Territory of the Mopan Maya Aikal (
Mopan Mayan) | |
---|---|
c. 950–1720s | |
![]() Location of the Mopan Territory in the 17th century / marked in light grey, including Chinamita and Muzul Territories / 2023 map based mostly on Becquey 2012 and Feldman 2000 / via Commons | |
Status | Dissolved |
Capital | Mopan / likely now San Luis |
Common languages | Mopan Mayan |
Religion | Maya polytheism |
Demonym(s) | Mopan; Aycal |
Government | Confederacy of settlements with aristocratic and theocratic features |
Leader | |
• ca 1697 | Taxim Chan / last known |
Historical era | Postclassic to Precolonial |
• Established | c. 950 |
• Disestablished | 1720s |
Population | |
• ca 1692 | 10,000–20,000 / estimate |
Today part of | Belize; Guatemala |
Native name per
Jones 1998, p. 21, based on historical name per
Thompson 1976, p. 100 and
Jones 1977, p. 5. Founding and dissolution dates per
Thompson 2019, p. 156 and
Jones 1998, p. 420. Map based mostly on
Becquey 2012, maps 3, 6 and
Feldman 2000, p. xvii. Capital per
Jones 1998, pp. 19, 21–22, 433. Common language per
Thompson 2019, p. 156 and
Thompson 1988, p. 39. Demonyms per
von Houwald 1984, p. 263. Government per
Jones 1998, pp. 20–21. Leader per
von Houwald 1984, pp. 266–267. Population estimate per
Schwartz 1990, p. 35. |
The Mopan Territory, historically also known as Aycal, was a Postclassic polity of the former Maya Lowlands, in present-day Belize and Guatemala.
The Territory 'lay immediately north of the Manche Chol [Territory] and southeast of Lake Peten,' with the modern town of San Luis, Peten, as the most likely site of ancient Mopan. [1] Though its full extent remains 'virtually unknown,' the Territory is thought to have stretched north along the Mopan River, thereby encompassing the Chinamita Territory, and east to the Sittee and Sibun Rivers, thereby encompassing the Muzul Territory. [2] This would situate the Territory directly south of Dzuluinicob, southeast of the Peten Itza Kingdom, east of Lacandon territory, and north and west of Manche Chol Territory. The aforementioned Kingdom, in particular, is thought to have held marked political, cultural, or spiritual influence over the Territory. [3] [note 1]
Classic city-states in what would later become the Mopan Territory are believed to have met their political and demographic demise during the mid-eighth and mid-ninth centuries of the Classic Maya collapse, with only residual hinterland settlements remaining afterwards. [4] [note 2]
The earliest Spanish arrival to the Territory may have been Hernán Cortés, who in 1525 is thought to have crossed its northeastern portion. [5] The earliest Spanish military campaign into the Territory may have been the 1543–1544 Pachecos entrada, which failed due to timely intercession of Dominican friars. The Dominicans' early proselytising efforts in the Territory 'were notably unsuccessful,' though. [6] This prompted more determined activity beginning in the 1570s, which 'continued throughout the next century.' [7] [note 3]
Some or much of the Territory was reportedly attacked by the Peten Itza Kingdom en los últimos años antes de la llegada de los españoles, 'in the last years before the [1697] arrival of the Spanish [to Tayasal],' the latter purportedly seeking to conquer the former. [8] [note 4] This is naturally thought to have strained Mopan–Itza relations. [9]
The Spanish conquest of Peten resulted in the western portion of the Territory being 'militarily bludgeoned into submission at the end of the seventeenth century.' [10] Coincident and ensuing reducciones throughout the Territory forcibly removed most residents to the newly-Spanish Peten by the 1720s. [11] [note 5]
The Territory was dotted by dispersed, riverine hamlets, each consisting of one or a few families of Mopan speakers. [12] Settlements are thought to have shown 'little evidence of wealth,' for instance, with 'generally a hut of regular house type, although somewhat larger, serv[ing] as the temple.' [13] Despite this, the hamlets are thought to have been organised into various lineage groups which, in turn, 'clearly constitute[d] an identifiable "people" or larger "nation" living in a contiguous region.' [14] [note 6]
The earliest description of the Territory in print is thought to have appeared in the 1688 Historia de Yucathan by Diego López de Cogolludo, who credited this information to Bartolomé de Fuensalida, a Franciscan friar who himself likely first got it from an Itza delegation to Tipu in 1618. [15] Scholarship has advanced little since then, however. As of 2009, the state of archaeological and archival research on the Territory was deemed 'poor,' with the former Mopans described as a people who remain virtually unknown materially and geopolitically except for documentary references or linguistic reconstructions. [16] [note 7]
The Territory's residents are deemed the main ancestors of the modern Mopan Maya people of Belize and Guatemala.
