Khasav Chan Cavil I

Beginning of the board

Khasav-Chan-Cavil I was the son of the Mutul king Nun-Khol-Chak I and his wife Ish-Husus (?) - Bok (?) - Ish-Tsam. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but it is assumed that he ascended the throne of Mutul in 682, three years after the death of his father ^[3] . According to Mayan beliefs, events are repeated every katun , and Khasav-Chan-Kavil deliberately postponed the coronation for three years in order to connect his rule with the reign of Siyah-Chan-Kavil I in the IV century - he ascended the throne exactly 265 years after it ^{[4 ]} .

The new king received in his possession a weakened state in deep decline. Therefore, the main goal of Khasav-Chan-Kavil throughout his reign was to restore the former power of Tikal ^[5] . In order to strengthen his power, he, imitating his predecessors, began to use the symbols of Teotihuacan , which by that time had also fallen into decay, but formerly the greatest city-state of Mesoamerica . On the personal belongings of the ruler, the birth dates of the Teotihakan kings were carved, and he himself was depicted in the ammunition of the Teotihuacan warrior - in a mosaic helmet, with darts and a spear-thrower in his hand ^[6] .

From the very beginning of the reign, Khasav-Chan-Kavil took the title of kalomte ^[7] , thereby challenging the hegemony of the Kanul kingdom in the Mayan lands ^[8] . And although by the mid- 680s, Kanul was the most powerful Mayan kingdom, constant wars undermined its power. Therefore, with the death in 686 of Yuknom-Ch'een II and the ascension to the throne of Chiiknaab Yuknom-Yich'aak-K'ak, the Kanul state began to disintegrate, which was very beneficial for the Mutul king ^[8] .

In March 692, the end of the Katun (20-year calendar cycle ^[9] ) was celebrated in Tikal, and Khasav-Chan-Kavil, for the first time in 135 years, erects new stela and altar in the city (Stela 30 and Altar 14).

Wars with Kanul and his allies

Soon after the end of these festivities, the struggle between Mutul, Kanul and their allies resumed. With the death of the elderly king Dos-Pilas Bahlakh-Chan-Kavil, his successor Itzamnakh-Balamat refused to pursue an active foreign policy, thereby ceasing to pose a threat to Mutul. Then the kingdom of Saal, with its capital in Naranjo , became the new pillar of Kanul, where, from 682, the sister of the new Dos-Pilas king Ish-Wak-Chan- ... -Ahab and her young son Kak-Tiliv-Chan-Chak ruled. During 693, this queen made a number of successful campaigns against the small kingdoms of the east of Peten allied with Mutulu, and in January 695, Saal’s army in a certain area of ​​Kan-Tul defeated and captured the “man from Mutul” Siyah-Kavil, apparently one of commanders of Khasav-Chan-Kavil ^[8] . As a result, a new war broke out between Mutul and Kanul. Due to the poor preservation of texts, little information has survived to this day about the progress of hostilities. However, it is known that the main battle took place on August 8, 695 and ended with the decisive victory of Khasav-Chan-Kavil ^{[8] [10]} . The defeat of Kanul was so devastating that “yahavman” fell into the hands of the mutants - the holy palanquin of the Kanul kings, personifying the patron god of the ruling dynasty ^[8] . Yuknom-Yichak-How himself was able to escape captivity and returned to Kalakmul ^[11] , however, shortly after this defeat he died - in November 695, a new ruler was already on the throne of Kanul. These events have become a key moment in the history of Maya ^[5] . The period of the new heyday of Mutul began, which lasted until the death of the classical Mayan civilization in the 9th century . The power of Kanul, on the contrary, sharply decreases, and he forever loses hegemony in the Mayan lands, although it retains influence in some areas.

13 days after this battle, Khasav-Chan-Cavil, in the garment of a Teotihuacan warrior, personally led the sacrifice of prisoners, among whom was a certain noble person from Saal. After another 27 days, a magnificent ritual was performed, during which the king blew blood in front of the image of Nun-Balam-Chaknal. The day of celebration was not chosen by chance - exactly 13 katunas expired from the day of the death of the famous Teotihuacan ruler, Hatsu-Kuh ^[12] .

The hostilities, however, did not stop there. Saal continued his attacks on small kingdoms, and the new ruler of Kanul in November 695 conducted a successful war with the kingdom of Koban, supposedly allied to Mutul. But in the end, the Kanul army was defeated again, and the king’s grandson named Hush-Khate was captured by the mutants ^[5] .

