3 ff. (1896).
(W. L.*)

CENTRAL FALLS, a city of Providence county, Rhode Island, U.S.A., on the Blackstone river, about 5 m. N. of Providence. Pop. (1900) 18,167; (1905, state census) 19,446, of whom 8792 were foreign-born, 4164 being French-Canadian, 1587 being English, and 1292 being Irish; (1910) 22,754. It is served by the New York, New Haven & Hartford railway. The Blackstone furnishes good water-power, and the chief industry of the city is the manufacture of cotton goods; other important industries are the refining of copper and the manufacture of woollens, silks and hair-cloth. The total value of the factory product in 1905 was $5,090,984, being 12.9% more than in 1900. A settlement was established here about 1763 and was first a part of Smithfield, and then, after 1871, of Lincoln. About 1780 a chocolate mill was erected, and from then until 1827 the settlement was known as Chocolateville. It was incorporated as the Central Falls Fire District of Smithfield in 1847, and in 1895 was chartered as a city.

CENTRALIA, a city of Marion county, Illinois, U.S.A., in the S. part of the state, about 62 m. E. of St Louis. Pop. (1890) 4763; (1900) 6721 (571 foreign-born); (1910) 9680. The city is served by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, the Illinois Central, the Illinois Southern, and the Southern railways; the first two have repair shops here. Centralia is situated in the central part of southern Illinois, popularly known as "Egypt." Among its manufactures are window glass, envelopes, cigars, concrete blocks and flour. In and near the city coal is mined, and apples, strawberries and other fruits are raised, and the city is a shipping point for coal and fruit. Centralia was first settled in 1853, and was first chartered as a city in 1859.

CENTRAL INDIA, a collection of native states in India forming a separate agency, which must not be confounded with the Central Provinces. The Central India agency was formed in 1854, when Sir R. Hamilton was appointed agent to the governor-general. It lies between 21° 24' and 26° 52' N. and between 74° 0' and 83° 0' E., and may be said to consist of two large detached tracts of country which, with Jhansi as a pivot, spread outwards east and west into the peninsula, reaching northward to within some 30 m. of Agra, and southward to the valley of the Nerbudda and the Vindhya and Satpura ranges. The total area is 78,772 sq. m. It is bounded on the N. and N.E. by the United Provinces, on the W. and S.W. by Rajputana, some native states of the Bombay presidency, and Khandesh. The Central Provinces and the Bengal district of Chota Nagpur enclose it on the S. and E., while the Jhansi district of the United Provinces separates the two tracts.

