Ekab
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Kuchkabal Ekab | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1441–1547 | |||||||||
 Kuchkabals of Yucatan after 1461. | |||||||||
| Capital | Ekab | ||||||||
| Common languages | Official language: Yucatec | ||||||||
| Religion | Maya religion | ||||||||
| Government | Oligarchy | ||||||||
| Halach Uinik | |||||||||
| Historical era | Medieval / Early Modern | ||||||||
• Established | 1441 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1547 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Ekab or Ecab was the name of a Mayan chiefdom of the northeastern Yucatán Peninsula, before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century.[1] In the fifteenth century most of Yucatán was controlled by the League of Mayapan. By 1441 there was civil unrest. The provinces of the League rebelled and formed sixteen smaller states. These states were called Kuchkabals. Most Kuchkabals were ruled by a Halach Uinik, but Ekab wasn't. It was divided up into several Batabil. Each Batabil was ruled over by a leader called a Batab. In Ekab the Batabs were supposed to have equal power, but the Batabs on Cozumel had much more power than the others.
The island Cozumel was a Batab of Ekab. Cozumel was an important religious area for the Maya. People traveled to Cozumel from as far away as Nicaragua and Michoacán. The island was sacred to the moon goddess Ix Chel. Most of the pilgrims who traveled there were women. Ix Chel was also patron goddess of childbirth, medicine, and weaving.
Geography
Ekab was surrounded in the west by Chikinchel, Tazes, Cupul and Cochuah, and in the south Uaymil. There were several port towns along the coast, most notably Tulum, Xcaret, and Xel-Ha. Ekab had a strategic position on the coast, sailors circumnavigated as far away as Tampico and Nicaragua.
