Divine Monarchy of the Mutul
| Divine Lord of The Mutul | |
|---|---|
| K'uhul Ajaw | |
.png) | |
| Incumbent | |
 | |
| Jasaw Chan K'awiil V since 12 September 1991 | |
| Details | |
| Style | His Holiness Majesty |
| Heir apparent | Janab Pacaal |
| First monarch | Unknown |
| Formation | c. 3000 BC |
| Residence | Chak Yaxnah Ho’kan, K'uhul Muul, K'alak Muul |
The Divine Lord (Mutli: K'uhul Ajaw) is the head of state and chief executive of the Mutul. In traditional Mutulese religious and political theory, the Divine Lord is considered the mortal aspect of Chaak, god of the rain, storms, and lightning. Divine Lords sharing the same family are classified in historical periods known as Dynasties. The current Dynasty is the 12th recorded, the Ilok'tab Nimja and ascended to the throne during the early 12th century. Since 1991, the Divine Lord is Jasaw Chan K'awiil V, 402th bearer of the title.
The oldest known use of the title of K'uhul Ajaw is five thousand years old, back during the days of the Paol'lunyu Dynasty. Despite many civil wars, struggles, and regime changes, the title never really fell out of use and was transmitted in a nearly un-broken succession. At time however, it was necessary to distinguish the K'uhul Mutul Ajaw from other Divine Lords, such as the K'ul B'ak Ajaw or the K'ul Xepi Ajaw, Divine Lords from other concurrent realms who did not place themselves in the traditional succession line but whom divine natures were nonetheless recognized by the Mutul proper.
Historically, some texts used "Emperor" as a translation for the title. This fell out of use and modern official etiquette guides, published by the Divine Throne for foreign officials and visitors, consider such translation to be improper, advising to prefer the "correct" translation of Divine Lord or to plainly use K'uhul Ajaw instead. In modern Mutli, the word "Emperor" is translated by Kaloomt'e, a title denoting martial qualities and high-rank, like for Imperator, but without any religious connotation.
History
The word "K'uhul Ajaw" is known from several Mutuleses languages albeit with some variations. "Ajaw" is the modernised orthography in the official Ch'iniin Script. Before, foreign scholars or chroniclers more commonly written it as "Ahau" and was translated as meaning either "lord", "ruler", "king" or "leader".
During pre-dynastic times, K'uhul Ajaw indicates a sovereign leader of a polity although it could be applied to persons who in theory recognised the overlordship of another ruler, if their own prestige was great enough. It's only with the ||Paol'lunyu Dynasty]] that the term would come to be reserved to the overlord of Kaminyajunlyu and Ajaw was limited to indicate vassal kings and other members of the aristocracy.
The earliest recorded use of the Kuhul Ajaw logograph is from the pre-dynastic city of K'o in a tombe that has been dated to the 16th millenium BC.
Succession
The Succession is governed by traditions and customs that were only written down in 1840. There is no institution or individual, not even the K'uhul Ajaw himself, to whom the power to change these laws because they are not considered the work of a legislative assembly, but the synthesis made by a council of experts, lawyers, and historians who were given the task to study all record cases of successions in the Mutul. Thus the official name of these "laws" is "Detailed Description and Theorization of the Modalities of the Reincarnation Cycle of the Mortal Chaak as it has been observed for the past ten B'akt'un". But ultimately the laws regulating the succession are quite precise.
The K'uhul Ajaw is considered the mortal and physical aspect of the god Chaak. All his direct children are considered Sons of Chaak or Blood of Chaak to the first degree. His nephews are Sons of Chaak to the second degree and so on. One's degree of blood is the first parameter taken into consideration in the order of succession. Children born outside of the official regal couple from a reigning K'uhul Ajaw are also considered in the succession order. The third parameter is the gender of the claimant, with women being placed after the males only in the same brotherhood. That mean the daughter of a K'uhul Ajaw's second brother is still above her cousins from the same K'uhul Ajaw's third brother in the succession line. This lead us to the third paramter taken into consideration : the order of birth, with the eldest individual being above his siblings in the succession line. Thus the Divine Throne's succession is governed de facto by male-preference cognatic primogeniture. It is not possible for an individual to renounce his or her right of succession.
Upon the death of a sovereign, their heir immediately and automatically succeeds even if they are not technically considered of Divine Nature yet and are only known as a Chosen Vessel. It's only through the coronation ritual that the Physical Aspect of Chaak is considered to be fully incarnated in the new K'uhul Ajaw and that his nature is now entirely divine. This is also considered to renew the blood and flesh of the Divine Lord, thus all his children will be considered Sons of Chaak to the first degree, making sure that they are above their uncles and their own bloodlines in the succession line. The Mutulese clergy has also developed a ritual allowing children the Divine King had before his coronation by, essentially, mixing the father and children's blood with chocolate and making them drink the beverage. It is precised that such rituals only work for the direct descendent of the K'uhul Ajaw and that "The opinion of Master Scholars in Theology and Metaphysics, who have spent their life studying the rules and reasons behind the Covenants, are all in agreement that such ritual can only work with the direct descendent of the recently ascended Divine Lord. Even with the agreement of the K'uhul Ajaw, no other family member or any individual for that matter can enjoy the privilege of seeing his blood raised to an higher standard by this method if he has not previously gone through the previous ritual of adoption that would've made him into the perfect and natural children of the K'uhul Ajaw."
