Chichén Itzá

“ The discontent of the Itza element of the population, a discontent always shared in by the Xius at Uxmal, continued to increase during two hundred and fifty years. In that period Chichen Itza, under the influence of its Toltec rulers, witnessed its final period of architectural development. ”

“ It can hardly be doubted, moreover, that extensive ruins lie yet hidden in the unexplored regions of the peninsula. Chichen-Itza is one of the few towns which has preserved its ancient Mayan name, from chichen, opening of a well, and Itza, one of the chief branches of Mayapan confederacy. Itza maintained its independence, after the destruction of the confederacy, for two centuries after the Conquest. ”

“ The priest-kings of Mayapan, who claimed descent from Kukulcan or Quetzalcoatl, soon raised their state into a position of prominence among the surrounding cities. Those who had founded Chichen-Itza, and who were known as Itzaes, were, on the other hand, a caste of warriors who do not appear to have cherished the priestly function with such assiduity. The rulers of the Itzaes, who were known as the Tutul Xius, seem to have come, according to their traditions, from the western Maya states, perhaps from Nonohualco in Tabasco. ”

“ At Chichen Itza the so-called Ball Court is regarded as Mexican in inspiration, while in the same city exist the ruins of a round temple similar to those which tradition ascribes to Kukulcan, different in character from the normal Mayan types. Reliefs [Pg 128] representing warriors in Mexican garb also point to Nahuatlan incursions, which may in fact have been the occasion for the dissolution of the Mayan league of the cities of the north—Chichen Itza, Uxmal, and Mayapan—in the Books of Chilam Balam represented as powerful in the day of the great among the Maya of Yucatan. ”

“ Years 40. The fourth section, in correct sequence, continues the series from the 13th Ahau when Chichen-Itza was founded. It covers the 11th, 9th, 7th, 5th, 3d, and 1st Ahau, a space of 20 years, in which the wanderers make the new region of Chichen-Itza their metropolis. Enemies, however, whose names are not indicated, destroy the place and oblige them to look elsewhere. They then turn to Champutun (now Champoton, also Potonchan) , situated in a southwesterly direction from Chichen-Itza, on the westerly shore of the Peninsula. ”

“ Chichen Itza, their capital, was once a centre of power and wealth in the peninsula, but with the changing fortunes of war came disunion, and in the beginning of the 15th century the feared Itzas had dwindled into a number of petty principalities ruled by caneks. 'El Cazique à quien comunmente llaman Canek.' Cogolludo, Hist. Yucathan, 54. It so happened that one of these fell in love, but found an obstacle in a father, who awarded the object of his affections to a more powerful chief. The canek was not to be thus easily balked. ”

“ Concerning Chichen-Itza Cogolludo tells the following story: “A king of Chichen called Canek fell desperately in love with a young princess, who, whether she did not return his affection or whether she was compelled to obey a parental mandate, married a more powerful Yucatec cacique. The discarded lover, unable to bear his loss, and moved by love and despair, armed his dependents and suddenly fell upon his successful rival. Then the gaiety of the feast was exchanged for the din of war, and amidst the confusion the Chichen prince disappeared, carrying off the beautiful bride. ”

“ The conclusions are supported by evidence in Guatemalan chronicles and also in records of the Mayas for we have already seen that Quetzalcoatl conquered Chichen Itza in 1191 A. D. The three great Toltec emperors, Huetzin, Ihuitimal, and Quetzalcoatl, swept over an area extending from Durango to Nicaragua, the three seats of their government being Teotihuacan in the Valley of Mexico, Chichen Itza in Yucatan, and Iximché in Guatemala. ”

“ They came from the west, were just and chaste men, and their reign a long and glorious one. One of them, however, having finally left the country, the others gave themselves up to immoral practices, and were put to death. Notwithstanding the fact that the brothers came, according to the Spanish writers, from the west, there is much reason to suppose that the nation whose capital was at Chichen, was an ancient people dating back to the time of Zamná, since the most satisfactory interpretation of the name 'Itza' is that it came from 'Ytzamna,' the more ancient form of the great founder's name. ”

