Following an earlier expedition led by Juan de Grijalva to Yucatán in 1517 , Spanish settler , Hernán Cortés , led an expedition ( `` entrada '' ) to Mexico .

The region is physically diverse , featuring a number of highland areas , including the Sierra Madre de Chiapas and the Montañas Centrales ( Central Highlands ) , a southern littoral plain known as Soconusco and a central depression formed Coming_to_be by the drainage of the Grijalva River .

Within a year , Spanish dominion extended Expansion over the upper drainage basin of the Grijalva River , Comitán , and the Ocosingo valley .