Restriction by religion
"Without any known case in the records of the Divine Throne, there are difficulties to know for sure the restrictions a possible Vessel's beliefs pose on his abilities to incarnate the Mortal Aspect of Chaak. However, Theologians studies of the matter beyond simple observations, and common sense, allows us to make the following general rules for the establishment of the Succession Order." Thus the "Detailed Description and Theorization"'s article on Religion start. What the legislators and scholars of the 19th century chose as a solution to the problem of the "vessel's beliefs" is thus : The K'uhul Ajaw, in his role of highest ranking priest of the Divine Kingdom, must practice the rituals and teachings of the White Path and respect all the Covenants passed with the gods. However, he is not obligated to marry a White Pilgrim and the place of their children in the succession line would not be questioned. She or he, however, won't be able to claim the status of physical aspect of the Corn god as he or she won't be able to go through the ritual of ascension. Undergoing the ritual, however, is considered act of convertion. Practicing rituals from other polytheistic religions, such as the Gods Path, isn't considered an immediate rupture of the Covenants. But the worship of "false idols" such as the Abrahamic God will mark an immediate descent from their divine position "Be such worship known or not to any institution, as it will immediately be known to the Universe".
Such reasoning is also applied to the K'uhul Ajaw who, because of his status as a living divine aspect and religious leader of the Mutul, cannot be of any other religion than the White Path. Individuals from any other religions are deemed "naturally dead" for succession purposes.
Powers
To this day the K'uhul Ajaw retain vast powers of the administration of the Mutul, being both the Head of state, Head of government, Head of the legislature, Head of the Judiciary, Religious Head of the Mutul's White Path and Supreme commander of the Mutulese Army. For each of these branchs, there exist institutions who can take decision in the absence or with the participation of the Divine Lord, but even the most distant Divine Lords have retained and used of their powers to oversee and check these various assemblies, councils, departments and ministers and their actions to better harmonize the political agenda of the Divine Kingdom.
Religious role
As the Highest Priest of the Mutulese White Path, the K'uhul Ajaw is in charge of appointing the Ajaw K'in and Aj K'in Mai. There are thirteen Ajaw K'in in the Mutul, whom together form the highest religious instance of the country, second only to the Divine Lord. The K'uhul Ajaw has no role or power over other Sakbe institutions elsewhere in the world.
Court
Court Ranking
The apex of all aspects of society is the Divine Lord. Because of this absolute status, the K'uhul Ajaw is surrounded by an important court, the K'uhul Pop. Over the 3,000 years of the Mutul's existence, the K'uhul Pop has acquired a complex and detailed etiquette and all-reaching protocols. One of such protocols are the "Court Ranks", which determine the proximity of their holders to the royal power. These ranks can be categorized as such:
- Ch'ajnah (Blood relative)
- Apax (Close Childhood Friend)
- B'isp'iya (Blessed Friends)
- P'iya (Friends)
- Dynastic Relatives
- Non-Dynastic Relatives
The Ch'ajnah (lit. "Umbilical Cord") correspond to a serie of ranks automatically granted to individuals who share direct blood ties with the Divine Lord. The constitution only grant the title to individuals only two-generations distant from the K'uhul Ajaw (at least one grandparent in common). These titles are themselves ranked as such:
- Ixim (Either the Queen Dowager or Queen consort)
- Ixan (Queen consort only if there's already an Ixim)
- B'ah Ch'ok Ajaw (lit. "Head Young Prince")
- Ch'ok Ajaw (Younger brothers of the B'ah Ch'ok Ajaw)
- K'uhul Ichan; K'uhul Kitan (Divine Maternal; Paternal Uncle)
- Ch'ich'ok (Nephews or Grandchildren)
Like the K'uhul Ajaw, the Mutul's Divine Queen is coronated through a ceremony that ritually ascend her to the status of goddess as the mortal aspect of Ixim, itself the female aspect of the maize deity associated with agriculture and control over nature. When there's already a Queen Dowager at the moment of the coronation, the Queen consort is instead titled "Ixan", the goddess of young ears of maize and spring corn. In these situations where there's two "Queens", the eldest might also be given the title of "Ix Sihom", or "Lady Winter Maize".
Titles, Styles, Honors
The traditional full title of the K'uhul Ajaw is :
- The Holy Lord.
The most common and acceptable way of address the K'uhul Ajaw is "Your Divine Lordship" upon first instance, and "Your Holiness" thereafter. In Mutulese etiquette, "Your Majesty" is reserved to administrators of inferior ranks, such as the Ajpop.
In the Mutul, there's always been an inverse correlation in the length of a title and its position in the hierarchy, longer titles being generally more honorific charges that could be bought.
Residences
The main residence of the K'uhul Ajaw is the Chak Yaxnah Hokan, "Grand Precious Palace of the Five Throne", or "Grand Jade Palace", on the K'uhul Hill, in K'alak Muul. The Grand Jade Palace is also the seat of the government, containing the Divine Office, the Divine Throne, and the meeting place of the Council of the Four Bacabs. But the Divine Monarchy owns a number of other properties thourought the country, like the Janab' Witz in the K'umakaj Kingdom, the Nim Tuyulja north of the Sakule, the capital of the Sakkab' Kingdom and original seat of power of the Ilok'tab Dynasty, and the Nahmaknab', "House by the Lake", built during the 19th century in the Ch'aha Kingdom as a vacation site for the Divine Lord and his family.
The Chak Yaxnah Hokan, the seat of the Divine Throne and principal residence of the K'uhul Ajaw.
The Royal Necropolis is a collection of temples, shrines, and mausoleum where most of the Ilok'tab K'uhul Ajaw are burried. It's also the birthplace of most K'uhul Ajaws, as its western wing serves as the Queen's residence during the late stage of her pregnancy.
The Nim Tuyulja has been heavily modified through its rich history, but has retained its basic long rectangular shape.
A representation of the Nahmaknab' with its tower and its neo-classical architectural style.
