Maya monarchs, also known as Maya kings and queens, were the centers of power for the

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, archit ...

. Each Maya city-state was controlled by a dynasty of kings. The position of king was usually inherited by the oldest son.

Symbols of power

Maya kings felt the need to legitimize their claim to power. One of the ways to do this was to build a

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilat ...

Tikal Temple I Tikal Temple I is the designation given to one of the major structures at Tikal, one of the largest cities and archaeological sites of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization in Mesoamerica. It is located in the Petén Basin region of northern Guatem ...

is a good example. This temple was built during the reign of Yikʼin Chan Kʼawiil. Another king named

Kʼinich Janaabʼ Pakal Kʼinich Janaab Pakal I (), also known as Pacal or Pacal the Great (March 603 – August 683), was ''ajaw'' of the Maya city-state of Palenque in the Late Classic period of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican chronology. He acceded to the throne in July 6 ...

would later carry out this same show of power when building the

Temple of Inscriptions The Temple of the Inscriptions (Classic Maya: Bʼolon Yej Teʼ Naah () "House of the Nine Sharpened Spears") is the largest Mesoamerican stepped pyramid structure at the pre-Columbian Maya civilization site of Palenque, located in the modern-day ...

Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya language, Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamhaʼ ("Big Water or Big Waters"), was a Maya city City-state, state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins dat ...

. The Temple of Inscriptions still towers today amid the ruins of Palenque, as the supreme symbol of influence and power in Palenque.

Succession

Maya kings cultivated godlike personas. When a ruler died and left no heir to the throne, the result was usually war and bloodshed. King Pacal's precursor,

Pacal I Janahb Pakal also known as Janaab Pakal, Pakal I or Pakal the Elder, (died 6 March 612), was a nobleman and possible ''ajaw'' of the Maya city-state of Palenque. Biography Pakal’s dynastic position is not entirely certain, though he may have b ...

, died upon the battlefield. However, instead of the kingdom erupting into chaos, the city of

, a Maya capital city in southern Mexico, invited in a young prince from a different city-state. The prince was only twelve years old.

Expansion

Pacal and his predecessors not only built elaborate temples and pyramids. They expanded their city-state into a thriving empire. Under Yikʼin Chan Kʼawiil, Tikal conquered Calakmul and the other cities around Tikal, forming what could be referred to as a super city-state. Pacal achieved in creating a major center for power and development.

Responsibilities

A Maya king was expected to be an excellent military leader. He would often carry out raids against rival city-states. The Maya kings also offered their own

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...

to the gods. The rulers were also expected to have a good mind to solve problems that the city might be facing, including war and food crises. Maya kings were expected to ensure the gods received the prayers, praise and attention they deserved and to reinforce their divine lineage. They did this by displaying public rituals such as processions through the streets of their cities. A more private ritual was that of blood sacrifice, which was done by Lords and their wives.

Known rulers of Mayan city-states in the Classic Period

Aguas Calientes

* c.790: Chak Lakamtuun

Aguateca Aguateca is a Maya site located in northern Guatemala's Petexbatun Basin, in the department of Petén. The first settlements at Aguateca date to the Late Preclassic period (300 BC - AD 350). The center was occupied from about 200 B.C. until ...

* ?-770: Ucha'an K'an B'alam – father of Tan Te' Kinich, ruled in the 8th century AD. * 770-c.802: Tan Te' K'inich – son of Ucha'an K'an B'alam

Altun Ha Altun Ha is the name given to the ruins of an ancient Mayan city in Belize, located in the Belize District about north of Belize City and about west of the shore of the Caribbean Sea. The site covers an area of about . Stones from the ruins of ...

* 4 December 584-?: Til Man K'inich

La Amelia La Amelia is a Pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site near Itzan, in the lower Pasión River region of the Petén Department of Guatemala. It formed a polity in the Late Classic (AD 600 to 830), and was involved in the war between Tikal and Ca ...

