The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1915-10-30

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EfEE3A HE second city in point of size and
K#N% Importance in ancient Yucatan was
Uxmal, the capital of the Kin or
F@&N Tutul Xiu family, who ruled there
OI# almost down to the time of the
E%N Spanish conquest. This city is To-
kM-IN Gated in the midst of a low range
kN&A of hills, which crosses the state of
E Yucatan from east to west, and is
- about 100 miles from Chichen liza.
writes Sylvanus G. Morley in Pan American
Union. The derivation of the name Uxmal or
Oxmal, as some of the early historians wrote it,
is rather obscure. OK" is the Maya word for
three, and NAL in the same language means to
pass;"to pass thrice" therefore, would seem to
be the meaning of the word, though why the
Tutul Xu should have applied this name to their
capital is unknown.
concerning the foundation of Uxmal. the fol.
lowing tradition is related by Diego de Landa.
the second bishop of Yucatan. who wrote in tba
nrst generation after the conquest, and who
claims to have gathered his Information from ma
yves well versed in the former history of their
country: After the discovery and occupation of
Cnlchen liza, which seems to have been the first
pAace oI any Importance to be settled in Yucatan
cities sprang up everywhere, and there followed
an era OF great prosperity. How long these diff.
leleht citles lived at peace with one another we
are not told, but in time dissensions arose and
quarrels became so frequent that the different
Nv NOuHlIy lOunu II necessary to taka
some concerted action in order to suppress vio.
renee and to restore order and peace II voz
tnen decided to build a joint capital. where oil
tnose IN authority should reside, and from which
eacn one agreed to administer the affairs of his
own particular domain. Without loss of time
tnese plans were carried out. A Joint canitol
was Quit in a new and unoccupied region and
was called "Mayapan,' meaning the STANDARD -
the Mayas.' Thither all the lords bIed
ana as the final step in the formation of the nau
contederacy, an overload, one Cocoon. was elected
anu uuiy installed in the new capital as the
supreme ruler. These cucuts laid the foundation
lor an era OF prosperity, which endured for MANY
years. Later, after an interval not speci6ed by
Lanua IN his history, there entered the country
from the south an alien people under the leader
ship of their chief, Tutul XIII. The newcor,ere
previous to their arrival, had wandered for 40
years IN the wilderness without water other than
that which had fallen from the skies. This CO.
incidence of a ~"40-years' wandering in the wilder
ness is sufficiently striking to arouse the suspi.
c1on that the worthy bishop, in this part of his
narrative, has been at some pains to force a
plous coincidence with a similar episode in the
Old Testament. Immediately after their arrival
the wanderers began building in the mountains
not 30 miles distant from the capital a new homo
for themselves, which they called Uxmal. Far
from being angered, however, by this appropria-
ton or his territory so near at hand, Cocoon, the
ruler OF the Mayapan, welcomed Tutul Xiu and
AS POOPACt uhu luIO an alliance witt
them. Landa thus describes the event:
THE people of Mayapan formed a great friend.
ship with the Tutul XIII, rejoicing to see that
they cultivated the land like themselves. In
this manner the Tutul XIII became subject to
the laws of Mayapan, and allied themselves with
the older inhabitants of the country, and their
lord was highly esteemed by ALL"
Judging from its size and magnihcence the Kin
capital must have played a very important role
in the history of Yucatan before the Spanish con.
quest. Indeed, Landa says as much.
After a time, we are told, the supreme power
held by the Cocoon family seems to have turned
their heads, They became successfully more and
more oppressive, each striving to Guido his prede-
cessors in acts of tyranny and violence. How
ever, there came a day at last when the other
chiefs of the confederacy could no longer endure
this despotic rule, and a conspiracy was Matched
to overthrow the oppressor. With one accord,
the conspirators turned to the then lord of Tx
NAL, a decendent of the original Tutul Xiu, who
had founded the city. as the natural leader in this
movement for liberty. in spite of the fact that
he was of foreign descent. He Is described as
having been a true friend OF the public veal, as
his ancestors before him, all Of whom had held
resolutely aloof from the tyrannies Of the Cocoon
family. On an appointed day the conspirators,
led by the lord of Uxmal, met at Mayapan, and
entering the palace of Cocoon slew him and all
his progeny, save one son only, who happened
to be absent from the city at the time on a mis-
sion to a distant province. After this sanguin-
airy reprisal. which avenged at one blow the OBJ
pressions Of many years, the property OF the dead
ruler was seized and divided among his murder
ers, and the capital was destroyed. Whereupon
each chief departed into his own country once
more and the confederacy was dissolved. After
the destruction of Mayapan, the Tutui Xiu aban-
tdoned Uxmal and founded a new capital some 30
miles distant which they called Mani" meaning
in Maya 1T is passed, . emphasizing by this name
&hat fha old 0rder WAS 0Uar Thaaa avanfo ~
Cured about the middle of the fifteenth century,