“ The only existing notice of their journey from the coast says, that from a place called Aké they set out, directing their course for Chichen Itza, where they determined to stop and settle, as it appeared a proper place, on account of the strength of the great buildings that were there, for defence against attacks by the Indians. We do not even learn whether these buildings were inhabited or desolate ”

“ But the end was not yet, the people of Chichen Itza nursed their revenge, and about a century later instigated a general rising which resulted in the sack of Mayapan and the slaughter of the ruler and all his sons except one, who was at the time absent in the Uloa valley. The survivor on his return collected the remnants of the Cocomes and settled at Sotuta, the Xiu faction retiring to Mani. The Mexican mercenaries, who no doubt formed too formidable a section to be attacked directly, were allowed to form a settlement at Ahcanul, north-east of Campeche. ”

“ Although traces of three distinct immigrations into Yucatan are evident,—the Itzaes, Mayas, and Caribs,—yet they all spoke one tongue, the Maya, at the coming of the Spaniards. The Itzaes founded cities in the northeastern portion of the peninsula, found in ruins to-day: Chichen-Itza, Itzamel, and T'ho, the site of the last occupied by the capital city of Merida. ”

“ Cogolludo himself speaks of Ku Kulcan as “one who had been a great captain among them,” and was afterwards worshipped as a god. Herrara states that he ruled at Chichen-itza; that all agreed that he came from the westward, but that a difference exists as to whether he came before or afterwards or with the Itzaes. “But” he adds, “the name of the structure at Chichen-itza and the events of that country after the death of the lords, shows that Cuculcan governed with them. ”

“ Kabah was an ancient city. The ruins are old, and the city may have belonged to the first age of the Maya period.
CHICHEN-ITZA.
The ruins of Chichen-Itza are situated east of Mayapan, about half way between the eastern and western coasts of the peninsula of Yucatan. A public road runs through the space of ground over which they are spread. The area covered by them is something less than a mile in diameter. The general character of the ruined structures found here is in every respect like that shown by ruins already described. ”

“ Since then, I have often met with these emblems of the religious rites of the Nahuas and Caras, and whilst as at Uxmal, they stare at the traveller from every ornament of the buildings and are to be found in every court-yard and public place, it is a remarkable fact that they are to be met with nowhere in the edifices of Chichen-Itza.
There can be no possible doubt that different races or rather nations practicing distinct religious rites inhabited the country at different epochs and destroyed each other by war. ”

“ Ancona (1878, vol. i, p. 31 ff.) says that the Itzas were the earlier inhabitants of Yucatan. He adds that they worshiped Itzamna and founded Itzamal, Tihoo, and Chichen Itza. The Maya, on the other hand, worshiped Kukulkan, were enemies of the Itzas, and were the founders of Mayapan, Uxmal, and other cities. This distinction, though a fine one and hard to prove correct, deserves to be noted. ↑ This name, Cocom, will be brought to our attention later on, and it will be advisable for us to compare now the exceedingly confusing accounts of what the Cocom family was. ”

“ If Dávila and his men were badly off in Villa Real, Montejo and his party at Chichen Itza were equally if not more precariously situated. The chief causes of their misfortunes were the lack of men, and of the most common necessities, the want of certainty as to the best course to be followed, and the knowledge on the part of the Indians that the number of the Spaniards was daily growing less on account of the ceaseless skirmishes. Food was so scarce that parties had to be formed on purpose to make sallies from the fortifications in search of it. ”

“ This treachery probably implies the employment of the foreign mercenaries mentioned above, since Hunac Ceel's agents are called the "seven men of Mayapan," and their names, which are recorded, are Nahua rather than Maya. Ulil, the ruler of Itzamal, also appears to have been implicated in the conspiracy against the ruling house. But whatever was the exact course of events, the net result was that Chichen Itza was depopulated about the year 1187; meanwhile the Nahua mercenaries had influenced the ethnography of the country by the introduction of the bow as a weapon. ”