Bonampak

Calakmul

The kings of Calakmul were known as ''k'uhul kan

ajaw Ajaw or Ahau ('Lord') is a pre-Columbian Maya political title attested from epigraphic inscriptions. It is also the name of the 20th day of the ''tzolkʼin'', the Maya divinatory calendar, on which a ruler's ''kʼatun''-ending rituals would fal ...

ob'' () ("Divine Lords of the Snake Kingdom").Braswell et al. 2005, p.162. This list is not continuous, as the archaeological record is incomplete. All dates AD.

Cancuén Cancuén is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located in the Pasión subregion of the central Maya lowlands in the present-day Guatemalan Department of Petén. The city is notable for having one of the largest palace ...

Caracol Caracol is a large ancient Maya archaeological site, located in what is now the Cayo District, of Belize. It is situated approximately south of Xunantunich, and the town of San Ignacio, and from the Macal River. It rests on the Vaca Plateau, ...

Cobá Coba ( es, Cobá) is an ancient Maya city on the Yucatán Peninsula, located in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The site is the nexus of the largest network of stone causeways of the ancient Maya world, and it contains many engraved and sculp ...

Copán Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. This ancient Maya city mirrors the beauty of the physical landscape in which it flourished—a fert ...

(Note:Despite the sparse references to previous rulers in Copán, the first safe reference is from 426. All the rulers, with the exception of the last one, appear in the called

Altar Q An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganism ...

La Corona La Corona is the name given by archaeologists to an ancient Maya court residence in Guatemala's Petén department that was discovered in 1996, and later identified as the long-sought "Site Q", the source of a long series of unprovenanced limest ...

* c.520-544: Chak Took Ich'aak * c.658: Chak Naahb Kaan * 667-679: K'inich Yook * ?: Chak Ak'aach Took * c.721: Yajaw Te' K'inich

Dos Pilas Dos Pilas is a Pre-Columbian site of the Maya civilization located in what is now the department of Petén, Guatemala. It dates to the Late Classic Period, and was founded by an offshoot of the dynasty of the great city of Tikal in AD 62 ...

Dzibilchaltun Dzibilchaltún ( Yucatec: Ts'íibil Cháaltun, ) is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Yucatán, approximately north of state capital of Mérida. Location In the view of modern researchers, the ancient builders of Dzibilcha ...

* c.800: Ukuw Chan Chaak

Ek' Balam

* Ukit Kan Leʼk Tokʼ

Edzná Edzná is a Maya archaeological site in the north of the Mexican state of Campeche. The site is open to visitors since the 1970s. The most remarkable building at the site is the main temple located at the plaza. Built on a platform 40 m high ...

* Unen-K'awiil (c. 620-638) * Sihyaj Chan K'awiil (c. 636–649) * Kal-Chan-Chaak (649-662) * B'aah Pahk (662-672), wife of the former * Janaab Yook K'inich (672–692) * Hul Janaab Chanek (692-c. 710) * Chan Chawaj (c.711-731) * Aj-Koht-Chowa-Nahkaan (c. 805–850) * Pdrich (850-860s) * Ajan (c.869)

La Florida

* ?: Sihyaj Chan K'awiil * ?: Aj Pat Chan * ?: Chakaj Chaak * c.677: Bahlam K'awiil * c.681: K'ahk Ti' Kuy * ?: Uh Ti' Kuy * c.700: Tahn Tuun Chaak * c.731: Lady Chaak * 731-766: K'ahk Chan Yopaat * c.790: A king, depicted in Stela 1

Holmul Holmul is a pre-Columbian archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the northeastern Petén Basin region in Guatemala near the modern-day border with Belize. Location In spite of its relatively modest size, Holmul was important to ...

(Note: No known dates) * ?: Och Chan Yopaat * ?: Sakhb Chan Yopaat Makcha * ?: K’inich Tacal Tun * ?: Vilaan Chak Tok Vakhab

Ixkun Ixkun (Ixcún or Ixkún in Spanish orthography) is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site, situated in the Petén Basin region of the southern Maya lowlands. It lies to the north of the town of Dolores, in the modern-day department of Petén, ...

Ixtutz Ixtutz () was an important Classic Period Maya city located south of Ixkun in southeastern Petén, Guatemala. Ixtutz is situated in the valley of the Poxte River in the western portion of the Maya Mountains. The site was inhabited during the Pr ...