Central India may be divided into three great natural divisions: the highlands of the Malwa plateau, with a mean elevation of some 1500 ft. above sea-level; the low-lying country some 600 ft. above sea-level, comprising the greater part of the eastern section of the agency; and the hilly tracts, which lie mostly to the south. The Malwa plateau consists of great undulating plains, separated by flat-topped hills, whose sides are boldly terraced, with here and there a scarp rising above the general level; it is covered with long grass, stunted trees and scrub, which owing to the presence of deciduous plants is of a uniform straw colour, except in the rains. The foundation of this plateau is a bed of sandstone and shales belonging to the Vindhyan series. This bed, which stretches east and west from Sasseram to Neemuch, and north and south from Agra to Hoshangabad, comprises the whole of the agency except the northern part of Bundelkhand. On the plateau itself the sandstone is generally overlaid by the Deccan trap, a blackish-coloured basaltic rock of volcanic origin, the high level tableland having been formed by a succession of lava flows, the valleys of Central India being merely "denudation hollows" carved out by the action of rain and rivers. It is apparently the northern limit of what was once a vast basaltic plain stretching from Goona to Belgaum, "one of the most gigantic outpourings of volcanic matter in the world." The sandstone bed on which it rests is visible at a point just north of Goona, and in a small area round Bhilsa and Bhopal, as it is in those places freed from the layer of trap. The low-lying land includes roughly that part of the agency which lies to the east of the plateau and comprises the greater part of the political divisions of Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand and the country round Gwalior. The formation save in north Bundelkhand is sandstone of the Vindhyan series, free as a rule from "trap." In the north of Bundelkhand the prevailing rock is gneiss and quartz. The quartz takes the shape of long serrated ridges, which are in many places a characteristic feature of the landscape. Trap appears here and there in intrusive dykes. The hilly tracts lie chiefly to the south of the agency, where the Vindhya, Satpura and Kaimur ranges are met with. The country is rough forest and jungle land little used for cultivation. The greater part of Central India is covered with the well-known "black cotton soil," produced by the disintegration of the trap rock. It is a very rich loamy earth, possessing great fertility and an unusual power of retaining moisture, which makes artificial irrigation little needed. Opium and millet are the principal crops grown upon it. The ordinary "red soil" covers a large part of northern Bundelkhand, and as it requires much irrigation, tanks are a special feature in this country. Ethnologically as well as climatically the differences between the plateau and the eastern part of the agency are distinct and the languages markedly so. The plateau is inhabited by pure-blooded Rajput races, whose ancestry can be traced back for centuries, with all their numerous offshoots. The inhabitants of the low-lying country are also Rajputs, but their descent is mixed and as a rule the families of the plateau will have no marriage connexion with them. The races of the hilly tracts are semi-civilized tribes, who often flee at the mere sight of a white man, and have as yet been but little affected by the Hindu religion of their Rajput rulers. Of the climate of the plateau, Abul Fazl, the author of the _Ain-i-Akbari_, says: "The climate is so temperate that in the winter there is no occasion for warm clothing, nor is it necessary in summer to cool the water with saltpetre. But in the four rainy months the night here is cold enough to render a quilt necessary." The rains of the south-east monsoon reach Central India as a rule about the 12th of July, and last until the end of September.

_Administrative Divisions._--The Central India agency is divided for administrative purposes into eight units, two classed as residencies and six as agencies. These are the residencies of Gwalior and Indore, and the agencies of Baghelkhand, Bhopal, Bhopawar, Bundelkhand, Indore and Malwa. But these divisions are purely an artificial grouping for the purposes of the British government, the original native divisions consisting of 16 states and 98 minor states and estates. The 15 large states are Gwalior, Indore, Rewa, Bhopal, Dhar, Barwani, Datia, Orchha, Charkhari, Chhattarpur, Panna, Dewas (senior branch), Dewas (junior branch), Jaora and Ratlam. At the close of the Pindari War in 1818 the whole country that is now under the Central India agency was in great confusion and disorder, having suffered heavily from the extortions of the Mahratta armies and from predatory bands. It had been the policy of the great Mahratta chiefs, Holkar and Sindhia, to trample down into complete subjection all the petty Rajput princes, whose lands they seized and from whom they levied heavy contributions of money. Many of these minor chiefs had been expelled from their possessions, had taken refuge in the hills and forest, and retaliated upon the Mahratta usurpers by wasting the lands which they had lost, until the Mahrattas compounded for peace by payment of blackmail. In this state of affairs all parties agreed to accept the interposition of the British government for the restoration of order, and under Lord Hastings the work of pacification was effected. The policy pursued was to declare the permanency of the rights existing at the time of the British interposition, conditionally upon the maintenance of order; to adjust and guarantee the relations of subordinate and tributary chiefs to their superiors so as to prevent all further disputes or encroachments; and to settle the claims of the ousted landholders, who had resorted to pillage or blackmail, by fixing grants of land to be made to them, or settling the money allowances to be paid to them. The general result was to place all the privileges, rights and possessions of these inferior chiefs under the guarantee or protection of the British government, to whom all disputes between the superior and inferior states must be referred, and whose decision is final upon all questions of succession to hereditary rights or rulership. The states have no general ethnological affinity, such as exists in Rajputana. Their territories are in many cases neither compact nor continuous, consisting of a number of villages here and there, with a nucleus of more or less importance round the chief town. Their relations to the government of India and to each other present many variations. Ten of them are under direct treaty with the government of India; others are held under _sanads_ and deeds of fealty and obedience; while a third class, known as the mediatized states, are held under agreements mediated by the British government between them and their superior chiefs.

