Yajawil of Kumakah

Yajawil of Kumakah
Flag Sun of Tohil
Motto: Young Sun, Bright Moon, Burning Mountain
Location of Kumakah in the Mutul
Capital and	Kumakah
Official languages	Mutli Katzijobʼal
Ethnic groups (2020)	Kʼicheʼ people Mam people  Pokomch'i people Pokomam people Popt'i people K'anjobal people Chuj people
Demonym(s)	Kumakahians
Government	Absolute monarchy
Legislature	Noj Holpop
• Upper house	Noj Sajal Ch'ob
• Lower house	Noj Mam Ch'ob
Province of the Mutul
Area
•	46,434 km2 (17,928 sq mi)

The Yajawil of Kumakah is a province in southern Mutul. Divided between the Achi Lowlands and the K'iche Highlands, the Yajawil sit at the foot of Nojwitz Mountains, the physical border between the Divine Kingdom and the Noble Republic. The Chixoy River find its source in the K'iche Highlands and flow through the province and continue its road for thousand of kilometers until reaching the Makrian Ocean in Kayahallpa. Beside Sante Reze to its south, Kumakah is border to the west by the Yajawil of Mamk'ab, to the north west by the Yajawil of Tolonik, to the north by the Yajawil of Pokomk'ab, and to the north east by the Yajawil of Pokomwitz.

The Yajawil represent more or less the core of what was the Kingdom of Kumakah, the K'iche kingdom that would go on to conquer the rest of the Mutul during the late 11th century. Its rulers would become the K'uhul Ajawtek, and the latest of these K'iche Dynasties is none other than the Ilok'tab Dynasty which has ruled over the Mutul since the 13th century.

Despite its relative isolation, Kumakah remain a core region of the Mutul and the most developped of the southern provinces. It's economy is centered around Heavy industry and Engineering. Kumakah is notably where the Mutul' weapon manufactures are located, far removed from potential threats and close to the raw materials and energy extracted from the mountains and rivers.

Kumakah is a very conservative province, home to some of the oldest and most powerful houses and families of the Divine Kingdom. It was notably the power-base of the Royalists during the Sajal War and its from Kumakah that Itzamnaaj B'alam reconquered the throne for his son, B'alijaj Chan K'awiil II and the K'iche people there have remained both Orthodox in their practice of the White Path and unfailing in their attachment to the Divine Throne. In return, the Kumakah is one of the most well funded province and access to healthcare is easier there than in most other provinces of the Mutul.

Etymology

The Yajawil is named after its capital city, Kumakah. Kumakah itself is a deformation in Mutli of the K'iche name of the agglomeration: Qʼumarkah. The meaning, "Place of old reeds" (Qʼumqaraqʼaj), is a traditional expression in Western Mutul used to refer to a large metropolis or powerful city. Puh (or Tullan) in Kanol share a similar etymology to Kumakah. This is one of the many clues used by certain historians to validate the traditional myths of the Kʼicheʼ people that tie them to the ancient Chik'in Kingdom and the K'uy Dynasty.

History

K'iche Kingdom

The K'iche enter history only in the 7th century with the creation of the First K'iche Kingdom which was officially founded the 9.4.11.6.0 3 Kankin 11 Ajaw (17 December 525) in Sak K'ak Witz ('White Fire Mountain') by the so-called Forefathers of which the current aristocratic lineages of the K'iche people, including the Ilok'tab, claim descent. A generation or so later four Forefathers clans (the Sotz'il, Xahil, Tukuche, and Raxonihay) seceded and abandoned Sak K'ak Witz, migrating further east and founding their own city of Iximt'e. Later, a second crisis in Sak K'ak Witz led to three other clans (the Nimabal, Tahub, and Ilok'tab) leaving as well during the 8th century and founding a different city in the Highlands: Kumakah.

The royal historiography present these clans as descendents of Tatinak-Chaan lineages who migrated southward to flee the troubles of the Maize Bread Rebellion that almost broke down the K'uy Dynasty from within. However, historians outside of the Mutul have noted disrepancies inside this story. Notably, the complete lack of contemporary K'uy documents or monuments mentioning the foundation of new kingdoms by nobles from their own state. Similarly, that the K'uy wouldn't try to exerce their hegemony over these runaway houses once their authority had been restored after the Rebellion seems implausible to some. The same "Heterodox" or "Heretical" historians have put forward a different hypothesis, linking the K'iche Forefathers not with noble houses but with insurectionists turned to banditry who fled outside of the Mutul to avoid repression. However, this theory is also hotly debated and lack strong evidences.