* c.780:Zender, p.4. Aj Yaxjal B’aak

Machaquila Machaquila (or Machaquilá, using Spanish orthography) is a major ruined city of the Maya civilization in what is now the El Peten department of Guatemala. Location The ruins of Machaquila fall within the municipality of Poptún, in the Petén ...

La Mar La Mar, also known by its Maya name Rabbit Stone, is the modern name for a ruined city of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization located in the state of Chiapas in Mexico. During the 8th century AD, it was an ally of the nearby center Piedras Negras ...

* 781-?:

Parrot Chaak Parrot Chaak was a ruler of La Mar, an ancient Maya settlement in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Biography Parrot Chaak ascended to the throne of La Mar in 725 AD. An important mention of Parrot Chaak is found on Stela 12 at Piedras Negras. The ...

Moral Reforma

* 662-after 690: Muwaan Jol, ascended under king Yuknoom of Calakmul; however, in 690, ascended once again under the king of Palenque.

Motul de San José Motul may refer to: * Motul (company) Motul S.A. is a global French company which manufactures, develops and distributes lubricants for engines (motorcycles, cars and other vehicles) and for industry. History Founded in 1853 in New York, the ...

* 701-c.710: Yichte K'inich I * c.700–725:

Sak Muwaan Sak Muwaan was a king of the Maya city Motul de San José in Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by ...

* c.725–735: Tayel Chan K'inich * ?: Sihyaj K'awiil * c.742–755: Yajaw Teʼ Kʼinich (son of Sak Muwaan) * c.755–779:

Lamaw Ek' Lamaw, also known as buko lamaw, is a Filipino dessert or beverage made from scraped young coconut meat (''buko'') in coconut water with milk and sugar (or condensed milk), and saltines or biscuits. Variations can add ingredients like peanuts, ...

Naranjo Naranjo is a Pre-Columbian Maya city in the Petén Basin region of Guatemala. It was occupied from about 500 BC to 950 AD, with its height in the Late Classic Period. The site is part of Yaxha-Nakum-Naranjo National Park. The city lies along the ...

Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya language, Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamhaʼ ("Big Water or Big Waters"), was a Maya city City-state, state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins dat ...

Mythological and legendary rulers

* ?-Muwaan Mat c.2325 BC * Uk'ix Chan c.987 BC *

Casper Casper may refer to: People * Casper (given name) * Casper (surname) * Casper (Maya ruler) (422–487?), ruler of the Mayan city of Palenque * Tok Casper, first known king of Maya city-state Quiriguá in Guatemala, ruling beginning in 426 * David ...

c.252 BC

Historical rulers

El Perú , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

* 672–692: Lady K'abel

Piedras Negras Piedras Negras may refer to: * Piedras Negras, Coahuila, a city in the state of Coahuila, Mexico ** Piedras Negras Municipality, a municipality in Mexico, with the center in the eponymous city * Piedras Negras (Maya site), an archaeological site of ...

Pusilha Pusilhá is an archaeological site in Belize. The location of this Late Classic Maya urban complex, along the east and west flow of trade, made the city a major transfer point for economic activities in the whole region. In addition, the city gave ...

* c.569–595: K’awiil Chan K’inich (this first ruler and dynasty probably descended from the first dynasty of

Naranjo Naranjo is a Pre-Columbian Maya city in the Petén Basin region of Guatemala. It was occupied from about 500 BC to 950 AD, with its height in the Late Classic Period. The site is part of Yaxha-Nakum-Naranjo National Park. The city lies along the ...

) * c.595–650: K’ahk U’ Ti’ Chan * c.650–670: Muyal Naah K’ukhul K’ahk’ U’ * c.670–680: '' Ruler D'' * c.680–710: '' Ruler E'' * c.710–731: Lady Ich’aak K’inich * c.731–750: K’ahk Chan (began a new line of rulers) * c.750–768: K’ahk Kalav * c.768-c.800?: K’awiil Chan

Quiriguá Quiriguá () is an ancient Maya archaeological site in the department of Izabal in south-eastern Guatemala. It is a medium-sized site covering approximately along the lower Motagua River, with the ceremonial center about from the north bank. ...

