por The Mayan political organization It was characterized by being highly complex. The most important rulers were considered direct descendants of the gods, and the ruled class had few privileges.
A relevant element of the political organization of the Mayan culture is that the city-states that made up this civilization were never fully unified. They were well connected through trade and other joint activities, but each city-state maintained some independence.
This implies that there was no single ruler in charge of leading; instead, each city-state had a group of leaders who administered the territories near each site.
The Mayan civilization was characterized by being highly connected culturally, but not politically. Commercial activity was very common in the territory and merchants (almost all members of the nobility) were considered important people.
[toc]
Background
The fact that the Maya had not considered having unique kings may have to do with the fact that during the first phases of their evolution as a civilization they did not contemplate the existence of these hierarchical figures. They did so only in the Preclassic period, long after the birth of the Mayan culture.
It was at that time when the first dynasty of the Mayans was generated. This happened in 300 B.C. C approximately, and at this time in history structures and statues began to be built through which kings were honored.
Characteristics of the Mayan kings
The kings were considered direct relatives of the gods, which is why they were respected and venerated in a very special way.
The most usual thing was that the rulers were men, although there were cases of women who were part of the royal family and who were responsible for acting as queens.
This implies that a strict order was followed in relation to who was supposed to take control of the throne at any given time. In fact, various studies have determined that each king was assigned a number that was associated with his place in line, taking as a reference the first king, founder of the dynasty in question.
initiation rituals
The possibility of being king depended on whether or not the person was born for it, depending on the dynasty of which he was a part.
The prince had to prepare to be a ruler and underwent a series of initiation rituals, whose main function was to test his skills and cultivate them, so that he would have the necessary tools when it was his turn to be king.
Among the most prominent rituals are a phlebotomy at the age of six (evacuation of a certain amount of blood), the capture of prisoners and fights with neighboring rivals.
Once the prince became king, he was in charge of watching over the inhabitants of his city-state, directing the army and participating in a special way in religious rituals, the latter because he was considered a relative of the gods and , therefore, a channel of communication with them.
Strong punishments for disobedient
Those who dared to disobey the kings were severely punished. The reason for this behavior is that for the Mayans it was very important to maintain harmony between the inhabitants and the gods that were related to it.
So, the Maya were convinced that the way to achieve this was to seek unquestioning obedience to the rulers, who were seen as some kind of pseudo-gods.
In this context, human sacrifices began to emerge, which functioned as an important form of social and political control.
Political organization
Kings
As previously indicated, the kings were considered the highest authorities. However, there were other figures who also had a lot of influence.
This king or monarch was the halach uinic, the lord of the city-state, who directed the Maya jurisdiction. The Halach uinic designated the Ah holpop, Nacom, Ahuacán and Tulipes, which will be explained below.
Nobility
There was a council of nobles that somehow limited the power of the main ruler. The leaders of the armies had an important voice in decision-making, as well as the advisers and counselors who came from other territories; all these characters were members of the nobility.
priests
There was a political class that obtained a lot of power: it is the religious class. The king was always seen as the one with the greatest responsibility and power, but the priests could, for example, decide who would be the next king if there were no natural descendants or relatives of the previous monarch.
In fact, each city-state had a high priest who was in charge of determining the dates of important religious ceremonies and other important decisions. In addition, he was in charge of a group of priests.
The high priest’s name was ahuacan. On the other hand, there were the Ah holpop, religious-political delegates who were in charge of parties and ceremonies.
military
Each city-state had a military leader called Nacom. He was in charge of generating military strategies to defend his territories and summoned the soldiers to battles.
administrators
They were also known as warrior of the mayaatabs and they were in charge of aspects related to tax collection and other administrative tasks of the city-states, especially regarding supervision.
They had councils made up of other chiefs called Ah cuch cabob, who had administrative functions within their towns. They also worked supported by the al kuleloobwho were assistants to the batabs.
Lastly, the batabs they also supervised a group of bailiffs who kept each town calm and peaceful; these were called tupiles.
Craftsmen, peasants and slaves
Finally, there was the town, which was in charge of carrying out the different economic activities, highlighting agriculture. For their part, the slaves limited themselves to carrying out the activities entrusted to them by their masters. However, these three classes had no political power.
Distribution of power in the territory
The largest Mayan cities were ruled by kings. Some of the most iconic cities of this civilization were Calakmul and Tikal, among others.
The kings who led the governments of these city-states were the most important to civilization. Statues were built to honor them and they were among the most remembered and recorded in the history of the Maya.
After these cities there were others that were smaller and less important, but still had some relevance. These city-states were ruled by direct relatives of the king of the nearby large city, or by members of the Maya nobility.
In addition to the above, there were also smaller towns that considered themselves affiliated with the big cities. These towns were led by nobles and had a certain importance because within themselves they housed some relevant religious temples.
The last political organization of the Mayan territory corresponds to the villages, small geographical spaces that dedicated their spaces almost exclusively to agriculture and the houses of the peasants.
References
“Mayal political structure” in Tarlton Law Library. Retrieved from Tarlton Law Library: tarlton.law.utexas.edu
Minster, C. «Politics and the political system of the ancient Maya» in ThoughtCo. Recovered from ThoughtCo: thoughtco.com
“Mayan government” at University of Idaho. Retrieved from University of Idaho: uidaho.edu
Gomez, M. «Maya government» in Ancient History Encyclopedia. Recovered from Ancient History Encyclopedia: ancient.eu
Sailus, C. “Mayan civilization: economy, politics, culture and religion” in Study. Retrieved from Study: study.com