_Population._--The total population of the Central India agency in 1901 was 8,628,781, showing a decrease during the decade of 16.4%. Considerable losses were caused by the famines of 1897-1898 and 1899-1900, which were severely felt, especially in Bhopal and Malwa. The greater part of the population of Central India is of the Hindu religion, but a few Mahommedan groups still exist, either traces of the days when the Mogul emperors extended their sway from the Punjab to the Deccan, or else the descendants of those northern adventurers who hired out their services to the great Mahratta generals. Of the first Bhopal is the only example, while Jaora is the only notable instance of the other. Roughly there are four great sections of the population: the Mahratta section, who belong to the ruling circles; the Rajputs, who are also hereditary noblemen; the trading classes, consisting chiefly of Marwaris and Gujaratis; and lastly, the jungle tribes of Dravidian stock. The Mahrattas are foreigners, and, though rulers of the greater part of Central India, have no true connexion with the soil and are little met with outside cities, the vicinity of courts, and administrative centres. The Rajputs with all their endless ramifications form a large portion of the population. Originally invaders, they have so long held a stake in the soil that they have become almost part of the indigenous population. The Marwaris hold practically all the trade of Central India, with the exception of the Bora class of Mahommedans. They are either Vaishnavite Hindus or else Jains. Their advent into Central India dates, except in the case of one or two families, from the time of the Mahratta invasion only. The Jain portion of this community is very wealthy. The last section, that of the jungle tribes, is mostly of Dravidian or mixed Aryo-Dravidian origin, these tribes being the modern representatives of the former rulers and inhabitants of this country.

The British agent to the governor-general resides at Indore, and there are British cantonments at Mhow, Neemuch and Nowgong. The whole country is fairly provided with railways, largely at the expense of Sindhia.

CENTRAL PROVINCES AND BERAR, a province of British India, which was formed in October 1903 by the amalgamation of the Central Provinces and the Hyderabad Assigned Districts. The total area of the provinces is 113,281 sq. m., and the population on that area in 1901 was 10,847,325. As is shown by its name the province is situated in the centre of the Indian peninsula, comprising a large proportion of the broad belt of hill and plateau country which separates the plains of Hindustan from the Deccan. It is bounded on the N. and N.E. by the Central India states, and along a small strip of the Saugor district by the United Provinces; on the W. by Bhopal, Indore and the Khandesh district of Bombay; on the S. by Hyderabad and the large _zamindari_ estates of the Madras presidency; and on the E. by these latter estates and the tributary states of Bengal. In October 1905 most of Sambalpur and five Oriya-speaking hill-states were transferred from the Central Provinces to Bengal, while the Hindi-speaking states of Chota Nagpur were transferred from Bengal to the Central Provinces. The province, therefore, now consists of the five British divisions of Jubbulpore, Nerbudda, Nagpur, Chhattisgarh and Berar, which are divided into the twenty-two districts of Saugor, Damoh, Jubbulpore, Mandla, Seoni, Narsinghpur, Hoshangabad, Nimar, Betul, Chhindwara, Wardha, Nagpur, Chanda, Bhandara, Balaghat, Raipur, Bilaspur, Amraoti, Akola, Ellichpur, Buldana and Wun; and the fifteen tributary states of Makrai, Bastar, Kanker, Nandgaon, Kairagarh, Chhuikhadan, Kawardha, Sakti, Raigarh, Sarangarh, Chang Bhakar, Korea, Sirguja, Udaipur and Jashpur.

Central Provinces.

