Open History Book

The Maya

Before AD 250: the Preclassic

c. 2000 – 1000 BCThe Maya area c. 1000 – 700 BCThe first villages and plazas c. 600 BC – AD 150El Mirador c. 400 BC – AD 100Writing and kingship c. AD 100 – 250The end of the Preclassic cities

AD 250 – 556: the Early Classic

c. AD 90 – 378Tikal and the Classic kingdoms AD 378The arrival of Siyaj K'ak'AD 426 – 437Copán and Quiriguá AD 537 – 553The Kaanul kingdom

AD 556 – 695: Tikal and the Kaanul kingdom

AD 556 – 562Caracol defeats Tikal AD 599 – 612The Kaanul attacks on Palenque AD 615 – 683Pakal at Palenque AD 626 – 636Caracol and Naranjo AD 636 – 686Yuknoom Ch'een the Great AD 648 – 679Dos Pilas against Tikal AD 680 – 698Lady Six Sky at Naranjo AD 682 – 695Tikal defeats Calakmul

AD 695 – 810: the Late Classic

AD 681 – 768Shield Jaguar and Bird Jaguar AD 724 – 738Quiriguá captures the king of Copán AD 734 – 744Tikal’s last victories AD 761 – c. 810The Petexbatún wars c. AD 790The murals of Bonampak

Life among the Classic Maya

c. AD 250 – 900Holy lords and their courts AD 292 – 909The calendar and the books c. AD 250 – 1500Gods, temples and the ballgame c. AD 250 – 900Farms, causeways and reservoirs c. AD 250 – 900Jade, obsidian, salt and cacao

AD 800 – 1100: collapse in the south, Chichen Itza in the north

AD 800 – 909The Classic Maya collapse c. AD 800 – 1000Uxmal and the Puuc cities AD 832 – c. 1100Chichen Itza

c. 1220 – 1502: Mayapan and the highland kingdoms

c. 1220 – 1441Mayapan c. 1400 – 1475The K'iche' kingdom 1441 – 1500The fall of Mayapan c. 1470 – 1521The Kaqchikel at Iximche 1502Tulum, Cozumel and the sea trade

1502 – 1519: the first Spaniards

1511 – 1519Aguilar and Guerrero February – March 1517Hernández de Córdoba

Battle of Champotón, 1517

1517Water at Champotón 1517, at dawnSurrounded at dawn 1517, morningThe retreat to the boats

1518Juan de Grijalva February – March 1519Cortés at Cozumel

Battle of Centla, 1519

12 March 1519Cortés reaches Tabasco 13 March 1519The taking of Potonchán 14 March 1519, morningThe foot on the plain 14 March 1519Cortés’s horsemen

1523 – 1530: the conquest of the highlands

November 1523 – February 1524Alvarado marches into Guatemala

Battles of Xelajú, 1524

9 – 18 February 1524The road to Xelajú 12 February 1524The ambush in the pass 12 February 1524The Llanos de Urbina 18 February 1524The battle of Olintepeque

February – April 1524The burning of Q'umarkaj April 1524The Tz'utujil of Lake Atitlán July 1524 – May 1530Santiago and the Kaqchikel revolt

Siege of Zaculeu, 1525

July – October 1525Gonzalo de Alvarado marches on the Mam 1525The Mam army from Malacatán 1525The fight at the northern entrance 1525, until mid-OctoberThe relief army and the surrender

1527 – 1562: the conquest of Yucatán

1527 – 1528Montejo’s first campaign 1531 – 1535Campeche and Chichen Itza 1540 – 1542Mérida on the ruins of T'ho 11 June 1542The attack on Mérida 1546 – 1547The great Maya revolt 1562Landa and the auto-da-fé of Maní

1525 – 1697: the Itza kingdom

1525The Itza kingdom and Cortés 1618 – 1624Friars at Nojpetén 1695 – 1696The road from Yucatán

Fall of Nojpetén, 1697

December 1696 – 12 March 1697Ursúa at the lake 13 March 1697, morningThe galley crosses the lake 13 March 1697The fall of Nojpetén

1697 – 1708After Nojpetén

After 1697

1839 – 1842Stephens and Catherwood 1847 – 1901The Caste War of Yucatán 1952 – 2018Reading the inscriptions 1960 – 1996The Maya today

c. 1000 BC – AD 1697

The Maya

The Maya of southern Mexico and Central America, from the first cities of the Preclassic through the Classic kingdoms and their wars to the Spanish conquest, which ended at Nojpetén in 1697.