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Chikinchel
Chikinchel () was the name of a Mayan chiefdom of the northern coast of Yucatán, before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century. Chauacá has also been used to refer to this province, but apparently it was the name of the main city. After the destruction of Mayapan (1441–1461), in the Yucatán Peninsula, it created rivalries among the Maya, and formed 16 separate jurisdictions, called Kuchkabals. In each Kuchkabal there was a Halach Uinik (), who was the chief with the most political, judicial, and militaristic authority and lived in a principal city considered the capital of the jurisdiction. Historical Dates and Territories It bordered the Tazes and Cupul in the south, Ah Kin Chel in the west, and Ekab in the east, which separated an area of swamps and, to the north, a large portion of the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula (, also , ; es, Península de Yucatán ) is a large peninsula in southeastern Mexico and adjacent ...
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Kuchkabal
A ''kuchkabal'' ( , ''kuchkabalo'ob'', 'province'), also known as an ''ah kuch-kab'' or ''ah cuch-cab'', was a system of social and political organisation common to Maya polities of the Maya Lowlands, in the Yucatán Peninsula, during the Mesoamerican Postclassic. There were somewhere between 16 and 24 ''kuchkabalo'ob'' in the 16th century. ''Kuchkabal'' may also refer to a ruling family. Extent The ''kuchkabalo'ob'' were located in Maya Lowlands of the Yucatán Peninsula, bounded by a northwest-to-southeast trending crescent, stretching along the base of the Peninsula, from the Bay of Campeche to the Bay of Honduras. To the west, the ''kuchkabalo'ob'' bordered settlements of Chontal, Nahuatl, and Zoque speakers in eastern Tabasco, eastern Chiapas, and western Campeche (beyond Laguna de Terminos). To the southwest and south, they bordered settlements of Chol speakers in western Peten, northern Alta Verapaz, northern Izabal, northern Copan, northern Santa Bar ...
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Ekab
Ekab or Ecab was the name of a Mayan chiefdom of the northeastern Yucatán Peninsula, before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century. In the fifteenth century most of Yucatán was controlled by the League of Mayapan. By 1441 there was civil unrest. The provinces of the League rebelled and formed sixteen smaller states. These states were called Kuchkabals. Most Kuchkabals were ruled by a Halach Uinik, but Ekab wasn't. It was divided up into several ''Batabil''. Each ''Batabil'' was ruled over by a leader called a ''Batab''. In Ekab the ''Batabs'' were supposed to have equal power, but the ''Batabs'' on Cozumel had much more power than the others. Religious importance The island Cozumel was a ''Batab'' of Ekab. Cozumel was an important religious area for the Maya. People traveled to Cozumel from as far away as Nicaragua and Michoacán. The island was sacred to the moon goddess, Ix Chel. Most of the pilgrims who traveled there were women. Ix Chel was also ...
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Maya Civilization
The Maya civilization () of the Mesoamerican people is known by its ancient temples and glyphs. Its Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. It is also noted for its art, architecture, mathematics, calendar, and astronomical system. The Maya civilization developed in the Maya Region, an area that today comprises southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the western portions of Honduras and El Salvador. It includes the northern lowlands of the Yucatán Peninsula and the highlands of the Sierra Madre, the Mexican state of Chiapas, southern Guatemala, El Salvador, and the southern lowlands of the Pacific littoral plain. Today, their descendants, known collectively as the Maya, number well over 6 million individuals, speak more than twenty-eight surviving Mayan languages, and reside in nearly the same area as their ancestors. The Archaic period, before 2000 BC, saw the first developments in agricul ...
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Chiefdom
A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a political-ideological aristocracy relative to the general group. Concept In anthropological theory, one model of human social development rooted in ideas of cultural evolution describes a chiefdom as a form of social organization more complex than a tribe or a band society, and less complex than a state or a civilization. Within general theories of cultural evolution, chiefdoms are characterized by permanent and institutionalized forms of political leadership (the chief), centralized decision-making, economic interdependence, and social hierarchy. Chiefdoms are described as intermediate between tribes and states in the progressive scheme of sociopolitical development formulated by Elman Service: ''band - tribe - chiefdom - state''. A ...
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Yucatán (state)
Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 106 separate municipalities, and its capital city is Mérida. It is located on the northern part of the Yucatán Peninsula. It is bordered by the states of Campeche to the southwest and Quintana Roo to the southeast, with the Gulf of Mexico off its northern coast. Before the arrival of Spaniards in the Yucatán Peninsula, the name of this region was ''Mayab''. In the Yucatec Maya language, ''mayab'' means "flat", and is the source of the word "Maya" itself. The peninsula was a very important region for the Maya civilization, which reached the peak of its development here, where the Mayans founded the cities of Chichen Itza, Izamal, Motul, Mayapan, Ek' Balam and Ichcaanzihóo (also called Ti'ho), now Mérida. After the Spanish conquest of Yucatán (e ...
