chiefdom · Mesoamerica and the Caribbean

Hocabá

1441 CE – 1542 CE (approx.) · capital Hocabá

A small Maya province of north-central Yucatán, one of the territories that emerged after the fall of Mayapan in the 1440s.

Origins

Hocabá was one of the provinces (kuchkabalob) formed in northern Yucatán after the League of Mayapan collapsed around 1441. It occupied a compact area south-east of present-day Mérida, between Ceh Pech, Ah Kin Chel and Sotuta.

Rule and society

The province was governed from the town of Hocabá by a ruler of the Iuit lineage, who held authority over the batabs, the heads of individual towns such as Homún. Like its neighbours, it lived from maize farming, beekeeping and cotton weaving. It is known mainly from Spanish colonial records studied by Ralph Roys.

Decline and legacy

Hocabá submitted to the Spanish in the early 1540s and was absorbed into the Province of Yucatán. Its towns became colonial encomiendas.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

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

Connections (1)

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