Manuel Antonio Ay (1817– July 26, 1847) was a Yucatec

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a popul ...

military leader and revolutionary, and chief of the village of Chichimilá.

Life

Ay was the batab of Chichimilá. He would often help indigenous villagers with legal matters as he was literate while many of the local Maya could not read or write. Ay fought in the 1846 rebellion against the Merida-based government of Miguel Barbachano, President of the

Republic of Yucatán The Republic of Yucatán ( es, República de Yucatán) was a sovereign state during two periods of the nineteenth century. The first Republic of Yucatán, founded May 29, 1823, willingly joined the Mexican federation as the Federated Republic ...

. He participated in the capture of

Chemax Chemax, the Mayan word meaning "tree of monkeys", is a town located in the east of Yucatán State, Mexico. It is from 1918, the head of Chemax Municipality Chemax Municipality (, in the Yucatec Maya Language: “monkey's tree”) is one of the ...

in 1846 and

Valladolid Valladolid () is a municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. It has a population around 300,000 peop ...

in 1847 under the orders of Colonel Antonio Trujeque and with the support of Santiago Méndez. However, after their military success, many of the Maya troops decided to declare independence themselves, putting them at odds with Méndez. Ay was one of the most active organizers of the indigenous insurrection. In 1847, he met with Cecilio Chi, Jacinto Pat, and Bonifacio Novelo to plan the uprising that would become the

Caste War Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...

. Reportedly, he stated that his goal was to have the white men driven from the Peninsula. He was discovered when a bartender found a suspicious letter he had left in his hat signed by Chi. Once Colonel Eulogio Rosado, the Commandant of Valladolid, learned of the letter, he arrested Ay. Ay was put on trial from July 21 to 25 before he was sentenced to death by hanging. Rosado ordered his execution carried out in the plaza of the Santa Ana neighborhood of Valladolid on July 26. His corpse was transferred to Chichimilá, where it was covered and buried after being exhibited to warn the rebels. As a result of Ay's killing, Cecilio Chi and Jacinto Pat led an attack on the

criollo Criollo or criolla (Spanish for creole) may refer to: People * Criollo people, a social class in the Spanish race-based colonial caste system (the European descendants) Animals * Criollo duck, a species of duck native to Central and South Ameri ...

residents of Tipich, beginning the Caste War. Ay left behind a son named Antonio who helped capture Valladolid in 1848. After the Maya fighters entered the town, Antonio executed the man who had carried his father's letter to Colonel Rosado.

Legacy

A statue of Ay is located in

Chetumal Chetumal (, , ; yua, label= Yucatec Maya, Chactemàal , ) is a city on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. It is the capital of the state of Quintana Roo and the municipal seat of the Municipality of Othón P. Blanco. In 2020 ...

Quintana Roo Quintana Roo ( , ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo), is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 11 mu ...

next to a statue of Cecilio Chi. There is also a monument to Ay in the Santa Ana Park in Valladolid.

References

* Reed, Nelson. (1964) ''The Caste War of Yucatan'' Stanford University Press, Palo Alto. Maya people Yucatán 1817 births 1847 deaths {{Mexico-mil-bio-stub