Despite the newfound power, Mutul directly controlled a rather small territory. In the south, according to the text of 711 , his vassal was the neighboring kingdom of Ik with its capital in Motul de San Jose. Obviously, this vassality was sealed by marriage: the reception of a woman from the Mutul royal house by the Ik king Tayel-Chan-Kinich is depicted on a polychrome vessel K2573, and on the other vessel, K4996, he accepts offerings from three dignitaries with it ^[8] . In the east, the main ally and vassal of Mutul became the hostile kingdom of Saal Yashha, whose ruler also married a relative of Khasav-Chan-Kavil ^[13] . But further Moutul's possessions to the south and east of Tikal were limited to Saal and Dos-Pilas, with whom he continued to clash. The closest of Mutuly’s western neighbors, the kingdom of Vac, was still under the control of Kanul ^[5] . The northern limits of the Mutulian influence probably expanded to Maasal. In the reliefs of Altar V, it is reported that the Maasal king Chan-Sak-Vayis together with Khasav-Chan-Kavil took part in the reburial of the remains of his relative, a certain Ish-Tun-Kayvak ^[13] . Moreover, earlier Maasal was an important ally of Kanul and control over him was an important success, probably achieved as a result of the war of 695 ^[5] .

There is also unclear information that Khasav-Chan-Cavil defeated the kingdom of Kant with the capital in Karakol , where after 702 the construction of monuments ceases for more than a century. In 705, Mutul, seeking to expand his influence on Dom-Pilas, was defeated by him, and one of the commanders of Khasav-Chan-Kavil was captured. In addition, the help of Mutul still did not save the kings of Yashha from defeat in the war with Saal, as a result of which this kingdom became dependent on the latter in the early 710s ^[5] .

Urban planning and the end of the board

The subsequent reign of Khasav-Chan-Kavil was more peaceful, and therefore he focused on construction activities. The rapid growth of Tikal began, the area of ​​which reached more than 16 km², and the population - about 16-20 thousand people ^[13] . In honor of the victory in the war of 695, Temple I was erected, which later became the tomb of this king. It is worth noting that such a burial violated more than 500 years of tradition, according to which the Mutul kings were buried in the Northern Acropolis ^[9] . Then, on the contrary, a very similar Temple II was built. The carved lintel and the now destroyed stele discovered there depict a woman in regal robes. It was suggested that the temple was built in honor of Ish-Lachan-Unen-Mo - the main queen of Khasav-Chan-Kavil and the mother of his heir ^[5] . Excavations were carried out inside the temple, but the burial of the queen was not found. In addition, during the reign of Khasav-Chan-Kavil, the Central Acropolis ^[14] , the royal palace, as well as the ball court and the associated Teotihuacan-style temple were built.

The exact date of death of the king is unknown. The latest date found on his funerary inventory is April 733 , and the next king, Mutulya, son and heir of Hasan-Chan-Kavil, Ikin-Chan-Kavil , ascended the throne on December 12, 734 . Presumably, Khasav-Chan-Kavil I died somewhere in the interval between these two dates ^[5] .

Temple I, in which the king was buried, rises on the east side of the main square of Tikal and has a height of 47 meters ^[15] . The structure is a stone pyramid consisting of nine inclined, elongated platforms. At its top there is a sanctuary, to which a massive steep staircase leads, rising from the ground to the top of the pyramid along one of its faces. Inside the memorial temple itself, three doorways follow one after another. Also inside the sanctuary there are claddings made of hardwood sapodilla ^[16] and decorated with carvings depicting various scenes from Khasav-Chan-Cavil I ^[17] . The top of the sanctuary is crowned with a large stone ridge, which depicts the king sitting on the throne ^{[15] [18]} . Judging by the traces of paint, earlier this crest was painted red.

The tomb of Khasav-Chan-Kavil I was discovered by archaeologists under the foundation of Temple I in 1962 ^{[15] [19]} and was called Burial 116. The king was buried on a stone platform surrounded by many gifts and ornaments - the skins of jaguars were found in the tomb, rare shells , pearls , jadeite jewelry, mirrors, ceramics and much more ^{[15] [20]} . The body of Khasav-Chan-Kavil was covered with many jewelry made of jade , among which a huge necklace weighing 3.9 kg, consisting of 114 spherical beads and probably worn on the king in some of his images, stands out especially ^[15] . Among the offerings, the mosaic jade vessel crowned by the bust of Khasav-Chan-Kavil I is especially distinguished. Forty vessels were also found in the burial, ten of which were painted, and 37 bones, of which two were the human shins, and the rest were deer and jaguars. On these bones inscriptions and images highlighted by ocher are skillfully carved. The themes of historical and mythological images, inscriptions contain a long list of dates of death of nobles from other possessions, as well as not quite clear references to the kingdoms of Shukuup and Baakul ^[5] .

Khasav-Chan-Kavil’s wife was Ish-Lachan-Unen-Mo ( “Lady of the Twelve Little Ara” ) ^[5] . From this marriage, the king knows one son:

• Ikin-Chan-Cavil - the ruler of Mutul in the years 734 - 755/760 ^[14] , continued the expansionist and construction activities of his father.

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• Jasaw Chan K'awiil I (Spanish) . Mesoweb.com. Date of treatment December 27, 2016.