League of Mayapan

The League of Mayapan (Yucatec Luub Mayapan Maya glyphs ) was a confederation of Maya states in the post classic period of Mesoamerica on the Yucatan peninsula.

The main members of the league were the Itza, the Tutul-Xiu, Mayapan, and Uxmal.

Mayapan means flag of the Maya.

Before the League

The Itza

The Itza were known as water witches. According to the Chilam Balam of Chumayel, in 325 they started immigrating to Bacalar from Peten. From there many of them continued northwest, where they conquered the classical Maya city of Uuc Yabnal and renamed it as Chichen Itza. They lived there from 550 to 692. After that for economic and political reasons the Itza moved to Chakan Putum, where they lived until 928 when they returned to Chichen Itza.

The Tutul Xiu

The Tutul-Xiu were known as overflowing virtue. In the Seventh century they migrated to Yucatan. There their leader Ah Suytok Tutul Xiu, nicknamed Chac Uitzil Hun, founded Uxmal. The date that this happened is disputed by a codex from Tizimin, and another from Mani. In 869 Ah Mekat Tutul Xiu ruler of the Tutul Xius moved to Uxmal from Nonohual. Nonohual's location is unknown, but was probably in Peten, it also might have been another name for Potonchán in Tabasco or Tula. The Tutul Xius were the main group of people forcing the Itzas out of Chichen Itza.

Mayapan

Mayapan (Màayapáan in Modern Maya), (in Spanish Mayapán) is a Pre-Columbian Maya site a couple of kilometers south of the town of Telchaquillo in Municipality of Tecoh, approximately 40 km south-east of Mérida and 100 km west of Chichen Itza; in the state of Yucatán, Mexico. Mayapan was the political and cultural capital of the Maya in the Yucatán Peninsula during the Late Post-Classic period from the 1220s until the 1440s. Estimates of the total city population are 15,000–17,000 persons, and the site has more than 4000 structures within the city walls, and additional dwellings outside.

The site has been professionally surveyed and excavated by archeological teams, beginning in 1939; five years of work was done by a team in the 1950s, and additional studies were done in the 1990s. Since 2000, a collaborative Mexican-United States team has been conducting excavations and recovery at the site, which continue.

Layout

Mayapan is 4.2 square kilometers and has over 4000 structures, most of them residences, packed into this compound within the city walls. Built-up areas extend a half kilometer beyond the city walls in all directions. The stone perimeter wall has twelve gates, including seven major gates with vaulted entrances. The wall is 9.1 km long and is roughly ovate with a pointed northeast corner.