“ There exist, in the deserts of Yucatan, at about 36 leagues—108 miles [77] —from Mérida, some very notable monumental ruins, known by the name of Chichen-Itza, whose origin is lost in the night of time. Their situation, in the hostile section of revolutionary Indians (Sublivados) , caused them to be very little visited until, to the general astonishment, an American traveller, the wise archæologist and Doctor, Mr. Augustus Le Plongeon, in company with his young and most intelligent wife, fixed his residence among them for some months towards the end of 1874. ”

“ The age of these ancient cities is still an unsolved problem, but the conviction seems to be growing that many of them were inhabited at the time of the Conquest. The sacred edifices at Uxmal did not cease to be used until some time after the Spaniards had become lords of the land. Charnay (Ancient Cities of the New World, p. 328) thinks Chichen Itza was inhabited “scarcely sixty years before the Conquest.” ”

“ In the Maya pantheon he was regarded as having been the great organizer, the founder of cities, the framer of laws, and the teacher of their new calendar. Indeed, his attributes and life history are so human that it is not improbable he may have been an actual historical character, some great lawgiver and organizer, the memory of whose benefactions lingered long after death, and whose personality was eventually deified. The episodes of his life suggest he may have been the recolonizer of Chichen Itza after the destruction of Chakanputun. ”

“ Yet their gods were not by any means so blood-thirsty as the Mexican, being generally appeased by the blood of animals, and human sacrifices were called for only on extraordinary occasions. Cukulcan, like his prototype Quetzalcoatl, doubtless opposed the shedding of human blood, but after his departure the practice certainly existed, and the pit at Chichen Itza, whose waters he had consecrated with his person, was among the first places to be polluted. ”

“ Thus also Nachi Cocom, who dwelt in the chief town of Zututa in the province Chichen Itza, that called Chichen Itza, and Ah Cahuot Cocom, aiding the word of God and our great King, delivered up their standards and banners for the sake of our great King, for the conquest, and received the Adelantado and the father the priest in their towns, nor did they make war, but abstained from all injury, and laid out churches and town-houses for their followers. ”

“ An attempt made by Dávila to get to Montejo a report of all that had been done in the last two months was foiled by some Indians, who killed Dávila's messengers.
Hardships of those who Were at Chichen. Meanwhile those Spaniards who had remained behind with the Adelantado in Chichen Itza were also in grave straits, not only because of the hostility and ill-will of the Indians, but also because of the lack of various things they had brought from Spain but had been left behind in their ships which were not now to be reached. Their condition daily grew worse. ”

“ A. Le Plongon, accompanied by his wife, visited Yucatan for the purpose of exploring the ruins. They spent a year in Meridia, thoroughly studying the customs of the country, and preparing for work.
Their first field of work was this ancient city, Chichen-Itza. As a result, he lays before us a picture of life and times not only vastly remote from us, but surpassing in wonder any thing hitherto presented. ”

“ After these events the Mexican mercenaries seized the province of Canul or Ahcanul. (Landa, 1864, p. 55.) The Cheles founded a religious state at Izamal; the Cocomes withdrew to Sotuta and the Xius to Mani. All this is accepted in the main by modern writers. (Tozzer, 1907, p. 9; Faliès, 1915, vol. i, p. 247 ff.)
To summarize, we may say that the Cocomes were the lords of either Mayapan or Chichen Itza, though it is more likely they were identified with the former. They became too ambitious and powerful to please the Tutul Xiu of Uxmal and the ruler of Chichen ”

“ This is especially true of what we are able to conjecture concerning the beliefs of the builders of the ruins in Honduras, Guatemala and Chiapas.
As among the Mexicans, tribal gods, under whose leadership migrations took place, are found also among the Maya. In Yucatan we hear of a god Itzamna, supposed to have come from the east, whose attributes are much the same as those of Tonacatecutli. Connected with the sites of Chichen Itza and Mayapan was the god Kukulkan, of whose name “Quetzalcoatl” is a literal translation, and who was supposed to have come from the west. ”