Río Azul Río Azul is an archaeological site of the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is the most important site in the Río Azul National Park in the Petén Department of northern Guatemala, close to the borders of Mexico and Belize. Río Azul is s ...

* '' Ruler X'', not yet satisfactorily deciphered.

Sacul

* c.760–790:Laporte et al 2006, p.222. Ch'iyel

Plan de Ayutla A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a temporal set of intended actions through which one expects to achieve a goal. F ...

Seibal Seibal (), known as El Ceibal in Spanish, is a Classic Period archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the northern Petén Department of Guatemala, about 100 km SW of Tikal. It was the largest city in the Pasión River region ...

Tamarindito Tamarindito is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located along an escarpment in the Petén department of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Petexbatún region of the southwestern Petén during the Early Classic period but ...

Teotihuacan Teotihuacan (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Teotihuacán'') (; ) is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, northeast of modern-day Mexico City. Teotihuacan is ...

* c.378:

Spearthrower Owl "Spearthrower Owl" is the name commonly given to a Mesoamerican personage from the Early Classic period, who is identified in Maya inscriptions and iconography. Mayanist David Stuart has suggested that Spearthrower Owl was a ruler of Teotihuacan ...

, ruled when his son took over

Tikal Tikal () (''Tik’al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Co ...

Tikal Tikal () (''Tik’al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Co ...

The dynastic line of Tikal, founded as early as the 1st century AD, spanned 800 years and included at least 33 rulers.

Toniná Tonina (or Toniná in Spanish orthography) is a pre-Columbian archaeological site and ruined city of the Maya civilization located in what is now the Mexican state of Chiapas, some 13 km (8.1 mi) east of the town of Ocosingo. The site ...

Ucanal Ucanal is an archaeological site of the ancient Maya civilization. It is located near the source of the Belize River in the Petén department of present-day northern Guatemala. Location Ucanal is located inside a bend of the Mopan River. It is a ...

* Itzamnaaj Bahlam, ruled at least between 698 and 702.

Xultun Xultún is a large Maya archaeological site located 40 km northeast of Tikal and 8 km south of the smaller Preclassic site of San Bartolo in northern Guatemala. Site The site, which once supported a considerable population, has a 35 m t ...

* Yax We'nel Chan K'inich, depicted in a mural of a Late Classic room, 10K2

Yaxchilan Yaxchilan () is an ancient Maya city located on the bank of the Usumacinta River in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. In the Late Classic Period Yaxchilan was one of the most powerful Maya states along the course of the Usumacinta River, with Piedra ...

Yaxha Yaxha (or Yaxhá in Spanish orthography) is a Mesoamerican archaeological site in the northeast of the Petén Basin region, and a former ceremonial centre and city of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. Yaxha was the third largest city in the reg ...

* c.799:Sharer and Traxler 2006, p. 688. K'inich Lakamtuun

Yo'okop

* c.570: Na Chaʼak Kab, a ''Kaloomte'' that may have ruled under the overlord

Sky Witness Sky Witness is a British pay television tv channel, channel owned and operated by Sky Limited, Sky, a division of Comcast. The channel primarily broadcasts drama shows from the United States, aimed at the 18–45 age group. An Italian version ...

from Calakmul or Dzoyola.

Yootz

* 14 January 713–730: Yajawte K’inich * c.730-750: K’ahk’ Yohl K’inich * c.750-760: Taxin Chan

El Zapote EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

* c.404?: K’ahk Bahlam * c.439: Chan K’awiil

Zapote Bobal Zapote Bobal is the modern name for a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site located south of the San Pedro Martir river in the Petén department of Guatemala. The name ''Zapote Bobal'' was coined by archaeologist Ian Graham, who discovered the ...