The Central Provinces are divided into two parts by the Satpura range
of hills (q.v.), which runs south of the Nerbudda river from east to
west; so that, speaking generally, it consists of districts north of
the Satpuras, districts on the Satpura plateau, and districts south of
the Satpuras. North of the Satpuras is the rich valley of the
Nerbudda, which may be said to begin towards the north of the
Jubbulpore district and to extend westward through the district of
Narsinghpur as far as the western limit of Hoshangabad, a distance of
nearly 300 m. The elevation of the valley above the sea varies from
1400 ft. at Jubbulpore to 1120 at Hoshangabad. In breadth it is about
30 m., extending between the Satpuras and the southern scarp of the
Vindhyas. This great plain, 10,613 sq. m. in extent, contains for the
most part land of extreme fertility. The continuation of the valley
west of Hoshangabad forms the northern portion of the district of
Nimar, the farther limit of which touches the Khandesh district of the
Bombay presidency. Towards the river, though rich in parts, this tract
of country is generally wild and desolate, but nearer the base of the
hill range there is a large natural basin of fertile land which is
highly cultivated. South of the Satpuras lies the great plain of
Chhattisgarh at a mean elevation above the sea of 1000 ft.; it has an
area of 23,000 sq. m., and forms the upper basin of the Mahanadi.
Farther to the west and again divided off by hills is the great plain
of Nagpur, extending over 24,000 sq. m. Its general surface inclines
towards the south from 1000 ft. above the sea at Nagpur to 750 ft. at
Chanda. To the south the province is shut in by the wide mountainous
tract which stretches from the Bay of Bengal through Bastar to the
Godavari, and west of that river is continued onward to the rocky
ridges and plateaus of Khandesh by a succession of ranges that enclose
the plain of Berar along its southern border.

Berar.

Berar consists mainly of the valley lying between the Satpura range of
mountains in the north and the Ajanta range in the south. The
Gawilgarh hills, a range belonging to the Satpura mountains, form the
northern border. On the east the frontier is marked by the Wardha
river down to its confluence with the Penganga, and on the south by
the Penganga for about two-thirds of the frontier's length. The tract
is half surrounded on the east, north and north-west by the Central
Provinces, with which it is amalgamated. In addition to the Melghat
mountain tract which walls it in on the north, Berar is divided into
two sections, the Payanghat or lowland country, bounded on the north
by the Gawilgarh hills, and on the south by the outer scarps of the
Ajanta range, and the Balaghat or upland country above the Ajanta
ridge, sloping down southwards beyond the ghats or passes which lead
up to it. The Payanghat is a wide valley running up eastward between
this ridge and the Gawilgarh hills, varying in breadth from 40 to 50
m., and broader towards the end than at its mouth. It contains all the
best land in Berar; it is full of deep, rich, black alluvial soil, of
almost inexhaustible fertility, and it undulates sufficiently to
maintain a natural system of drainage, but there is nothing
picturesque about this broad strip of champaign country. The upland
tract, on the contrary, is diversified with low-lying plains, high
plateaus, fertile bottoms and rocky wastes, and is rendered
picturesque by rivers and groves.

