Another royal family, the Tutul Xius, sprung up later and became very powerful as allies and vassals of the king reigning in Mayapan; and still another family, the Itzas, built up a strong government of theocratic nature at Chichen Itza. Then came Cukulcan with some new religious teachings—a famous personage bearing a striking resemblance in his traditional career and in the etymology of his name to the Quetzalcoatl of the Nahuas. Being finally called to the throne at Mayapan, he formed a confederacy, making the princes of the Tutul Xius and Itzas his associate monarchs, subordinate nominally in rank but practically independent except where mutual assistance was required. Cukulcan left the throne to the Cocomes, seven of whom ruled during a period of great prosperity, the succession being from father to son, down to about the eleventh century. Afterward the Cocomes, becoming tyrannical, were deposed from their high position, Mayapan destroyed, and a new confederacy established with the Tutul Xius at the head, Uxmal being at first their capital, the Itzas second, and the Cheles at Izamal third. The Tutul Xiu rule was no less glorious than that of the Cocomes. They rebuilt Mayapan and made it once more the capital, but the unfortunate city was again sacked, this time by foreigners—perhaps the Quichés—in the thirteenth century; and was finally destroyed in the middle of the fifteenth century by the vassal lords of the realm, who revolted, overthrew the Tutul Xiu dynasty, obtained their complete independence, and ruled each his petty province with sovereign power. This was their condition when the Spaniards came, but before that time by civil war, and by famine and pestilence also, as tradition tells us, the power of the rulers and the population of the country had been greatly diminished and the ancient Maya glory had departed forever. Shortly before the final destruction of the monarchy a portion of the Itzas had left Chichen and migrated southward to found a small but powerful nation in what is now the province of Peten, belonging politically to Guatemala. It is from traditionary accounts of the kingdom under the Tutul Xius, and from the meagre observations of the Spaniards in the sixteenth century that our slight knowledge of Maya institutions in the peninsula is gained.
The highest title of the king at Mayapan was Ahtepal, which signifies in the Maya tongue 'Majestic,' or 'August.' His power was absolute, but he rarely acted in matters of importance without consulting his lords, and, in accordance with their advice and that of the chief priests, he appointed all officials, secular and religious, in the kingdom, possessing moreover the right to organize all courts and to condemn to death any of his subjects. The succession to the throne was confined to the royal family, to the male line, and to the sons of noble wives; the eldest son seems to have been the acknowledged heir to the throne, and Landa tells us that if the king died during the childhood of his heir, then his eldest or most capable brother ruled not only during the son's minority but during all his own life; and in case there were no brothers the priests and nobles chose a suitable person to reign.[909] One author speaks of the king as having the right to appoint a council which should name his successor, and Remesal mentions that in the province of Campeche, a woman who came in the direct line of succession received high honors, but the most capable of her male relatives ruled the state.[910]
COURT ETIQUETTE IN YUCATAN.
Whenever the king appeared in public, he was always attended by a large company and wore a long white flowing robe decorated with ornaments of gold and precious stones, bracelets, a magnificent collar, and sandals of gold. His crown was a plain golden circle somewhat wider on the forehead than behind, and surmounted with a plume of quetzal-feathers. This bird was reserved for the king and highest nobles, death being the penalty, according to Ordoñez, for one of lower rank who should capture the bird or wear its plumage. The monarch was borne on the shoulders of his nobles reclining in a palanquin, shaded by a feather canopy, and constantly fanned by attendants of high rank. Any person who came into the presence of the king or other high official, was expected to bring some gift proportioned to his means, and Herrera informs us that the highest mark of respect was to place the right hand, anointed with spittle, on the ground and then to rub it over the heart. Villagutierre mentions without description a kind of small throne among the Itzas, and states that the king of this southern realm bore the title of Canek, the name of the leader of their migration. Our only knowledge of the royal palaces of Yucatan is derived from their examination, when more or less in ruins, by modern explorers; consequently I refer the reader to the chapter on Maya buildings for a general description of these grand stone structures, and to another volume of this work for a detailed account with illustrative plates.
