Hocabá-Homún, Hokabá-Homún or Hocabá was the name of a

Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...

Kuchkabal A ( , , 'province,' 'state,' 'polity') was a system of social and political organisation common to Maya polities of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Maya Lowlands, during the Mesoamerican_chronology#Postclassic_Period, Mesoamerican Postclas ...

of the northwestern

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula ( , ; ) is a large peninsula in southeast 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 C ...

, before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century.

Etymology

The name Hocabá-Homún is derived from the name of the two main cities of the country, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the two cities were joined into one urban area. Hocabá (''Hó'kabá'' in Yucatec) means five (''Hó'') earth (''kab'') water (''á'').

History

Pre-Independence

''See also

Toltec Empire The Toltec Empire'', ''Toltec Kingdom or Altepetl Tollan was a political entity in pre-Hispanic Mexico. It existed through the classic and post-classic periods of Mesoamerican chronology, but gained most of its power in the post-classic. During t ...

'' ''See also

League of Mayapan The League of Mayapan ( Yucatec: Luub Mayapan Maya glyphs: ) was a confederation of Maya states in the Postclassic period of Mesoamerica on the Yucatan Peninsula. The main members of the league were the Itza, the Tutul-Xiu, Mayapan, and U ...

During the ninth century, the

Maya civilization The Maya civilization () was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writin ...

went into decline from overpopulation as part of the

Maya collapse In archaeology, the classic Maya collapse was the destabilization of Classic Maya civilization and the violent collapse and abandonment of many southern lowlands city-states between the 7th and 9th centuries CE. Not all Mayan city-states ...

, The

was divided into several different polities. Around 930 Ce Acatl Topiltzin, Tlatoani of the

conquered Yucatán. Toltec control over the area only lasted forty or fifty years. Around 970 Toltec power began to wane and the peninsula was separated into city states again. In 987 Ah Mekat Tutul Xiu, ruler of

Uxmal Uxmal (Yucatec Maya: ''Óoxmáal'' ) is an ancient Maya civilization, 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 ...

and subsequently

Puuc Puuc is the name of a region in the Mexican state of Yucatán (state), Yucatán and a Maya architecture, Maya architectural style prevalent in that region. The word ''puuc'' is derived from the Maya term for "hill". Since the Yucatán is rel ...

joined the cities of

Mayapan Mayapan (Màyapáan in Yucatec Maya language, Modern Maya; in Spanish language, Spanish Mayapán) is a Pre-Columbian Maya civilization, Maya site a couple of kilometers south of the town of Telchaquillo in Municipality of Tecoh, approximately ...

, and

Chichen Itza Chichén Itzá , , often with the emphasis reversed in English to ; from () "at the mouth of the well of the Itza people, Itza people" (often spelled ''Chichen Itza'' in English and traditional Yucatec Maya) was a large Pre-Columbian era, ...

into a confederation called the

. Over the next twenty years the league grew quickly incorporating the

Cocom The Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (CoCom) was established in 1949 at the beginning of the Cold War to coordinate controls on exports from Western Bloc countries to the Soviet Union and its allies. Operating through inform ...

as then fourth member of the confederation.

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

was the fifth city to join, one of its tributaries,

Tecoh Tecoh is a town and the municipal seat of the Tecoh Municipality, Yucatán in Mexico. Gallery Image:Arco de Tecoh, Town of Tecoh, Yucatan, Mexico.jpg, Arch of Tecoh Image:Tecoh (Tecoh), Yucatán (05).JPG, Tecoh main church: Parroquia de Nuest ...

, was conquered by Kʼakʼupakal one of the four k’ul kokom (rulers) of Chichen Itza, as well as the head of the Itza military. Yawahal Cho Chak and Hun Pik Tok May were two of the other k’ul kokom. The League of Mayapan was the main power in Yucatán until 1441 when a civil war broke out between the Tutul-Xiu and the Cocom. The war led to the destruction of the League in 1461. Although it destroyed the country, the Tutul-Xiues were victorious in killing all the members of the Cocom family except for one who was traveling in

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

when the war broke out.

Post Independence

Like most of the ''Kuchkabalob'' of Yucatán, Hocabá-Homún was a province of the League of Mayapan before 1441. After the League was destroyed its former territory was separated into seventeen polities. These ''Kuchkabalob'' (plural of ''Kuchkabal'' the form of government used by the polities) were mostly

monarchies A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...

although some were

oligarchies Oligarchy (; ) is a form of government in which power rests with a small number of people. Members of this group, called oligarchs, generally hold usually hard, but sometimes soft power through nobility, fame, wealth, or education; or thr ...

. Hocabá-Homún was constantly at war with the surrounding ''Kuchkabalob'',

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 * ...

, Tutul-Xiu (who conquered the Kuchkabal Calotmul), Ah Kin Chel, Ceh Pech, and Chakan. Hocabá-Homún was a monarchy run by a ''Halach Uinik'', the royal family in Hocabá-Homún was the Luit family.

Conquest

The Spaniards attempted to conquer Yucatán three times, only succeeding on the final attempt in 1547. The last

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 beh ...

(ruler) of Hocabá-Homún was Nadzal Luit. In 1549 Hocabá-Homún was one of the countries in north east Yucatán to join a rebellion against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The confederation that was formed after the war lasted only one year, its capital was Zací, a city now named

Valladolid Valladolid ( ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and ''de facto'' capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the pr ...

Government

The ''Kuchkabalob'' were divided into municipalities called ''batalib'' (plural batalibob) each Batalib was ruled by a batab (batabob plural). The ruler of a Kuchkabal was called a

which means "person of fact, person of command". A Halach Uinik was a monarch, but some ''kuchkabalob'' were oligarchies, with batabil having a seat on a senate. As in the case of

Ekab Ekab or Ecab was the name of a Maya civilization, 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 Leag ...

one batalib usually had more powerful batabob. The batabob were normally related to the Halach Uinik. The batalib of Hocabá-Homún were Seyé, Tahmek, Hoctún, Xocchel, Huhí, Homún, Cuzamá and Hocabá.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hocaba-Homun Mayan chiefdoms of the Yucatán Peninsula