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Mayapan
Mayapan (Màayapáan in Modern Maya; in Spanish Mayapán) is a Pre-Columbian Maya site a couple of kilometers south of the town of Telchaquillo in Municipality of Tecoh, approximately 40 km south-east of Mérida and 100 km west of Chichen Itza; in the state of Yucatán, Mexico. Mayapan was the political and cultural capital of the Maya in the Yucatán Peninsula during the Late Post-Classic period from the 1220s until the 1440s. Estimates of the total city population are 15,000–17,000 people, and the site has more than 4,000 structures within the city walls, and additional dwellings outside. The site has been professionally surveyed and excavated by archeological teams, beginning in 1939; five years of work was done by a team in the 1950s, and additional studies were done in the 1990s. Since 2000, a collaborative Mexican-United States team has been conducting excavations and recovery at the site, which continue. Layout Mayapan is 4.2 square kilometers (about 1. ...
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Halach Uinik
Halach uinik or halach uinic ( Yucatec Maya:'real man') was the name given to the supreme ruler, overlord or chief, as they were called in the colonial period of a Maya '' kuchkabal''. Most ''kuchkabal'' were run by a halach uinik, who ruled on behalf of one of the gods of their pantheon, constituting a theocracy. The succession occurred in the same family, with power passing from parent to child, under the law of primogeniture. The halach uinik concentrated all religious, military and civil power in one person. They chose officials from among the members of the theocracy who helped in the administration of the ''kuchkabal''. They usually designated their family members as heads or ''batab'' of the ''batalib'' (municipalities) that formed the ''kuchkabal''. These ''batabob'' commanded their own soldiers, presided over the local council, implemented justice, and controlled the payment of taxes. In addition to these assignments, they also took care of the fields at the times indi ...
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Cupul
Cupul or Kupul, (Maya: ''Kupul'', 'toponímico; adjective') was the name of a Maya chiefdom at time of the Spanish conquest of Yucatán. Cupul was one of the most extensive and densely populated Maya provinces on the Yucatán Peninsula. It was formed in the mid-fifteenth century after the fall of Mayapan and reached its maximum power during the sixteenth century, at the time of their own Spanish conquest led by the ''adelantado'' Francisco de Montejo. According to the Encyclopedia Yucatán in time, the Mayan voice ku-pul, means ''that throws the bouncing'', giving a connotation referring to the Mayan ballplayers that existed in the region. Organization After the war between the Tutul Xiu and Cocom, the Yucatan Peninsula, broke up into 16 Kuchkabal Conflicts between Kuchkabal were common, especially between Tutul Xiu and Cocom. Normally each Kuchkabal had a capital where the ruler and supreme priest lived. The ruler was called a Halach Uinik . Each Kuckabal was divided into sever ...
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Ah Kin Chel
Ah Kin Chel was the name of a Maya chiefdom or Kuchkabal of the northern Yucatán Peninsula, before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century. Ah Kin Chel was founded with the capital at Tecoh in 1441 by Mo-Chel when the League of Mayapan collapsed and was divided into seventeen nations. History Before Mo-Chel In the mid 9th century, Maya civilization began to collapse. In the early 10th century, Yucatan was divided into many different polities. At this time Ce Acatl Topiltzin Tlatoani of the Toltec Empire conquered the Yucatan Peninsula. Toltec control however did not last long. In 987 Ah Mekat Tutul Xiu united the cities of Uxmal, Mayapan, and Chichen Itza to form the League of Mayapan. The League was a confederation of Maya polities, which promised peace, and many cities joined it. Most places joined of their own free will, Izamal was the fifth city to join, but Tecoh was conquered by K'ak'upakal one of the four k’ul kokom (rulers) of Chichen Itza, as ...
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Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula (, also , ; es, Península de Yucatán ) is a large peninsula in southeastern Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north and west of the peninsula from the Caribbean Sea to the east. The Yucatán Channel, between the northeastern corner of the peninsula and Cuba, connects the two bodies of water. The peninsula is approximately in area. It has low relief, and is almost entirely composed of porous limestone. The peninsula lies east of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the narrowest point in Mexico separating the Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea, from the Pacific Ocean. Some consider the isthmus to be the geographic boundary between Central America and the rest of North America, placing the peninsula in Central America. Politically all of Mexico, including the Yucatán, is generally considered part of North America, while Guatemala an ...
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