chiefdom · Mesoamerica and the Caribbean

Uaymil

1441 CE – 1544 CE (approx.)

A thinly documented Maya province of south-eastern Yucatán, conquered with great brutality by the Spanish in the 1540s.

Origins

Uaymil emerged after the fall of the League of Mayapan around 1441 in the south-east of the peninsula, between the provinces of Cochuah and Chetumal, in what is now southern Quintana Roo. Little is known of its origins.

Rule and society

It appears to have been a loose grouping of towns in a region of lagoons and forest, known only from a few colonial sources. Its people farmed maize and probably cacao and took part in coastal trade.

Decline and legacy

In 1544 the Spanish captains Gaspar and Melchor Pacheco conquered Uaymil and its neighbours with exceptional cruelty, and the region was largely depopulated. It became part of the Province of Yucatán.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Lineage

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

Connections (1)

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

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