chiefdom · Mesoamerica and the Caribbean

Ecab

1441 CE – 1544 CE (approx.) · capital Ecab

The Maya province at the north-eastern tip of Yucatán, the first part of mainland Mexico seen by a Spanish expedition in 1517.

Origins

Ecab (Ekab) emerged after the fall of the League of Mayapan around 1441 in the north-east corner of the peninsula, facing Isla Mujeres and Cozumel. Its main town, Ecab, impressed Francisco Hernández de Córdoba in 1517, who called it 'Gran Cairo'.

Rule and society

Ecab was a coastal province whose towns lived from fishing, salt and the seaborne trade that passed around the peninsula. Little is known of its rulers or internal organisation, which colonial records describe only briefly.

Decline and legacy

Ecab resisted early Spanish incursions but was conquered in the 1540s by Francisco de Montejo the Nephew. Its population declined sharply under colonial rule and the town was later abandoned.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

League of Mayapan 1220 CE – 1441 CEEcabProvince of Yucatán 1542 CE – 1821 CE

Connections (1)

More states of Mesoamerica and the Caribbean →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Ecab. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ecab
MLA
“Ecab.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ecab. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Ecab.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ecab.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Ecab’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ecab (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