Shúri “The Forgotten Warrior”

In 1529, the warrior Shúri ruled Yusique (Chinameca). He belonged to the Lenca people and was a very thin cacique about thirty years old. He looked weak, but he had special physical abilities like a few people in Cuzcatlan. He possessed the agility of the jaguar; the versatility of the deer and he was incredible flexibility as a bow. His personality was amazing because he used his brain more than pure brute force. His spirit inspired every Indian in his lands, he was considered the warlord of the warlords by his men (figure 1).

Figure 1. Shúri. ¹

At the beginning of that year, Shúri heard of some evil conquistadors taking full control of Cuzcatlan (the western part of El Salvador). He was concerned because of their military power and the 4-legged animals they were using to take control extremely fast. This seemed like an extremely challenging battle to win, but they had to stop them at any cost.

In 1530, the situation in the central of the country got out of control because the Cuzcatlecs were losing fast extremely. Atlacatl gathered with Shúri who belonged to the Lenca tribe to try to create an offense and stop the conquistadors as much as they could since they were coming from all sides, and they seemed unstoppable. Shúri moved his men to the area near the Lempa River where they were able to stop the Spaniards for several months. The Spaniards were not able to cross from any side.

The Spaniards got frustrated and wanted to double their offense and get rid of the Indians once and for all, that’s why they decided to reach, Diego de Rojas, a powerful conquistador who had taken control of Guatemala recently and had moved to San Salvador during the last year. The Spaniards explained to them that a so-called warlord Shúri and his Indians had been causing trouble. They were sure that if they got rid of Shúri, they would destroy their self-esteem and take full control of the east, and most important get all gold and silver from there.

Diego de Rojas decided to consider this proposal and brought 15 horsemen, 15 peons, and hundreds of his allied Indians. It was time to control entire Cuzcatlan and the Lenca region once and for all. And he didn’t care who this so-called Shúri was because he only wanted the fame and glory of taking full control of these lands for Spain.

His men started a journey to the Bermuda Valley where Shúri and his men had been hiding. They focused on the Lempa River which had been their protection for so long time. His men were able to pass easily the river with some of his canoes. The Spaniards kept walking for a long time until they reached Shúri’s lands. Suddenly, hundreds of arrows wounded 20 of his men from nowhere. The Indians had been waiting for them. They had been following them and wanted to stop their moves once and for all from their best place, the Yusique Peak.

This time, the Lencas of Yusique had joined with the ones from Lolotique, Oromontique Mechotique, all of them wanted to recover their lives and stop these evils conquistadors.

Diego de Rojas was a soldier of noble feelings and before entering into a new battle, he wanted to use a peaceful way to avoid the conflict. He then sent some of his messengers to Shúri with the hope that he would give up and avoid any unnecessary hostility.

Diego’s messengers reached the peak and told Shúri: “Lay down your arms. Surrender vassalage to the King of Castile. Worship the cross. If we do not make war on you until extermination.”

Shúri replied: “I am not afraid of war, nor am I afraid of threats. I was born a warrior and a warrior I have to live and die.”

Diego de Rojas was upset by Shúri’s answer because he had no choice but to order to attack with everything they had. The Spaniards started to climb to the peak, but they fell down in front of a dense and wooded place. The Indians had created hundreds of traps to stop them.

Diego’s messengers tried to reach Shúri again and said, “Surrender or you will die!”

Shúri replied, “the white man that we will all die before we give up!”

The battle lasted for several days and nights. The Indians were able to frighten the horses with their yux torches. Also, they unveiled the Spanish soldiers and their allies.

Rojas got annoyed and sent for the last time messengers with a final message for Shúri, “Surrender your weapons! ONCE AND FOR ALL!”

Shúri replied, “We have never given our weapons to the women”

Those words highly wounded the honor of the Spaniards and Rojas commanded them to use all they had until they had them fully controlled. This craziness had to stop today.