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cite book}}
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ignored (
help)
Territory of the Mopan Maya Aikal (
Mopan Mayan) | |
---|---|
c. 950–1720s | |
![]() Location of the Mopan Territory in the 17th century / marked in light grey, including Chinamita and Muzul Territories / 2023 map based mostly on Becquey 2012 and Feldman 2000 / via Commons | |
Status | Dissolved |
Capital | Mopan / likely now San Luis |
Common languages | Mopan Mayan |
Religion | Maya polytheism |
Demonym(s) | Mopan; Aycal |
Government | Confederacy of settlements with aristocratic and theocratic features |
Leader | |
• ca 1697 | Taxim Chan / last known |
Historical era | Postclassic to Precolonial |
• Established | c. 950 |
• Disestablished | 1720s |
Population | |
• ca 1692 | 10,000–20,000 / estimate |
Today part of | Belize; Guatemala |
Native name per
Jones 1998, p. 21, based on historical name per
Thompson 1976, p. 100 and
Jones 1977, p. 5. Founding and dissolution dates per
Thompson 2019, p. 156 and
Jones 1998, p. 420. Map based mostly on
Becquey 2012, maps 3, 6 and
Feldman 2000, p. xvii. Capital per
Jones 1998, pp. 19, 21–22, 433. Common language per
Thompson 2019, p. 156 and
Thompson 1988, p. 39. Demonyms per
von Houwald 1984, p. 263. Government per
Jones 1998, pp. 20–21. Leader per
von Houwald 1984, pp. 266–267. Population estimate per
Schwartz 1990, p. 35. |
The Mopan Territory, historically also known as Aycal, was a Postclassic polity of the former Maya Lowlands, in present-day Belize and Guatemala.
The Territory 'lay immediately north of the Manche Chol [Territory] and southeast of Lake Peten,' with the modern town of San Luis, Peten, as the most likely site of ancient Mopan. [1] Though its full extent remains 'virtually unknown,' the Territory is thought to have stretched north along the Mopan River, thereby encompassing the Chinamita Territory, and east to the Sittee and Sibun Rivers, thereby encompassing the Muzul Territory. [2] This would situate the Territory directly south of Dzuluinicob, southeast of the Peten Itza Kingdom, east of Lacandon territory, and north and west of Manche Chol Territory. The aforementioned Kingdom, in particular, is thought to have held marked political, cultural, or spiritual influence over the Territory. [3] [note 1]
Classic city-states in what would later become the Mopan Territory are believed to have met their political and demographic demise during the mid-eighth and mid-ninth centuries of the Classic Maya collapse, with only residual hinterland settlements remaining afterwards. [4] [note 2]
The earliest Spanish arrival to the Territory may have been Hernán Cortés, who in 1525 is thought to have crossed its northeastern portion. [5] The earliest Spanish military campaign into the Territory may have been the 1543–1544 Pachecos entrada, which failed due to timely intercession of Dominican friars. The Dominicans' early proselytising efforts in the Territory 'were notably unsuccessful,' though. [6] This prompted more determined activity beginning in the 1570s, which 'continued throughout the next century.' [7] [note 3]
Some or much of the Territory was reportedly attacked by the Peten Itza Kingdom en los últimos años antes de la llegada de los españoles, 'in the last years before the [1697] arrival of the Spanish [to Tayasal],' the latter purportedly seeking to conquer the former. [8] [note 4] This is naturally thought to have strained Mopan–Itza relations. [9]
The Spanish conquest of Peten resulted in the western portion of the Territory being 'militarily bludgeoned into submission at the end of the seventeenth century.' [10] Coincident and ensuing reducciones throughout the Territory forcibly removed most residents to the newly-Spanish Peten by the 1720s. [11] [note 5]
The Territory was dotted by dispersed, riverine hamlets, each consisting of one or a few families of Mopan speakers. [12] Settlements are thought to have shown 'little evidence of wealth,' for instance, with 'generally a hut of regular house type, although somewhat larger, serv[ing] as the temple.' [13] Despite this, the hamlets are thought to have been organised into various lineage groups which, in turn, 'clearly constitute[d] an identifiable "people" or larger "nation" living in a contiguous region.' [14] [note 6]
The earliest description of the Territory in print is thought to have appeared in the 1688 Historia de Yucathan by Diego López de Cogolludo, who credited this information to Bartolomé de Fuensalida, a Franciscan friar who himself likely first got it from an Itza delegation to Tipu in 1618. [15] Scholarship has advanced little since then, however. As of 2009, the state of archaeological and archival research on the Territory was deemed 'poor,' with the former Mopans described as a people who remain virtually unknown materially and geopolitically except for documentary references or linguistic reconstructions. [16] [note 7]
The Territory's residents are deemed the main ancestors of the modern Mopan Maya people of Belize and Guatemala.
{{
cite book}}
: |journal=
ignored (
help)