The Ambivalent Conquests - Book Report/Review Example

Ambivalent Conquests 30 July 2009 The book Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatan, 1517-1570 is a tale of the Spanish conquest of the Yucatan Peninsula during the said period. This historical book is a bit unique in one way: it tells the story of the conquest from the viewpoint of the Indians (vanquished people) rather than from the view of the conqueror. Most of history, they say, is written by the victor but this book by Australian author Inga Clendinnen seeks to reconstruct events during and after the conquest in the eyes of the Maya Indians. The indigenous people of Yucatan viewed their intruders markedly differently from the way the Spaniards recorded those same events. The conquest and subsequent colonization is a classic case of cultural miscommunication, where a lot of wrong signals were exchanged due to language barriers. An example of these differing viewpoints is the case of syncretism where the natives found ways to practice their old religion and incorporated these practices despite their forced conversion to Catholicism by the Spanish conquistadores, much to the anger of the Spaniards who thought they had eradicated some of the Indians more gruesome practices like the heart excision of captive warrior-victims. For the Maya Indians, it was a way to survive in a harsh colonial environment where the Inquisition was practiced by the Franciscan friars to a wide degree but at the same time, an attempt to preserve their cultural and religious practices. The ambivalence on both sides can be explained by the half-hearted Spanish attempts to exploit the place because they were after a bigger prize up north – the Aztec Empire, and the natives equally half-hearted acceptance of the Christian practices which they viewed as alien to their culture, Catholicism coming as it was, from the white intruders they called as Castilan. This first book was written by author Inga Clendinnen as a post-graduate thesis that is focused on the same historical events in a remote part of the vast Spanish Empire as viewed from three different angles: the natives view, Spanish settlers view and Spanish friars view. Her work won the prestigious Bolton Prize of the Conference on Latin American History due to its meticulous reconstruction of the events mentioned above, despite a paucity of recorded material from the Maya Indian side. Much of the book had been conjectured by the author by trying to divine what the participants were in good faith really up to. The author avoided as much as possible subjective judgments although this is close to impossible because we are all shaped by our experiences and total objectivity is hard to accomplish based on few surviving records. The author is a noted anthropologist and a distinguished academic, having served as a senior lecturer at the La Trobe University in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia until 1989 and published an autobiography “Tiger Eye: A Memoir” in 2001 and other books of note like the “Aztecs: An Interpretation” back in 1991 shortly after her first book. She is now 75 years old. Book Highlights Several events, as recounted by the author, are quite interesting. Examples were the forewarnings obtained by the natives from survivors of a shipwreck regarding true Spanish intentions, the incredible damage done by the Spaniard Gonzalo Guerrero who adopted the ways of the Indians, the sheer persistence of the Spanish explorers to plod on in their quests despite several mishaps and misadventures, adverse psychological effects of the Campeche disaster (a major strategic defeat), the chilling war cry of Maya warriors that even experienced Spanish soldiers retreat and the native religious chants used to calm down sacrificial victims prior to slaughter. The Mayans of Yucatan already had some inkling of the Spaniards ulterior motives from the accounts of the two survivors, Aguilar and Guerrero, a valuable piece of enemy information, which Spanish explorers did not know about earlier (Inga 8). It was also a puzzle to subsequent explorers why Aguilar had wanted to be rescued and extremely grateful when finally freed through the entreaties of Hernando Cortés (Ibid., 17). On the other hand, Guerrero no longer wished to return to the Spanish fold, having married a native and had sired children by her. He had adopted the ways of the natives and had himself tattooed and attaining some rank, that of a war-captain. What is more bewildering was use of his knowledge of Spanish war tactics to defeat fellow Spaniards despite the lack of cannon, most notably his incessant attacks on passing Spanish ships. A probable explanation was that since he knew of the real Spanish intentions and having shifted his loyalties to the natives by his local marriage, he realized the dangers the Maya Indians were facing against a superior Spanish army equipped with cannon and gunpowder intent on conquest. His presence had a dampening effect due to the tenacity of his hatred for his former countrymen for only he knew what was coming. The discovery of his dead body after a skirmish solved it (Ibid., 18). The Spanish setbacks in their Yucatan explorations showed an amazing persistence due to the allure of gold. Early Spanish soldiers encountered almost unbearable suffering such as tropical diseases like malaria and dysentery (from contaminated water). They were under a constant threat of being captured alive and endure a slow death at the hands of Indians doing their religious ceremonies, the mere prospect enough to draw a chill out of the most hardened veterans. Early military defeats like what happened at Campeche, however, did not discourage Spaniards from looking down on the natives as subjects fit for subjugation in later outings. A lot of them were entranced by the prospect of becoming masters of these well-disposed and gratifyingly unsuspecting natives (Ibid., 6). Perhaps a humorous incident was the hasty retreat of Spanish soldiers from the mere warning of hearing war chants that left a bitter taste in their mouths (Ibid., 10), similar to the dreaded war chants of Zulu warriors in Africa against British soldiers. Another is the chant used to address sacrificial victims prior to death (Ibid., 177). A History of Exploitation It is quite interesting to note at this point that most former Spanish possessions did not attain any semblance of economic, social or political progress during their dark long periods of colonization. Other than acquiring territories for the glory of God and King, gold was the other primary aim (gold here is used euphemistically for other coveted goods Spain wanted, such as silver and spices). This preoccupation with the search for cheap raw materials sharply contrasted with the missionary zeal of the friars to win converts. This explains why Yucatan was largely ignored because Spain (through the person of Hernando Cortés) was interested in the Aztec empire of Mexico (named New Spain in history books) where he saw great wealth in the city of Tenochtitlan (modern-day Mexico City). The Maya civilization was declining when Spaniards arrived in Yucatan in the sixteenth century (the Mayans earlier vanquished another Indian civilization, the Incas). The Aztecs were by now ascendant and Mayas were subjects who paid tribute to them. At any rate, there was never any kind of co-existence. Spanish exploitation is evidenced by the establishment of the galleon trade between the far-flung Philippines and Mexico via the Manila-Acapulco trade route despite immense distances in crossing the Pacific Ocean (Chandler & Steinberg 54). The legacy of poverty and political inexperience in Central America today (such as a lack of democracy and the prevalence of coups) can be traced to their Christianity that was highly intolerant and largely authoritarian that justified wanton war, exploitation and cruelty (Neusner 84). Spaniards did not educate their subjects despite centuries of rule except maybe in religion. Political aspirations were likewise sharply curtailed and no representation in the Spanish government or royal court nor self-governance ever encouraged. Neglect seems to be the operative word. British colonial masters did better by establishing a strong civil service in their former possessions and extensive railway networks like those in India (Dickenson 43). Works Cited Chandler, David P. & Steinberg, David Joel. In Search of Southeast Asia: A Modern History (2nd edition, revised). Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 1987. Clendinnen, Inga. Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatan, 1517-1570 (2nd edition, revised, illustrated). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2003. Dickenson, John P. A Geography of the Third World (2nd edition, illustrated). Florence, KY: Routledge, 1996. Neusner, Jacob. World Religions in America: An Introduction. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003. Read More