_Natural Features_.--The provinces may be divided into two tracts of
upland and three of plain, consisting of the Vindhya and Satpura
plateaus, and the Berar, Nagpur and Chhattisgarh plains. To the north
the districts of Saugor and Damoh form the southern boundary of the
Vindhyan escarpment. In this region the sandstone rocks are generally
overlaid with heavy black soil formed from the decaying trap, which is
principally devoted to the cultivation of the spring crops, wheat and
grain, while rice and hill millets are sown in the lighter and more
sandy soils. Next, the long and narrow valley of the Nerbudda from
Jubbulpore to Hoshangabad is formed of deep alluvial deposits of
extreme richness and excellently suited to the growth of wheat. To the
south of the Nerbudda the Satpura range stretches across the province,
containing the greater part of five districts, its crystalline and
sandstone rocks rising in places through the superficial stratum of
trap, and with large areas of shallow stony land still covered to a
great extent with forest interspersed by black-soil valleys of great
fertility. In the latter are grown wheat and other spring crops, while
the lighter kinds of rice and the hill millets are all that the poorer
land can bear. To the south of the Satpuras and extending along its
base from west to east lie successively the Berar, Nagpur and
Chhattisgarh plains. The surface soil of Berar is to a great extent a
rich black vegetable mould; and where this surface soil does not
exist, there are muram and trap with a shallow upper crust of inferior
light soil. The Nagpur country, drained by the Wardha and Wainganga
rivers, contains towards the west the shallow black soil in which
autumn crops like cotton and the large millet, _juar_, which do not
require excessive moisture, can be successfully cultivated. The
eastern part of the Nagpur country and the Chhattisgarh plain,
comprising the Mahanadi basin, form the great rice tract of the
province, its heavy rainfall and hard yellowish soil rendering it
excellently adapted for the growth of this crop.

_Climate_.---As regards climate the districts of the Central Provinces
are generally divided into hot and cool ones. In the latter division
are comprised the two Vindhyan districts of Saugor and Damoh,
Jubbulpore at the head of the Nerbudda valley, and the four Satpura
districts of Mandla, Seoni, Betul and Chhindwara, which enjoy, owing
to their greater elevation, a distinctly lower average temperature
than the rest of the province. The ordinary variation is from 3 to 4
degrees, the mean maximum reading in the shade in a cooler district
being about 105° as against 108° in the hotter ones for the month of
May, and 79° as against 83° for the month of December. In the cold
weather the temperature in Nagpur and the other hot districts is about
the same as in Calcutta and substantially higher than that of northern
India. The climate of Berar differs very little from that of the
Deccan generally, except that in the Payanghat valley the hot weather
may be exceptionally severe. The rainfall of the province is
considerably heavier than in northern India, and the result of this is
a cooler and more pleasant atmosphere during the monsoon season. The
average rainfall, before it was affected by the abnormal seasons which
followed 1892, was 51 in., varying from 33 in. in Nimar to 65 in
Balaghat. In the autumn months malarial fever is prevalent in all
thickly forested tracts and also in the rice country; but on the whole
the province is considered to be healthy, and as the rains break
fairly regularly in June and produce an immediate fall in the
temperature, severe heat is only experienced for a period of from two
to three months.

_Agriculture_.--Broadly speaking, the northern districts of the
province produce principally cold weather crops, such as wheat and
grain, and the eastern ones principally rice. At the beginning of the
decade 1891-1901 wheat was the staple product of the Vindhyan and
Nerbudda valley districts, and was also grown extensively in all the
Satpura districts except Nimar and in Wardha and Nagpur. Cotton and
juar were produced principally in Nimar, Nagpur, Wardha and the
southern portion of Chhindwara, and the latter also in Chanda. In the
Satpura districts the inferior soil was and is principally devoted to
hill millets. Rice is an important crop in Damoh, Jubbulpore, Mandla,
Seoni and Chanda, and is the chief staple of Bhandara, Balaghat, and
the two eastern districts of Raipur and Bilaspur. The staple crops of
Berar are cotton and juar. The succession of bad seasons which marked
the end of the decade affected the distribution of the principal
crops, but with the advent of more prosperous seasons things tend to
return to their old level.

_Industries_.--The only important industries are connected with cotton
and coal. In 1904 the total number of factories was 391, almost
entirely cotton presses and ginning factories, which received an
immense impetus from the rise in cotton prices. In 1896 a brewery was
established at Jubbulpore. Two coal-mines are worked in the Central
Provinces, at Warora and Mopani, to each of which there is a branch
line of railway. In 1903-1904 there was a total yield of 160,000 tons,
valued at about £45,000. In connexion with the Warora colliery there
is a fire-clay business. The Mopani colliery, which dates back to
1860, is worked by a joint-stock company.