Plan of Kumakah Old Citadel, center of the K'iche power

The Kingdoms of Kumakah had a strong vertical structure. At the top of society were the Ajawtek, 'the Lords', who ruled over their vassals, the Aj K'ajol. Slaves were also held and included both sentenced criminals and prisoners of war. The nobility itself was strongly codified and vertical: there were twenty-four Nimja, or 'Great Houses', in Kumakah. All of these houses were grouped in four clans: the Nimabal K'iche, the Tahub, the Ilok'tab, and the K'oyol. At the foundation of the city, only three clans existed but the K'oyol were added later on as they grew in power after the early conquests. Each clan had at its head a patron lineage and so was led by a clearly defined Patriarch. The Patriarch of the Nimabal K'iche was also the Ajpop, the King.

Reputedly, each of the clan was linked to a specific role in society. The Nimabal were the rulers and administrators, the Tahub the traders and scholars, the Ilok'tab the warriors, and the K'oyol the artisans, smiths, and stonecutters of Kumakah. They also had each their titular deity: Yax K'ak Witz for the Nimabal, Awilix for the Tahub, Tohil for the Ilok'tab, and Kukumatz for the K'oyol.

Through matrimonial policies, the K'iche and K'akchikel of Iximt'e became allies. The Ajpop of Kumakah and the Ajpop K'amha, 'King-Elect' of the K'akchikel, jointly organised raids and incursions into their neighbors territories. They notably destroyed what remained Sak K'ak Witz and conquered vast parts of the K'oja people' lands, pushing the latter further south and higher into the mountains. In 785 a dispute emerged between the two cities as they jointly defeated the Achi kingdom of the lowlands, but they submitted only to the K'iche. War broke between the two parties and the alliance was lost replaced instead by a state of permanent tension and warfare that would last for a century. This conflict was ultimately lost by the K'akchikel and their kingdom was re-integrated into the K'iche State in 893.

Throughout the following century the K'iche would continue their expansion, notably against the Mam kingdoms, the K'oja Confederation, the Chaa Kingdom, Chajoma Kingdom (founded by K'akchikel exiles), and the Pokomam and Pokomchi people.

Cousins War

See also: Cousins War

K'ukumatz and Tepew

The Cousins War was a two centuries long era of political division within the Mutul. The K'uy Dynasty collapsed in 895 due to international pressures (the many defeats against the Kayamuca Empire) that created internal weaknesses (loss of prestige, legitimacy, and revenues) which in reaction caused a decentralization of military and civil powers (the K'aloomt'e) which amplified dynastic issues, issues that exploded at the first succession crisis with all K'aloomt'e proclaiming themselves K'uhul Ajaw.

To gain an edge over their rivals, the 'Southern Mutal' began negotiations to gain the support of the K'iche Ajpop. The Mutal had come to rely more and more on mercenaries for its military campaigns and through an alliance with the K'iche the Southern K'uhul Ajaw hoped to obtain their military support as well. The Ajpop Ku'kumatz agreed to the alliance and married the Southern K'uhul Ajaw' daughter. Acting as the de-facto commander-in-chief of his father-in-law, K'ukumatz forced the K'in K'uy lineage of the Eastern Mutal and the Sak'in lineage of the Central Mutal to abdicate their thrones. He then defeated in battle the Western Mutal in battle and plundered the Muynal Basin.

Through his unprecedented victories, K'ukumatz became the dominant figure at his father-in-law's court. He joined his wife' court intrigues and plotted with her the downfall of her brothers and cousins. Following her advises, he forced her father to abdicate his throne to her and the 8th of May 1094 he was enthroned co-ruler of the Mutul.

Second Grand K'oja War

While the K'iche Ajpop and most of his court and military staff were away, the K'oja mountain people seized the opportunity to launch raids into the K'iche Kingdom, threatening the city of Kumakah itself although they were forced to abandon the siege due to a lack of war engines. In 1098, K'ukumatz returned at the head of his army to stop the K'oja. The Mountaineers were forced to retreat but during the campaign, K'ukumatz was killed by skirmishers. And so, in 1099, his son K'ikab succeeded him as Ajpop. The same year, his mother abdicated in his favour as K'uhul Ajaw, securing his position and unifying the two states (even though she remained regent in her son's absence).

K'ikab launched a grand invasion of the K'oja territories in the mountains and destroyed most of their fortresses. He notably killed their leader in battle, recovered the bones of his father and of his sister -kidnapped, forcefully married, and ultimately executed by the K'oja king during the war- and destroyed their capital. The K'oja as a people ceased to appear in history after the war, either killed by the K'iche armies or deported throughout the new Mutul as slaves. Their fortresses would be left in ruins, perched in the clouds, abandoned until the Mutulo-Reze Wars 550 years later.

