Chetumal Province
[note 4] The first permanent settlements in Chetumal are believed to have been established by Maya farmers from the Guatemalan highlands by 2000 BC, during the Archaic period of Mesoamerica.[citation needed] The first state or province encompassing Maya settlements in Chetumal is presumed to have been formed by 100 AD, during the Late Preclassic period of Mesoamerica.[15][16][note 13] Further details on this event remain obscure, though given the reputed commercial pre-eminence of the provincial capital at the time, it has been suggested that Pachimalahix I rather raided the city to settle trade-related damages, rather than actually having exacted tribute.[18] Hispano-Maya hostilities commenced on 5 March 1517 in Cape Catoche, when an expeditionary force led by Francisco Hernández de Córdoba was ambushed by the military or militia of the Ekab Province, near that state's eponymous capital.[24][note 16] The expeditionaries' reports of grand Maya cities would nonetheless spur further Cuban expeditions to Yucatan, including a 1518 trading and reconnoitering voyage by Juan de Grijalva and another in 1519 by Hernán Cortés, the latter of which quickly morphed into the 1519–1521 Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire and the 1519–1521 smallpox epidemic.The reports likewise prompted the Governor of Cuba, who had commissioned the Hernández expedition, to petition and be granted letter patent authorising his conquest of the Maya states on behalf of the Charles I of Spain.[26] On 8 December 1526, the Salamancan conquistador Francisco de Montejo, who had participated in the Grijalva and Cortés expeditions from Cuba, was granted letters patent for the conquest of Yucatan and Cozumel by Charles I of Spain.[27][28][note 18] The adelantado named his close colleague, Alonso Dávila, likewise a participant in the Grijalva and Cortés expeditions from Cuba, the principal lieutenant for his entrada.[32][note 20] They explored the immediate area, being well received by the nearby towns of Xelha and Zama, and founded a settlement, christened Salamanca, in October 1527.Upon learning of Guerrero, now the nakom or commander-in-chief of the capital’s forces, Montejo dispatched one of the captives to the former, inviting the commander to break ranks and join the Spanish conquest.This bluff likewise worked, and the adelantado promptly set sail south towards Ulua River, and then back north towards Salamanca.[47][note 27] In early 1531, the adelantado, having brought the Chakan, Can Pech, and Ah Canul Provinces under Spanish authority, promptly set about planning a renewed campaign towards Chetumal.Being well received, Dávila and his men stayed here for three weeks, during which time the diplomatic aid of leading individuals from various provincial towns seems to have convinced the batab or mayor of Bacalar to not oppose the entrada.[57][59][note 33] In the next two months, the Governor of Chetumal, Nachan Kan, rallied the provincial forces at Chequitaquil, a coastal town four leagues north of the capital.[60][61][note 34] Now safely ensconced at the Chetumal capital (now Villa Real), Dávila set out with twenty men on a survey of the newly-Spanish territory towards Maçanahau.[64][65][note 36] Unlike the limited rebellion in Waymil, the Cochuah revolt proved serious and widespread, forcing Dávila to retreat to Villa Real.[78][79][note 44] Marching onwards to Waymil and Chetumal, the Pachecos soon discovered that residents had burnt their crops and fled to the woods, determined on guerrilla warfare to oppose them.[81][note 48] The victory proved pyrrhic, as the entrada resulted in very significant depopulation of the Waymil and Chetumal Provinces, thereby ensuring the permanent poverty of Salamanca.[90] Mayapan is commonly held to have been ruled by a multepal or council of lords, composed of members from the Canul, Chel, Cocom, Cupul, and Xiu ch'ibalo'ob or noble houses.[97] At least since circa 1450, the provincial capital was a major port of call for the peninsular coasting trade from the Ulua River or the Bay Islands to the Ekab Province.[98][99] It was, at least towards the Columbian period, a large town of circa 2,000 houses, abutted by sapodilla and cacao orchards, maize fields, and apiaries of stingless bees.Archaeological work in Chetumal was begun in early 1894 by Thomas Gann, a medical officer of colonial Belize, in the ruins of Santa Rita, Corozal.[123][124][note 76] Despite this progress, Chetumal remained one of the least elucidated provinces until a seminal 1989 publication by Grant D. Jones, then a Professor at Davidson College.These include: Cancun's residents, upon the arrival of Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía of Spain on 16 November 1978, gifted the monarchs a turtleshell statuette of Gonzalo Guerrero.[139] On 20 December 2012, the National Institute of Culture and History and the Belize Tourism Industry Association held a public re-enactment of the Guerrero-Kan wedding at Santa Rita, Corozal.The Indians of the provinces of Cochua and Chetuma revolted, the Spaniards pacified them in such a way, that these provinces which were formerly the thickest settled and the most populous, remained the most desolate of all the country; committing upon them unheard-of cruelties, cutting off noses, arms and legs, and the breasts of women; throwing them into deep lagoons with gourds tied to their feet; stabbing the little children because they did not walk as fast as their mothers; and if those whom they drove along, chained together around the neck, fell sick or did not move along as fast as the others they cut off their heads between the others, so as not to stop and untie them.
ChetumalSanta Rita, CorozalYucatecan MayanChichen ItzaMayapanMaya polytheismKukulkanTheocraticabsolute monarchyAh Xiu XupanGovernorSpanish conquestMayapan ruleFounding of Salamanca de BacalarLamanaiAltun HaViceroyalty of New SpainBelizeMexicoYucatec MayanPostclassic Maya stateYucatan PeninsulaMaya LowlandsPalaeo-indiansLithic Period of MesoamericaArchaic period of MesoamericaLate Preclassic period of MesoamericaClassic Maya collapseChichen Itza-driven coasting tradeSpanish conquest of YucatánGonzalo GuerreroPalos de la Frontera, SpainEkab ProvinceCozumel1508 voyage of Solís and PinzónLake Izabal1502 voyage by Christopher ColumbusGuanajaCape CatocheFrancisco Hernández de CórdobaHernández expeditionJuan de GrijalvaHernán CortésSpanish conquest of the Aztec EmpireGovernor of CubaCharles I of SpainadelantadoSalamancanFrancisco de MontejoSevilleChikinchel ProvinceSanto DomingoGuerreroUlua RiverVeracruzChakanCan PechAh CanulCochuahWaymilBacalarLake BacalarTrujilloPuerto Caballos1543–1544 Pachecos entradaMeridaCochuah ProvinceK'uk'ulkanMesoamericapeninsular coasting tradeItzamnahalach winik or governorCeh PechSotutabatab or mayorAhaw or Lorddivine righttributecommonsBay IslandsDulce RiverHoney Camp LagoonThomas Ganncolonial BelizeUniversity of LiverpoolBritish MuseumCarnegie InstitutionField MuseumSir J. E. S. ThompsonSylvanus MorleyGeorge Gustav Heye CenterNational Museums LiverpoolMiddle American Research InstituteMaya jadesAltun Ha ExpeditionRoyal Ontario MuseumDavid M. PendergastCarnegieMayanistDavidson CollegeVice-Admiral Othón P. BlancoMestizoYucatanQuintana RooAkumalJosé López PortilloJesús Martínez RossErnesto ZedilloFernando Castro PachecoCancun'sJuan Carlos IQueen Sofía of SpainOthon P. Blanco'sBelize Tourism Industry AssociationMesoamerican chronologypre-Columbian eraprojectile pointOrange WalkNew RiverCerrosSan EstevanHondo RiverNohmulCorozal BaySanta RitaHoney Camp Lagoon / Laguna de On