After a month, Diego de Rojas had besieged several Indians. He also commanded his men to arrest the caciques of his “allied” Indians. One of his loyal Indian revealed that his “allies” had conspired with Shúri. They had agreed that they had created a special plan to attack them soon. He commanded his men to kill all the “allied” caciques, lords, and princes involved in the conspiracy.

The news of the execution reached the ears of Shúri and his allies. They spoke out about surrendering because they didn’t want more war, and they wanted peace.

Shúri was upset and told them: “Shameful noble lords are to surrender arms, if you accept vassalage, our women and children will take their places!”

Despite Shúri’s words, the men afraid of death were determined to surrender.

Suddenly, the same news reached the Spaniards living in other conquered lands and they were angry at Rojas’ commands. They arrived at Yusique with 90 horsemen, 110 infantry, and 4000 Chorotegas Indians. They arrested Rojas and his men.

Several of the Indians who had supported Rojas, fled to the town to notify them of what had happened. The withdrawal of the Spanish army was a resounding triumph for Shúri, fame, and prestige resonated with all the peoples of the mountains because they had continued their fight without stopping. They prevented the enemy from taking their lands.

Sadly, over the centuries Shúri’s legend was forgotten, especially, after the Spaniards conquered his lands.

Credits:
¹ Aylar Ghasemi

Location: Chinameca, El Salvador

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Guirola Family

Image
Long ago, a tall, white, and good-looking man appeared from nowhere on a cold night, along the cobbled streets of Zacatecoluca. He had a lonely and melancholic air and resided in a tiny cabin. He claimed to be Rafael María Guirola. Mr. Rafael was born in Spain and became a successful businessman in El Salvador, where his first businesses were related to trading. He got married to Gertrudis de la Cotera y González, of Spanish descent, and from their marriage in 1826 was born Ángel Guirola de la Cotera. Ángel was sent by his family to study for his bachelor’s degree in Guatemala City. After his graduation, he worked for a couple of years in one of the largest pharmacies there, owned by Mr. Pío Porta. In 1844, Ángel returned to El Salvador, where he spent his savings and acquired some loans to buy a few lands that he dedicated to the cultivation of indigo. He showed a great ability to export this product and extended his business throughout the Caribbean, Panama, and the United Stat
Read more

The Cuyancua

Image
Long ago, when the Maya people used to live in El Salvador, at the end of a dry season, some Indians discovered an uncommon animal near a river, which was massive and was half-pig and half-snake (figure 1). The Indians tiptoed and tried to approach it, when, suddenly, they heard a dark squawk, and the animal slid on the river and started to rain. After this, a new wet season began, and they named it the Cuyancua or the Cuyancuat. Figure 1. The Cuyancua, the half-pig, and half-snake animal. ¹ Following this first encounter, the Cuyancua became more prevalent in their lives.  It began to  appear to  announce the wet season or to predict rains, tropical storms, hurricanes, La Niña, and floods, among other water phenomena in some unexpected cases. Nowadays, you can see Cuyancua in the north of Izalco. Here, the citizens say when dusk is falling, they listen to a very dark squawk and feel strong turbulence under the earth, which panics all Indian families and the suburbs. All th
Read more

Comizahual “The White Woman”

Image
In the 13th century, a white woman appeared on Honduras’s north coast. The Lenca people were surprised by her appearance since she looked completely atypical to them. They wondered where she came from because she was able to speak their mother tongue as if she was any of them. Plus, she understood all their traditions and rituals. The white woman started traveling through the entire Lenca region between Honduras’s north coast and the southeast part of El Salvador. In all these lands, she was called Cozumel (figure 1), which means “The flying tiger.” Figure 1. Cozumel “The Flying Tiger.” Some people said she was as light as air and flew through their lands, so they nicknamed it that way. Cozumel was a fierce, powerful, and clever woman. Many people acknowledged her as a force to recognize because she was a sorceress who was capable of casting impressive spells that surprised all tribes. She protected the Lenca people from multiple invasions and brought the rain back during
Read more