Revolt of the Two Princes

Over the next ten years, K'ikab would complete the reunification of the Mutul in full defeating every other Mutals. But in 1109, ten years after his crowning, two of his sons and their vassals rebelled against their father. This revolt proved extremely successful and the two princes imposed themselves as the new hegemons of the Mutul, relegating their father to a ceremonial role. Soon after however, in 1112, the Crown Prince died leaving K'ikab without clear successor. The rebel princes began a new fratricide war for the throne, burning the capital city of Taaj to the ground in the process.

K'ikab was able to escape the siege of Taaj in the confusion with many of his followers, and so despite his illness. He listened to the advice of his K'iche partisans and reached Kumakah before his sons and barricaded himself there before summoning a grand council of the Mutul' nobility still loyal to him. The Council decided, following the previous dynasties' customs but against K'iche's traditions, to elect Tziawilix the K'uhul Ajaw's daughter as K'uhul Ajaw. The war against her two brothers was ultimately won and in 1114 when her father died Tziawilix succeeded him as K'uhul Ajaw.

Tahub Dynasty

The Moon Goddess Awilix was the patron deity of the Tahub

Tziawilix 28 years of rule were an era of peace and reconstruction for a Mutul long divided and plagued with internal strifes. She returned the capital to Taaj which she rebuilt following the destructions of the Two Princes' Revolts. While she conserved the title of K'iche Ajpop, the territories of the K'iche Kingdom before the conquest of the Mutul were put under a new "Viceroyalty". The title of "King-Select" (Ajpop Ch'aom) was given to her uncle, the Patriarch of Clan Tahub and the Archpriest of Awilix.

The Tahub Clan really grew in power during Tziawilix' rule, but also the Achi and the Tzʼutujil clans. A form of Plantation economy developped, with vast tracks of lands being held by Lords or Temples and exploited by slaves and labourers from the rest of the Mutul. The Achi especially recovered many of the lowlands that they had lost during the K'iche invasions and through economic transactions and matrimonial policies became the 'Natural Leaders', religiously and politically, of most of the foreign settlers who migrated or were forcefully moved to those lands. The Tz'utujil became famed as the weavers of the Viceroyalty with their own temple and clergy and thus their own lands and distribution network. The Tahub imposed themselves mainly through their administrative and judicial authority, which they used to expand their traditional roles as traders and intermediate dealers especially in luxury goods, chocolate, and obsidian.

Oxib Keh succeeded to her mother in 1142. He named his father as the new King-Select of Kumakah, the beginning of new dnastic feuds between the partisans of the K'uhul Ajaw and the previous' King-Select' lineage and their own clients. The ruler of Kumakah also had to juggle with the rivalries between other Tahub lineages (of which the Ekoamakʼ and Kakoj) were the most influents) which all played their role in the power struggle for the position of King-Select. At the death of his father in 1150, Oxib Keh enthroned his eldest son, K'ojkan, as the new K'iche Ajaw and appointed him as King-Select of Kumakah. To solidify his position, K'ojkan married the daughter of the Ilok'tab King of nearby Mamk'ab, Tekun Uman.

K'ojkan was successfull in reigning in the rest of the Tahub lineages and solidify the clan, although he had to rely on his godfather' authority and troops to suppress certain protests and uprisings in the absence of the too-distant central-power of his father. In 1188 he became the new K'uhul Ajaw and moved the Mutul' capital away from Taaj and back to Kumakah where his powerbase was now well-established. He died in 1196, leaving behind him a more majestuous city, filled with temples, palaces, gardens, aqueducs, causaways, and even a sewage system that bore its name. He left behind an underaged successor, B'ah Chich who showed as soon as 1198 signs of mental deficiencies. As a result, a council of regents was formed. His uncle, Tekun Uman, quickly became the dominant figure of that council. In 1202, B'ach Chich died after a rapid degradation of his health. The same year Tekun Uman, justifying his claims through the bloodties he had to both the recently deceased Divine Lord and to the now-mythical K'uk'umatz, got himself elected as the new K'uhul Ajaw of the Mutul. Kumakah would remain his and his descendents capitals until 1318 when it was moved to K'alak Muul.

Crownland of the Ilok'tab

While the city of Kumakah remained the capital, the Ilok'tab moved the center of power away from the ancient Acropolis and its Old Citadel to the traditional Ilok'tab neighborhood of Chilok'ab. Tekun Uman and his successors engaged in a number of vast projects of monumental constructions. This included, at the end of a ritual cycle of 52 years, the destruction of most of the Old Citadel, with its palaces and pyramids, replaced instead by a vast temple complex dedicated to all four major deities of the K'iche pantheon.

Outside of the Metropolis, the Ilok'tab continued the efforts of their predecessors to expand Kumakah' network of causaways, inns, granaries, canals, and other Chocolate Mills. Tekun Uman wish to turn the province into a source of military manpower required him to negotiate dynastic and political alliances with the lords of the region's agriculture and industry: the Achi and the K'oyol. The Tehub would continue to play an important role in the economic, religious, and political life of the Mutul, but never again would they dominate the local politics of Kumakah as they once did, replaced instead by the various Ilok'tab lineages, their Mam clients, and other vassals.

