The Political organization of the mayas Flourished especially in the so-called classical period (600 D.C.- 900 D.C.).
The Mayan civilization, is one of the great pre-Columbian societies present in America, being developed mainly in Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Belize.
This civilization is recognized up to the present day thanks in part to various studies, such as astronomy and ecology, in addition to being very good traders, supported mainly by its complex mathematical system.
The Mayan rulers
The Mayas , Like many peoples of antiquity, concentrated much of the power in a person, a kind of king whose power was said to come directly from the gods and the planets, since they claimed to be their direct descendants.
Direct evidence of the hieroglyphs of the classical period has not only told us the names and lives of kings and queens who ruled these states. They have also revealed the nature of the institution of divine royalty at the heart of the classical policies and the complexity of the international that engulfed all the Maya states of the lowlands.
The almost divine power that the kings claimed to have was somewhere between the material and the spiritual world, something like living between two worlds.
Because of their divine character, rulers required a permanent link with the spiritual world, achieved through sacrifices (of their own blood, captives, or one of their followers.), Dances, spiritual trances, and hallucinogenic enemas.
For rulers to exercise"divine"power was part of their duties, as well as participation in public ceremonies, such as ball games.
The succession of the monarchs was generally through the paternal line, but not in all the cases, since, occasionally, the queens ruled when no man of the real line or of age was available.
The Mayan king was prepared from birth to rule, having to go through a large number of initiations and rites.
Being a young man, he was expected to fight and direct battles against rival tribes, since the Monarch was also the general of the armies. Capturing prisoners, particularly of high rank, was something very important and would give great renown.
The ceremony to become king was that the prince should sit in a common jaguar headdress skin made of colorful feathers and shells, while holding his staff.
As for the sacrifices, the king himself was expected to draw blood from his own body after an heir was born, as a sacrifice to his ancestors.
In particular, the other important person in the Mayan power dome was the priest, who performed the ritual activities, sacrifices, divination, astronomical observation, chronological calculations, etc.
Within the priestly unit are included the nacom (who would cut off the heart out of a sacrificial victim), who were assisted by four chacs (deities) and the ahmen (prophet and"the inflictor as well as the healer of diseases").
The clergy played a surprisingly large role in government because of their advice and predictions about future events, in which all rulers took account and the clergy's word was rarely challenged.
Political system in the classic Mayan era
By reaching its classical era, the Maya had a well-developed political system and demonstrated a stable political hierarchy.
Thus, each state had a principle leader named"Ahaw", or king. Just below them were the Batab, who were rulers of small towns and had social, religious, and military duties. They had no salary, but they had the power to preside over a local council of officials called Ah Cuch Cabob.
The so-called"Ah Kuleloob"were directly under the Batab and acted as their delegates, and whose main responsibilities were to ensure that orders from their superiors were implemented.
In the lower part of the city's state power were the policemen, or also called"Tupiles"who were in charge of maintaining peace and order in the city.
Under the king, the nobles were subdivided into two groups called"Ahkinoob"who formed the clergy and"Almehenob"who were important warriors and wealthy farmers.
Although most historians agree that these large divisions of power existed, other voices point out that 72 different types of political units coexisted.
These 72 different social classes were not always composed of units of the State, nevertheless maintained commercial relations with them. It is precisely this boom in commerce that helped expand the policy of the Maya.
Many researchers have agreed that the Maya suffered two cycles of political life; The first cycle involved a longer period of time for economic, political and population development.
On the organization and extension of states, among researchers, there are discrepancies between the size and power of the central state.
Such discrepancies suggest that the international system of the classical period was very unstable, since having a large extent of territory, and a great relationship with neighboring peoples.
Smaller cities such as Motul de San José and Xunantunich also must have experienced intense pressures from larger and more powerful neighbors. It is probable that sometimes they were pressed in alliances and other times they were conquered of plane.
The latest discoveries reveal a kind of game of wars and alliances between large and powerful cities, such as Tikal and Calakmul, and the less powerful, such as Dos Pilas, Naranjo and Yaxchilan, and small like Motul de San José and Xunantunich.
Mayan King of Motul de San José
The relations between the cities states and their neighbors were mainly since they exchanged articles of prestige like obsidian, gold, feathers and jade. They also traded in food, especially in later times, as large cities grew too much to support their population.
Because of the great inclusion among societies, war was also common: skirmishes to carry slaves and victims for slaughter were common and all wars are not unknown.
The powerful city of Teotihuacan, just north of present-day Mexico City, exerted a strong influence on the Mayan world and even replaced the ruling family of Tikal in favor of one more friend to his city.
The indirect evidence of Spanish conquerors, friars, and settlers who witnessed the political life of Mayan civilization in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries also underlined the variability in size and structure of the Mayan native kingdoms.
Already in the post-classical era, state cities presented a variety of government models, from which they presented a small Yucatecan leader governed by a Batab, to regional regimes governed by a Halach Uinic.
This history reveals that the factional rule and the councils were important political institutions. However, despite the wealth of documents and evidence found, it is not clear whether we can directly apply postclassic conditions to the classical period.
All these characteristics contributed to the political dynamics of the classical Mayan period.
References
- Politics of the Ancient Maya. Retrieved from thoughtco.com.
- Ancient History Encyclopedia Limited. Retrieved from ancient.eu.
- Political Organization and Maya Royal Courts in the Ethnohistorical Record. Retrieved from worldhistory.biz.
- Maya social classes. Recovered at en.wikipedia.org.
- Ancient Civilizations: the Mayans. Recovered from: mayan timeline.blogspot.cl.
- Ancient Mayan Civilization. Retrieved at sites.google.com.
- Maya politics and ritual. Retrieved from researchgate.net.