Comitán

History

The first recorded settlements here date from the 11th century. The Maya name of the place was Balún Canán, "place of the nine stars" or "nine guardians", a name Rosario Castellanos later borrowed for her best-known novel. In 1486 the Mexica subdued the town and renamed it Comitlán, which the Spanish turned into Comitán. The Nahuatl name is usually read as "place of potters".

Spanish forces reached the region in 1528, and the town was given in encomienda. On July 29, 1556, Dominican friars led by Diego Tinoco, together with a large group of Tojolabal people, moved the settlement to its present site and named it San Pablo de Comitán. The friars laid out the street grid and built a convent that oversaw a string of surrounding villages. Trade made the town prosper, and in 1813 the Cortes of Cádiz granted it the title of city.

On August 28, 1821, urged on by friars Ignacio Barnoya and Matías de Córdova, Comitán declared itself independent of both Spain and the Captaincy General of Guatemala, the first step toward the independence of Chiapas and Central America. In 1915 the city added "de Domínguez" to its name for Belisario Domínguez, the local doctor and senator killed in 1913 after speaking out against Victoriano Huerta.