Under the early Ilok'tab, the province finished its transition from feudalism to a more structured administrative system following the Chaan system. Hamlets and villages were gathered in Nalilob, centered around a sanctuary or a temple. These "wards" were the level matching that of the natural community. Nalilob were then grouped into Batabilob, the "cities". Cities were themselves grouped in a Kuchkabal, and Kuchkabalob formed a Yajawil, a Province. While it had always been the ideal system all Mutuleses dynasties claimed to follow, the Ilok'tab more than anyone else before them fought hard against all exceptions to the system, including Kings and City-states.

Politics

The six Kuchkabalob of the Viceroyalty

The Vice-royalty of Kumakah is dominated politically by a number of large families called Nimja or Great Houses. The most important of those families are the House of Achi, close kin to the Ilok'tab Dynasty as they were founded by Raxakan, son of B'alijaj Chan K'awiil II when he retook the name of his grandfather's original household. Almost equally as important are the K'oyol who have maintained a strong grasp over the vice-royalty' industry and manufacturing sector since the days of the K'iche Kingdom and thus consider most of the highlands and mountains to be their domain. Other families of noble lineages include the K'iak (Flea), Xoy (Dancer), the Kiej (Horse), Tum (Twist), Kolob' (Rope), Kawek (Rain Storm), Nijaj (Fine Day), Sakik (White Wind), Ekamak (Black Nation), and the Kakoj (Pale Brown) among others. Other K'iche Houses have a strong presence in the Yajawil, but have long since moved to different parts of the Mutul. For example, the Yakawek lineage, branch of the larger House of Kawek, has a leading role in the Yajawil of Kupul.

Kumakah follow the standard administrative scheme of the Mutul. The Viceroyaly is led by the K'iche Yajaw or K'iche Viceroy, appointed by the K'uhul Ajaw. He plays an important administrative and judicial role. He is advised and helped in his task by his cabinet and the Noj Holpop, the Grand Parliament, which notably present grievances from their constituencies and debate the budget. The Parliament is divided in three estates: the Nobility, with the Ajawabab elected among recognized aristocrats within Traditional Constituencies, the Clergy, with representatives for each temple and sanctuary of major importance, and the Elders, who represent a Viceroy-defined constituency and are elected by a college of Grand Electors: Administrators and other Elders.

The Viceroy also represent the highest judiciary authority in Kumakah. He is helped in that task by the Q’atal tzij. In the Mutul, a second branch of justice, independent from the Viceroys, exist. It is represented by the Boards of Grievances and handle cases involving the local administration. The control of this branch of the judiciary goes back directly to the K'uhul Ajaw and a certain rivalry exist between the Viceroy and the Grand Judge-Assessor as a result.

Economy

Agriculture

Fields in the Highlands

The lowlands and the river bassins are the main agricultural producers of the Vice-Royalty. Contrary to the north of the Mutul, Kumakah doesn't have issues with water-access: rivers, lakes, and rain are common which allows for the local government to loosen agricultural laws and regulations. The sector consists of two types of producers: communal holdings where small farmers are granted Usufruct of the land by their Nalil and fewer medium- to large-scale operations in the more fertile lowlands. The smaller farms produce staples for consumption, such as beans and maize, as well as fruits and vegetables for export. Larger farms produce export and plantation products like bananas, sugar cane, cocoa, rubber and palm oil. A wide variety of methods are employed by farmers: Xukalpuh and Raised Fields in the lowlands, Terracing in the highlands.

Beside the Nalilob (Municipalities), the two largest landowners are the House of Achi and the K'iche Trinity School. The former are private landowners, a Great House, and traditional community leaders in close proximity to the national, provincial, and the local governments. The latter are the main religious institution of the Province with similar strong ties to all level of power. Together, they represent around 12% of all farmlands.

Industry

The historic K'oyol Arsenal in Kumakah City

Kumakah began its industrialisation in 19th century, mostly by the will of Itzamnaaj B'alam. Due to its natural defenses, remoteness from any potential hostile neighbour, mineral wealth, and because it had been the refuge of the Ilok'tab Dynasty during the Sajal War, proving itself to be the most loyalist province in all of the Mutul, royal authorities encouraged and invested in the development of heavy industries such as metallurgy and, most importantly, the defense industry. The Arsenal of Kumakah are still, to this day, the main producers of ammunitions, firearms, artillery, shells, and other equipment for the ground troops of the Mutulese military. Mines, steel factories, and weapon manufactures alike are dominated by the K'oyol Conglomerate, Mutulese leader in those sectors, itself based in Kumakah City.