* ?: Yukul K’awiil * ?: Ti’ K’awiil * ?-559: Chan Ahk * c.660: Janaab Ti’O * ?-23 IV 663: Itzamnaaj Ahk

Known rulers of Mayan city-states in the Post-Classic Period

Chichen Itzá

* c.869–890: K’ak’upakal K’awiil, possibly ruler or a high-ranked official * c.930–950: Ak-Holtun-Bahlam I * ?-1047: Ak-Holtun-Bahlam II * 1047-?: Poshek Ix Soi * c.1194: Canek

Cocom The Cocom or Cocomes were a Maya family or dynasty who controlled the Yucatán Peninsula in the late Postclassic period. Their capital was at Mayapan. The dynasty was founded by Hunac Ceel, and was overthrown sometime between 1440 and 1441 by Ah ...
dynasty

Hunac Ceel Hunac Ceel Cauich (fl. late 12th and early 13th centuries) was a Maya general from Telchaquillo who conquered Chichen Itzá and founded the Cocom dynasty. While the rulers of Chichen Itzá were in part descendants of Toltec outsiders who might ...

, general who conquered the city in the 12th–13th century, and founded a new ruling family.

Iximche Iximcheʼ () (or Iximché using Spanish orthography) is a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site in the western highlands of Guatemala. Iximche was the capital of the Late Postclassic Kaqchikel Maya kingdom from 1470 until its abandon ...

Izamal Izamal () is a small city in the Mexican state of Yucatán, east of state capital Mérida, in southern Mexico. Izamal was continuously occupied throughout most of Mesoamerican chronology; in 2000, the city's estimated population was 15,000 peo ...

* c.1000?:

Ah Ulil Ah Ulil or more commonly Ulil was a Maya ruler of Izamal during the eleventh century. Before Ulil was born his uncle, Ah Tunal saw the invasion of Chichen Itza by the Toltecs. They were led by Ce Acatl Topiltzin, referred to in Maya mythology as K ...

Mixco Viejo Mixco Viejo () ("Old Mixco"), occasionally spelt Mixcu Viejo, is an archaeological site in the north east of the Chimaltenango department of Guatemala, some to the north of Guatemala City and from the junction of the rivers Pixcaya and Mo ...

Q'umarkaj

* c.1225–1250: Bahlam Kitze * c.1250–1275: Kʼokʼoja * c.1275–1300: E Tzʼikin * c.1300–1325: Ajkan * c.1325–1350: Kʼokaibʼ * c.1350–1375: Kʼonache * c.1375–1400: Kʼotuja * c.1400–1435: Quqʼkumatz * c.1435–1475: Kʼiqʼabʼ * c.1475–1500: Vahxakʼ i-Kaam * c.1500–1524: Oxib Keh

Uxmal Uxmal (Yucatec Maya: ''Óoxmáal'' ) is an ancient Maya city of the classical period located in present-day Mexico. It is considered one of the most important archaeological sites of Maya culture, along with Palenque, Chichen Itza and Calakmul i ...

This city is here included because, despite of being founded in the Classic period, attained the peak of its influence already in the Post Classic.

Tutul Xiu dynasty

* c.500: Hun Uitzil Chac, founded the kingdom in year 500. * ?: Ah Suytok * c.890–910: K’ahk Pulaj Chan Chaak * 987–1007: Ak Mekat * 1441–1461:

Ah Xiu Xupan Ah Xiu Xupan (Maya glyphs ) was the last known ruler of the Mayan chiefdom of Tutul-Xiu when it was part of the League of Mayapan. In 1441, Ah Xiu Xupan, who was the great ruler of Uxmal at that time, was given the task of starting a w ...

Symbols of power

Succession

Expansion

Responsibilities

Known rulers of Mayan city-states in the Classic Period

Aguas Calientes

Aguateca Aguateca is a Maya site located in northern Guatemala's Petexbatun Basin, in the department of Petén. The first settlements at Aguateca date to the Late Preclassic period (300 BC - AD 350). The center was occupied from about 200 B.C. until ...

Altun Ha Altun Ha is the name given to the ruins of an ancient Mayan city in Belize, located in the Belize District about north of Belize City and about west of the shore of the Caribbean Sea. The site covers an area of about . Stones from the ruins of ...

La Amelia La Amelia is a Pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site near Itzan, in the lower Pasión River region of the Petén Department of Guatemala. It formed a polity in the Late Classic (AD 600 to 830), and was involved in the war between Tikal and Ca ...

Bonampak

Calakmul

Cancuén Cancuén is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located in the Pasión subregion of the central Maya lowlands in the present-day Guatemalan Department of Petén. The city is notable for having one of the largest palace ...