The nobility of the highest class belonged to members of the royal families, the Cocomes, Tutul Xius, Cheles, and Itzas, those of the reigning king's own blood taking naturally the highest rank. Ahau was the ordinary title of the princes, and Halach Winikel, 'most majestic men,' was a high title among the Tutul Xius. From nobles of the royal families mentioned, governors of provinces, and all the highest officials were chosen. Their positions were nominally at the king's disposal, but practically they descended hereditarily in the same manner as the royal power, the king interfering with new appointments only on extraordinary occasions. These rulers were almost absolute in matters concerning their own provinces, and exacted great honors, ceremonial attendance, and implicit obedience from all their subjects; but they were not exempt in matters of crime from the penalties of the law, and were obliged to reside during a part of each year in the capital, to render personal service to the monarch, and to take part in the supreme council by which he was guided in the administration of public affairs. They were, however, exempt from all tribute except that of personal service, and lived on the product of portions of the public domain assigned them. Cogolludo tells us that the nobles of Mayapan were also required to perform certain services in the temples, and to assist at the religious festivals. They not only had the exclusive right to the government of provinces, but also to the command of armies.
Nobles of a lower class, with the title Batab, governed cities, villages, or other subdivisions of provinces. They were not of royal blood, or at least were only connected with the reigning family through the female branch. Their position was also practically hereditary, although the heir could not assume his inherited rank without the royal sanction. No government officials received any salary, but they were obliged to maintain themselves and the poor and disabled of their respective communities from the products of their inherited estates.[911]
THE QUICHÉ-CAKCHIQUEL EMPIRES.
The most powerful kingdoms in Guatemala at the coming of the Spaniards were, that of the Quichés, whose capital was Gumarcaah, or Utatlan, near the site of the modern Santa Cruz del Quiché; and that of the Cakchiquels, capital Iximché, or Patinamit, near Tecpan Guatemala. These two nations were independent of and hostile to each other in the sixteenth century, but they had been united in one empire during the days of Guatemala's greatest glory, their separation dated back only about a century, and their institutions were practically identical, although they were traditionally distinct tribes in the more remote past. The same remark may be made respecting the institutions of the other nations in Guatemala which were wholly or partially independent of the powers mentioned above. All the aboriginal powers had greatly deteriorated by wars, one with another, and their mutual hatred made their defeat by foreigners possible, as had been the case in the conquest of the Nahua nations farther north.
There is little doubt that the Quiché-Cakchiquel peoples were direct descendants of Votan's subjects, but the line of traditional history that unites the two empires is broken at many points and cannot be satisfactorily followed. There are evidences also of foreign, chiefly Nahua, influences in the molding of Quiché institutions, exerted before or after the Toltec era in Anáhuac, probably at both periods. The traditional history of the Quiché empire for three or four centuries before the Conquest, rests almost entirely on manuscripts written in the native languages with the Roman alphabet, which have only been consulted by one modern writer. Into the labyrinth of this complicated record of wars and political changes I shall not attempt to enter, especially since the general nature of Quiché institutions does not seem to have been perceptibly modified by the events recorded.
An aristocratic monarchy, similar in nearly every feature to that I have described in Yucatan, seems to have been the basis of Quiché government from the first. All high positions, judicial, military, or sacerdotal, were hereditary and restricted to noble families, who traced their genealogy far back into the mythic annals of the nations. Between noble and plebeian blood the lines were sharply defined. The nobles were practically independent and superior in their own provinces, but owed tribute, allegiance, and military aid to the monarch. At the time of Guatemala's highest prosperity and glory, when King Qikab from his throne in Utatlan ruled over all the country, the monarch, if we may credit the traditional account, made an effort to diminish the power of the nobles, by conferring military commands and other high positions on the ablest men of plebeian blood. Thus a new class of nobles, called Achihab was created. This newly conferred power became, acting with the alienation of the old hereditary nobility, too great to be restrained by the monarch who created it. The Achihab became ambitious and insubordinate; they were at last put down, but the dissolution of the empire into several states was the indirect result of their machinations.