One of the native tribes which first inhabited the land of present-day Honduras was the Mayans who probably came from or were related to the Mayans in the Peten region of Guatemala. By around 500 AD, they had already settled in the east in Motagua river valley, established settlements and developed trade with other cultures. For the next three centuries, they continued to develop their habitats and culture, with Copan being one of the major centres where they built temples and other monuments, but suddenly all these were abandoned and left in ruin although some Mayans remained.
Several other major groups had also moved into Honduras, from Mexico, Nicaragua and Columbia and established their own settlements. One of them was the Lencas, who lived in the west-central part of the land.
Christopher Columbus came 1502 and claimed the territory for Spain. From 1523 began the period of struggle among Spanish colonists and between the colonists and the indigenous tribes. In that year, several Spanish rival groups moved into Honduras from Panama, Mexico and elsewhere. Each seized territory until Cortes from Mexico arrived to establish some order. However, fighting continued sporadically for several decades among the Spanish, and against the population led by the Lencas. The local tribes were defeated and their population decimated by war, mistreatment, slavery, disease and exploitation. Spanish infighting was stopped only when the Spanish crown imposed terms of settlement and later created a captaincy general based in Guatemala to govern Honduras and other Spanish territories in the region
In the late 16th century, gold and silver were found and Honduras prospered for a while but the deposits were not large. Generally, the territory became reliant on agriculture and raising of live-stock and was generally undeveloped economically and politically. The population was small and the territory was dominated by officials and the church.
The Napoleonic Wars brought about changes to Central America when the Spanish monarch was driven into exile and replaced by a French king. The Central American states saw the exiled Spanish king as weak, even when restored later. This led to the entire region declaring independence in 1821 and merged with the Empire of Mexico. However, the states broke off from Mexico in 1823 partly because the Mexican Emperor died, to form the United Provinces of Central America. Infighting among the states continued and finally they all went their separate ways in 1838.
After full independence, Honduras remained politically unstable because of the emergence of conservative and liberal factions. The former supported strong central governments and domination by the ruling elite and the church, whereas the liberals demanded the opposite. The country was disrupted by constant struggles between the factions and by periodic invasion by the British.
Meanwhile, the country began to grow bananas on a commercial scale, and eventually became the largest banana exporter in 1929 under the brand of Chiquita. Otherwise, society remained backward, education system was underdeveloped, democratic institutions did not emerge and there was constant struggle for power. It was only in the 1980s that the country became more stable.
