Maya Caste War of Yucatán

Caste War of Yucatán

The Caste War of Yucatán (1847–1901) began with the revolt of native Maya people of Yucatán, Mexico against the population of European descent, called Yucatecos, who held political and economic control of the region.

A lengthy war ensued between the Yucateco forces in the north-west of the Yucatán and the independent Maya in the south-east. It officially ended with the occupation of the Maya capital of Chan Santa Cruz by the Mexican army in 1901, although skirmishes with villages and small settlements that refused to acknowledge Mexican control

Maya Caste System

The Mayan Class Structure
The social structure of ancient Mayan society
By Xolotl Huascar, 2002

The Mayan social stratification was very tightly knit into a multi-layered structure. It seemed to have incorporated the caste system, which meant that membership was hereditary and difficult to change caste. However, there were others who had more freedom and were able to freely move among the communities.

The top of the society was large and complex, consisting of the ruler, his family, their retainers,

Haab – Maya Month Signs

Haab – 365 days

The Haab, or “vague” year, is the one most similar to the Christian calendar. With 365 days in its count, it is obviously based on solar observations. It’s called the “vague” year because, unlike the Christian calendar, it does not include a leap year. The Haab was in use by at least 100 BC and was created to be used in conjunction with the Tzolk’in.

(Image adapted from Voss, 2000)

The Eighteen months of the Haab
In point of fact, one cannot find a Haab date that is not recorded with a Tzolk’in date within ancient hieroglyphic texts. In operation together, the Haab and Tzolk’in create a larger, 52-year cycle called the Calendar Round that was used not only by the Maya but also by every other culture in Mesoamerica.

The Haab is made up of 18 months of 20 days each and a final short month of only 5 days. Together they form the 365-day, solar-based year.

Maya Month Signs

Maya Day Signs

Maya Numeral Symbols

Mayan Codices

Mayan Codices

Mayan codices (singular codex) are books written by the Mayans in the ancient Mayan hieroglyphic writing system. There were many such books in existence, but they were destroyed in bulk by the Conquistadors and priests after the Spanish conquest, famously all those in Yucatan were ordered destroyed by Bishop Diego de Landa in July of 1562.

Only three codices and a fragment of a fourth survived to modern times. These are:

• The Madrid Codex, also known as the Tro-Cortesianus Codex
• The Dresden Codex
• The Paris Codex, also known as the Peresianus Codex
• The Grolier Fragment

The Madrid Codex deals with horoscopes and astrological tables and is the product of eight different scribes. It was separated into two parts very early on in its European [journey], and thus traveled different paths in Europe until 1888. In 1880, the Frenchman Léon de Rosny figured out that the two parts were a single codex, now commonly called the “Madrid”, or the “Tro-Cortesianus”.

Beginning with Maya

Maya

The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for a fully developed written language of the pre-colonized Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established circa 2000 BCE, according to the Mesoamerican chronology, many Maya cities reached their highest state of development circa 250 to 1200 CE, and until the arrival of the Europeans.

Discoveries of Maya occupation at Cuello, Belize have been carbon dated to around 2600 BCE. This level of occupation included monumental structures. The Maya calendar, which is based around the so-called Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, begins on a date circa 11 August 3114 BCE.