Caracol Caracol is a large ancient Maya archaeological site, located in what is now the Cayo District, of Belize. It is situated approximately south of Xunantunich, and the town of San Ignacio, and from the Macal River. It rests on the Vaca Plateau, ...

Cobá Coba ( es, Cobá) is an ancient Maya city on the Yucatán Peninsula, located in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The site is the nexus of the largest network of stone causeways of the ancient Maya world, and it contains many engraved and sculp ...

Copán Copán is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization in the Copán Department of western Honduras, not far from the border with Guatemala. This ancient Maya city mirrors the beauty of the physical landscape in which it flourished—a fert ...

La Corona La Corona is the name given by archaeologists to an ancient Maya court residence in Guatemala's Petén department that was discovered in 1996, and later identified as the long-sought "Site Q", the source of a long series of unprovenanced limest ...

Dos Pilas Dos Pilas is a Pre-Columbian site of the Maya civilization located in what is now the department of Petén, Guatemala. It dates to the Late Classic Period, and was founded by an offshoot of the dynasty of the great city of Tikal in AD 62 ...

Dzibilchaltun Dzibilchaltún ( Yucatec: Ts'íibil Cháaltun, ) is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Yucatán, approximately north of state capital of Mérida. Location In the view of modern researchers, the ancient builders of Dzibilcha ...

Edzná Edzná is a Maya archaeological site in the north of the Mexican state of Campeche. The site is open to visitors since the 1970s. The most remarkable building at the site is the main temple located at the plaza. Built on a platform 40 m high ...

La Florida

Holmul Holmul is a pre-Columbian archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the northeastern Petén Basin region in Guatemala near the modern-day border with Belize. Location In spite of its relatively modest size, Holmul was important to ...

Ixkun Ixkun (Ixcún or Ixkún in Spanish orthography) is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site, situated in the Petén Basin region of the southern Maya lowlands. It lies to the north of the town of Dolores, in the modern-day department of Petén, ...

Ixtutz Ixtutz () was an important Classic Period Maya city located south of Ixkun in southeastern Petén, Guatemala. Ixtutz is situated in the valley of the Poxte River in the western portion of the Maya Mountains. The site was inhabited during the Pr ...

Machaquila Machaquila (or Machaquilá, using Spanish orthography) is a major ruined city of the Maya civilization in what is now the El Peten department of Guatemala. Location The ruins of Machaquila fall within the municipality of Poptún, in the Petén ...

La Mar La Mar, also known by its Maya name Rabbit Stone, is the modern name for a ruined city of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization located in the state of Chiapas in Mexico. During the 8th century AD, it was an ally of the nearby center Piedras Negras ...

Motul de San José Motul may refer to: * Motul (company) Motul S.A. is a global French company which manufactures, develops and distributes lubricants for engines (motorcycles, cars and other vehicles) and for industry. History Founded in 1853 in New York, the ...

Naranjo Naranjo is a Pre-Columbian Maya city in the Petén Basin region of Guatemala. It was occupied from about 500 BC to 950 AD, with its height in the Late Classic Period. The site is part of Yaxha-Nakum-Naranjo National Park. The city lies along the ...

Palenque Palenque (; Yucatec Maya language, Yucatec Maya: ), also anciently known in the Itza Language as Lakamhaʼ ("Big Water or Big Waters"), was a Maya city City-state, state in southern Mexico that perished in the 8th century. The Palenque ruins dat ...

Mythological and legendary rulers

Historical rulers

El Perú , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Piedras Negras Piedras Negras may refer to: * Piedras Negras, Coahuila, a city in the state of Coahuila, Mexico ** Piedras Negras Municipality, a municipality in Mexico, with the center in the eponymous city * Piedras Negras (Maya site), an archaeological site of ...

Pusilha Pusilhá is an archaeological site in Belize. The location of this Late Classic Maya urban complex, along the east and west flow of trade, made the city a major transfer point for economic activities in the whole region. In addition, the city gave ...

Quiriguá Quiriguá () is an ancient Maya archaeological site in the department of Izabal in south-eastern Guatemala. It is a medium-sized site covering approximately along the lower Motagua River, with the ceremonial center about from the north bank. ...

