Mayan_Political_structures

A typical Classic Maya polity was a small hierarchical state (ajawil, ajawlel, ajawlil) headed by a hereditary ruler - ajaw, later k'uhul ajaw. Both terms appear in early Colonial texts including Papeles de Paxbolón where they are used as synonymous to Aztec and Spanish terms for supreme rulers and their domains - tlahtoani (Tlatoani) and tlahtocayotl, rey or magestad and reino, señor and señorío or dominio. Such kingdom was usually no more than a capital city with its neighborhood and several lesser towns, although there were greater kingdoms, which controlled larger territories and extended patronage over smaller polities. Each kingdom had its name that did not necessarily correspond to any locality within its territory. Its identity was that of a political unit associated with a particular ruling dynasty. For instance, the archaeological site of Naranjo was the capital of the kingdom of Saal. The land (chan ch'e'n) of the kingdom and its capital were called Wakab'nal or Maxam and were part of a larger geographical entity known as Huk Tsuk. Interestingly, despite constant warfare and eventual shifts in regional power, most kingdoms never disappeared from the political landscape until the collapse of the whole system in the ninth century AD. In this respect, Classic Maya kingdoms are highly similar to late Post Classic polities encountered by the Spaniards in Yucatan and Central Mexico: some polities could be subordinated to hegemonic rulers through conquests or dynastic unions and yet even then they persisted as distinct entities.