Page:The Katunes of Maya History.djvu/60

52 named in the manuscript which is the 8th Ahau, or the starting of the conqerors from Tulapan, the 3'ears 142–162 of our modern Christian era.

Of all the dates calculated from the manuscript only that of 1542 is well established from a historical point of view, as that when Merida was declared the future capital of the conquered country. It is represented by the last year of the 13th Ahau. A second date and event, that of the final destruction of Mayapan, is mentioned by Cogolludo, who places it about the year 1420 A. D., which would give (see table, page 54) a 12th or a 10th Ahau period. Bat the manuscript in §11 gives Vaxac Ahau or the 8th Ahau, which according to our computation represents the years between 1442 and 1462. Landa agrees with this statement (Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan, §IX., page 52). "It is now 120 years since Mayajoan was destroyed.! Landa wrote in the year 1666, therefore, in his conception Mayapan was destroyed in 1446, which year falls correctly in the 8th Ahau.

Landa's account agrees also with another event mentioned in the manuscript, the wanderings of the Itzaes 40 years in the wilderness before they settled down at Dxmal aud Mayapan, in the 6th and 4th Ahau, which is in our calculation from 942–982 A. D. Landa, however, does not fix the year (Relacion de las Cosas de Yucatan, §YIIL, page 46). In §VIII., page 49, he likewise speaks of a king of the tribes of Cocomes, hostile to the Itzaes, who kept a Mexican garrison in Mayapan. This is an allusion to the seven Mayapanes mentioned in the manuscript (in §8), all of whom have Mexican (Nahuatl) names. There also the year is not given. However, his confirmation of so early events in Maya history appears to be of high value.

It is fortunate that the manuscript just in the middle of its narration exhibits a long succession of Ahau periods without any gaps at all. We can count through sections 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, thirty-one Ahau periods or 620 years of uninterrupted history. They represent, according to our