Chikinchel

Chiefdoms of Yucatán

Chikinchel (Yucatec Maya: Chikinchel de Chinkín) was the name of a Mayan chiefdom of the northern coast of Yucatán, before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century.[1] Chauacá has also been used to refer to this province, but apparently it was the name of the main city.

After the destruction of Mayapan (1441–1461), in the Yucatán Peninsula, it created rivalries among the Maya, and formed 16 separate jurisdictions, called Kuchkabals. In each Kuchkabal there was a Halach Uinik (Yucatec Maya: Halach Uinik), who was the chief with the most political, judicial, and militaristic authority and lived in a principal city considered the capital of the jurisdiction.

  1. ^ Kepecs, Susan (1999). The political economy of Chikinchel, Yucatán, Mexico: a diachronic analysis from the prehispanic era through the age of Spanish administration. University of Wisconsin--Madison. Retrieved 5 July 2012.