Kaybʼil Bʼalam (alternatively written Kaibil Balam) was a 16th-century leader of the

Mam people The Mam are an Indigenous Maya people in the western highlands of Guatemala and in south-western Mexico who speak the Mam language. Most Mam (617,171) live in Guatemala, in the departments of Huehuetenango, San Marcos, and Quetzaltenango. ...

in the Maya kingdom in the western highlands of

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

. During the time of the Spanish invasion, the Mam population was mainly situated in Xinabahul (now modern-day

Huehuetenango Huehuetenango () is a city and municipality in the highlands of western Guatemala. It is also the capital of the department of Huehuetenango. The city is situated from Guatemala City, and is the last departmental capital on the Pan-American Hi ...

). However, due to the Spanish conquest, the people returned to the stone fortifications of Zaculeu for protection. The city was attacked in 1525 by ''

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

'' Gonzalo de Alvarado y Contreras, brother of

Pedro de Alvarado Pedro de Alvarado (; 1485 – 4 July 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, ''conquistador'', ''adelantado,'' governor and Captaincy General of Guatemala, captain general of Guatemala.Lovell, Lutz and Swezey 1984, p. 461. He participated in the c ...

. Kaybʼil Bʼalam and his warriors successfully repelled the attempted siege by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

forces for several months until being forced to surrender after being reduced to the verge of starvation.Recinos 1986, p.110. In 1975, the

Guatemalan Army The Guatemalan Armed Forces () is the unified military organization comprising the Guatemalan Army, Navy, Air Force, and Presidential Honor Guard. The president of Guatemala is the commander-in-chief of the military, and formulates policy, tra ...

created a

special operations Special operations or special ops are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment." Special operations ma ...

force, the Kaibiles, named after Kaybʼil Bʼalam. The group is centered out of

("Land of the Old") some 5 km from the original stand off site at Zaculeu.

Notes

References

* * 16th-century indigenous leaders of the Americas 16th-century monarchs in North America Maya monarchs Colonial Guatemala 16th century in Guatemala 16th century in the Maya civilization Mam Maya people Guatemalan Maya people {{Mesoamerica-stub