_Trade_.--The trade of the Central Provinces is conducted mainly by
rail with Bombay and with Calcutta. The chief imports are cotton piece
goods, cotton twist, salt, sugar, provisions, railway materials, raw
cotton, metals, coal, tobacco, spices and kerosene oil. The chief
exports are raw cotton, rice, wheat, oil-seeds, hides and lac. The
exports of wheat are liable to extreme fluctuations, especially during
famine periods.

_Railways_.--Until recently, the only railway in the Central Provinces
was the Great Indian Peninsula, with two branches, one terminating at
Nagpur, the other at Jubbulpore, whence it was continued by the East
Indian system to Allahabad. The Bengal-Nagpur line has now opened up
the eastern portion of the country, bringing it into direct connexion
with Calcutta; and a new branch of the Indian Midland, from Saugor
through Damoh, has been partly constructed as a famine work. Large
portions, however, in the hilly centre and in the south-east, are
still remote from railways.

_Administration_.--The administration of the province is conducted by
a chief commissioner on behalf of the governor-general of India in
council, assisted by members of the Indian civil service, provincial
civil service, subordinate civil service, district and assistant
superintendents of police, and officers specially recruited for
various departments. The form of the administration of Berar was in
1903 entirely reorganized. Under the original settlement concluded by
the treaties of 1853 and 1860 the revenues of the province were
assigned primarily for the maintenance of the Hyderabad contingent,
such surplus as accrued from year to year being made over to the
nizam, while the province itself was administered in trust by the
government of India through the resident at Hyderabad. In November
1902 a fresh settlement was arranged and Berar was leased in
perpetuity to the British government in return for an annual rental of
25 lakhs. It remained under the administration of the resident until
the 1st of October 1903, from which date it was amalgamated with the
Central Provinces for administrative purposes. As the immediate result
of this change the offices of heads of departments in Berar, except
the judicial commissionership and the conservatorship of forests, were
amalgamated with the corresponding appointments in the Central
Provinces, and Berar is now treated as one of the divisions of that
province for purposes of revenue administration, with a divisional
commissioner as its immediate head.

_Population_.--The population of the Central Provinces and Berar as
now defined according to the census of 1901 was 10,847,325, and is of
very diverse ethical construction, having been recruited by
immigration from the countries surrounding it on all sides. There are
six main divisions of the people: the Dravidian tribes, who formerly
held the country; Hindi-speaking immigrants from the north and
north-west into Saugor, Damoh, the Nerbudda valley and the open
country of Mandla and Seoni; Rajasthani-speaking immigrants from
Central India into Nimar, Betul and parts of Hoshangabad, Narsinghpur
and Chhindwara; Marathi-speaking immigrants from Bombay into Berar,
the Mahratta districts and the southern tahsil of Betul; the Telugu
castes in the Sironcha and Chanda tahsil of Chanda and the south of
Bastar; and the Hindu immigrants into Chhattisgarh, who are supposed
to have arrived many centuries ago when the Haihaya dynasty of
Ratanpur rose into power.

_Language_.--Owing to the diversity of race, the diversity of language
is equally great. Thirty languages and a hundred and six dialects are
found in the Central Provinces alone, and twenty-eight languages and
sixty-eight dialects in Berar. The chief of these languages are
Western Hindi, Eastern Hindi, Rajasthani, Marathi, Oriya, Telugu and
Dravidian dialects. Of these last the chief dialects are Gondi, Oraon
or Kurukh, Kandhi and Kanarese, of which Gondi is by far the most
important. There are also the Munda languages, of which the chief are
Korku, Kharia and Munda or Kol. The chief languages of Berar are
Marathi, Urdu, Gondi, Banjari, Hindi, Marwari, Telugu, Korku and
Gujarati.