Tutul-Xiu, also Tutul Xiues or Mani, was the name of a

Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

chiefdom of the central

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 ...

with capital in Maní, before the arrival of the

Spanish conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

in the sixteenth century.

Earlier history

In later accounts the Cocum family are stated to have founded

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 o ...

in the

. However earlier accounts state that the earliest rulers were the Xiu. They held dominance in the settlement for the first century of its existence (c. 1180-1280). This period is marked by an increasing number of

stelae A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

being dedicated to mark the end of k'atun periods, perhaps inspired by practices in the city of

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 ...

. During this time Mayapan worked cooperatively with Uxmal and also Chichen Itza, which by this point had entered its decline. The Xiu gradually lost control of Mayapan, which was in the hands of the Cocom and their Canul mercenaries by 1300. In c. 1400 the Cocom expelled a large number of Xiu from the settlement. However the Xiu plotted revenge and in 1441 revolted against the Cocom. One party, led by

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 ...

and assisted by mercenaries from elsewhere in

Pre-Columbian Mexico The pre-Columbian (or prehispanic) history of the territory now making up the country of Mexico is known through the work of archaeologists and epigraphers, and through the accounts of Spanish conquistadores, settlers and clergymen as well as ...

, killed all members of the Cocom in Mayapan. There was only one significant survivor of that family, who was away on a trading mission. Archaeological excavations have shown evidence of burnt structures, ceremonial deposits and human bones from this period. The destruction led to the decline of the cities of Northern Yucatán. The leading families of Mayapan left to found new settlements and Yucatán fragmented into 18 petty kingdoms. The Chel established themselves at

Tecoh Tecoh is a town and the municipal seat of the Tecoh Municipality, Yucatán in Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the ...

, the surviving Cocom at Tibolon and the Xiu at

Mani Mani may refer to: Geography * Maní, Casanare, a town and municipality in Casanare Department, Colombia * Mani, Chad, a town and sub-prefecture in Chad * Mani, Evros, a village in northeastern Greece * Mani, Karnataka, a village in Dakshi ...

During the Spanish conquest

The Xiu were among the most willing allies of the Spanish, who counted the Capul and Cocom among their fiercest opponents. The Xiu later claimed to have submitted to the Spanish because of prophecies foretelling their arrival but their cooperation seems to have been motivated by the possibility of Spanish assistance against the Cocom, as the rivalry had intensified. The first ambassadors from the Xiu met with Spanish conquistador

Francisco de Montejo the Younger Francisco de Montejo y León (; 1508 – 8 February 1565), known as "the Younger" (), was a Spanish conquistador, who in 1542 founded the city of Mérida, capital of State of Yucatán, Mexico. The son of Francisco de Montejo, ca. June 1527 he ...

at Tuchi-caan, around 1539. In 1547 a Spanish mission was established at Mani, the Xiu capital. The Mani Land Treaty of 1557 resolved a border dispute between the Xiu of Mani, the Cocom of

Sotuta Sotuta is a small town and municipality of the Mexican state of Yucatán, and also was the name of a Mayan chiefdom of the northern central Yucatán Peninsula, before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century. See also * A ...

and the Copul.

References

Mayan chiefdoms of the Yucatán Peninsula 1441 establishments in North America 15th-century establishments in the Maya civilization 1547 disestablishments in North America 16th-century disestablishments in the Maya civilization {{Mexico-hist-stub