Río Azul Río Azul is an archaeological site of the Pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is the most important site in the Río Azul National Park in the Petén Department of northern Guatemala, close to the borders of Mexico and Belize. Río Azul is s ...

Plan de Ayutla A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a temporal set of intended actions through which one expects to achieve a goal. F ...

Seibal Seibal (), known as El Ceibal in Spanish, is a Classic Period archaeological site of the Maya civilization located in the northern Petén Department of Guatemala, about 100 km SW of Tikal. It was the largest city in the Pasión River region ...

Tamarindito Tamarindito is an archaeological site of the Maya civilization located along an escarpment in the Petén department of Guatemala. The city was the capital of the Petexbatún region of the southwestern Petén during the Early Classic period but ...

Teotihuacan Teotihuacan (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Teotihuacán'') (; ) is an ancient Mesoamerican city located in a sub-valley of the Valley of Mexico, which is located in the State of Mexico, northeast of modern-day Mexico City. Teotihuacan is ...

Tikal Tikal () (''Tik’al'' in modern Mayan orthography) is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Co ...

Toniná Tonina (or Toniná in Spanish orthography) is a pre-Columbian archaeological site and ruined city of the Maya civilization located in what is now the Mexican state of Chiapas, some 13 km (8.1 mi) east of the town of Ocosingo. The site ...

Ucanal Ucanal is an archaeological site of the ancient Maya civilization. It is located near the source of the Belize River in the Petén department of present-day northern Guatemala. Location Ucanal is located inside a bend of the Mopan River. It is a ...

Xultun Xultún is a large Maya archaeological site located 40 km northeast of Tikal and 8 km south of the smaller Preclassic site of San Bartolo in northern Guatemala. Site The site, which once supported a considerable population, has a 35 m t ...

Yaxchilan Yaxchilan () is an ancient Maya city located on the bank of the Usumacinta River in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. In the Late Classic Period Yaxchilan was one of the most powerful Maya states along the course of the Usumacinta River, with Piedra ...

Yaxha Yaxha (or Yaxhá in Spanish orthography) is a Mesoamerican archaeological site in the northeast of the Petén Basin region, and a former ceremonial centre and city of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. Yaxha was the third largest city in the reg ...

El Zapote EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American po ...

Zapote Bobal Zapote Bobal is the modern name for a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site located south of the San Pedro Martir river in the Petén department of Guatemala. The name ''Zapote Bobal'' was coined by archaeologist Ian Graham, who discovered the ...

Known rulers of Mayan city-states in the Post-Classic Period

Cocom The Cocom or Cocomes were a Maya family or dynasty who controlled the Yucatán Peninsula in the late Postclassic period. Their capital was at Mayapan. The dynasty was founded by Hunac Ceel, and was overthrown sometime between 1440 and 1441 by Ah ... dynasty

Iximche Iximcheʼ () (or Iximché using Spanish orthography) is a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site in the western highlands of Guatemala. Iximche was the capital of the Late Postclassic Kaqchikel Maya kingdom from 1470 until its abandon ...

Izamal Izamal () is a small city in the Mexican state of Yucatán, east of state capital Mérida, in southern Mexico. Izamal was continuously occupied throughout most of Mesoamerican chronology; in 2000, the city's estimated population was 15,000 peo ...

Mixco Viejo Mixco Viejo () ("Old Mixco"), occasionally spelt Mixcu Viejo, is an archaeological site in the north east of the Chimaltenango department of Guatemala, some to the north of Guatemala City and from the junction of the rivers Pixcaya and Mo ...

Uxmal Uxmal (Yucatec Maya: ''Óoxmáal'' ) is an ancient Maya city of the classical period located in present-day Mexico. It is considered one of the most important archaeological sites of Maya culture, along with Palenque, Chichen Itza and Calakmul i ...

See also

References

Further reading

Cocom The Cocom or Cocomes were a Maya family or dynasty who controlled the Yucatán Peninsula in the late Postclassic period. Their capital was at Mayapan. The dynasty was founded by Hunac Ceel, and was overthrown sometime between 1440 and 1441 by Ah ...
dynasty