Dynastic Rulers of Palenque, Palenque Dynastic rulers

There was a time when archaeologists believed the portraits in the stelae found at Classic Maya sites were of astronomers and priests, of a totally impersonal nature and that the glyphs contained in the stelae were only information on sacred dates on the Maya calendar. Later on, the notion that these had been actual rulers became more obvious and archaeologists started elaborating on the subject and piecing the puzzle together. The following sequence is the product of different scientists' work, professionals who have dedicated many years to the study of glyphs and logographic and phonetic symbols found in Maya writing.

This is by no means a complete account of all that is known about Palenque's Dynastic Rulers. What we do know is that the royal line was broken perhaps more than once and that some of the most magnificent works of art found at the site are efforts to justify a ruler's lineage and an attempt to legitimate their descendance and their rights to power… You may see that the Palenque kings decided on taking names from earlier rulers, undoubtedly in an effort to validate themselves as the new rulers and publicly and officially connect themselves to their ancestors both human and mythical. In fact, most of what we know about the Palenque dynasty comes from texts written after K'inich Janaab' Pakal I's death in 683 A.D. The name B'alam or jaguar is repeated in several of their names, and its spelling is widely accepted as being either B'alam or Bahlum, which is the way most people in Chiapas write and pronounce it in modern times. Remember, Maya is still a living language and 7 different versions of it are spoken in the state of Chiapas!

Name of Ruler	Accession to Throne	Date of reign	Monuments/ Importance
K'uk B'alam I or Quetzal Jaguar	431 A.D.	until 435 A.D.	Founder of Palenque's Classic Dynasty, consistently referred to as the Lord of Toktan, which is Palenque's dynasty possible place of origin.
Casper	435 A.D.	until 487 A.D.	Started ruling when he was only thirteen years old and was king for half a century. His name is found in an early bowl made of karst limestone, unusual because it dates from the Early Classic and is the only such carving found from this time period at the site.
B'utz'aj Sak Chiik	487 A.D.	until 501 A.D.	Also known as Manik, he appears on Temple 17's fine panel refering to a date in 490 A.D. and for the first time calling the city Lakamja or the Big Water.
Ahkal Mo' Naab' I	501 A.D.	until his death in 524 A.D.	He is mentioned as a young prince in a vase on a panel on Temple 17 but for some reason was very important to K'inich Janaab' Pakal I, who mentions him three times in his dynastic narratives, the reason for the prominence attributed to Ahkal Mo' Naab' I by this later ruler is not well understood as of yet.
K'an Joy Chitam I or Precious Tied Peccary	529 A.D.	until his death at age 74 on 565 A.D.	He appears as taking part in a ceremony in a text dated 496 A.D. which took place at Toktan, so perhaps it was not a mythical place after all. Also knows as Hok, Kan Xul I, or K'an Hok Chitam.
Ahkal Mo' Naab' II	565	570	He was the ruler for only 5 years and was referred to as Ahkal Mo' Naab' I's grandson... Snake Jaguar who succeded him in the throne may have been his brother...
K'an B'alam I also known as Snake Jaguar and Chan Bahlum I	572	583	His reign lasted 11 years and was the first to use the title K'inich, or Great Sun ... Left no surviving male heir so his sister, but most likely his daughter, took political power...
Lady Yohl Ik'nal, also known as Lady K'anal Ik'nal	583	604	Her reign lasted 20 years. She received serious setbacks during her reign, one of which was the first invasion and sacking of the city by Calakmul in 599 A.D.
Aj Ne' Ohl Mat	605	612	Calakmul invades Palenque a second time during his reign... He may have been Lady Yohl Ik'nal's son. Although he and his possible brother Janaab' Pakal, who had considerable political power but was never the ruler of Palenque, survived Calakmul's attack both died within a year and left Palenque in a political mess...
Muwaan Mat, also known as Lady Sak K'uk'	612	615	Probably Janaab' Pakal's daughter, this is an osbcure and confusing chapter of Palenque's history... Her rule was presented as that of a deity and the name Muwaan Mat is that of the progenitor of Palenque's 3 supernatural patrons. It was a strange period that lasted 3 years before Pakal's greatest and most known king K'inich Janaab' Pakal I was crowned when he was only 12... Lady Sak K'uk' and her husband K'an Mo' Hix retained much of the practical power until their deaths in 640 A.D. and 642 A.D. respectively...
K'inich Janaab' Pakal I	615	683	Appears on a scene taking power named the Oval Palace Tablet, taking a drum shaped crown from his mother, Lady Sak Kuk', when Palenque was at an all-time political and military low. He commissioned improvements and several additions to the Palace, particularly Houses A, B and C and the East Court, flanked by bas reliefs of 6 lords he took as captives in 659 A.D. He was buried in the Temple of the Inscriptions in a huge sarcophagus closed by a magnificently carved lid of unparalleled artistic quality that was buried deep within the pyramid.
K'inich K'an B'alam II or Chan Bahlum II also known as Great-Sun Snake Jaguar	684	702	K'inich Janaab' Pakal I's first son was responsible for finalizing the magnificently artful details on the Temple of the Inscriptions, where he buried his father, in one of the most astonishing burials found in Ancient America. He appears on the tablets of the Cross Group Temples: the Temples of the Cross, the Sun and the Foliated Cross, which he dedicated in 692 A.D. He also appears on a Panel on Temple 17 and on the panels in the Temple of the Inscriptions. He went to war with Tonina and defeated them.
K'inich K'an Joy Chitam II, also known as Kan Xul II, or K'an Hok Chitam II also Great Precious Tied Peccary	702	711	K'inich Janaab' Pakal I's second son ascended to the throne when he was 57 years old! He was in a hurry to leave his mark for posterity, like his brother before him, and commissioned and dedicated several buildings and monuments, including additions and placing exquisite -yet little understood- panels in the Palace... Tonina took revenge and in 711 A.D. inflicted great devastation in Palenque and took this ruler hostage, probably killing him in Tonina either immediately after his capture or perhaps keeping him in captivity for a long time.
K'inich Ahkal Mo' Naab' III also known as Great-Sun Turtle Macaw Lake, Chaacal III or Akul Anab III	721	736	Palenque seems to have gone without a ruler for 10 years until this possible brother of his two predecessors ascended to the throne... His reign produced some of the most amazing sculpture in Palenque, considered the pinnacle of the city's artistry, on the benches' side panels found in Temple 19. He also appears in texts in Temple 18 and 21... As other Maya rulers elsewhere he had to practice a kind of strategic diplomacy, involving supporting lords and other secondary nobles and subordinates to help restore royal traditions during these chaotic times...
K'inich Janaab' Pakal II or Shield of the Sun God	742		He was his predecessor's "Head Prince", and is called the Sun God's Shield in a panel on Temple 19... Not much is known about his reign, but during this time a Lady of Palenque was sent to Copan to marry to create political ties between the 2 borders of the Maya World and perhaps Tonina attacked Palenque again. His reign seems to have been short-lived or a period of much turmoil...
K'inich K'uk B'alam II or Great-Sun Quetzal Jaguar or Bahlum K'uk' II or Mahk'ina Kuk	764	783	He was Ahkal Mo' Naab' III's son and was the last of Palenque's major rulers, he appears on the exquisite Tablet of the 96 Glyphs, the Creation Tablet, the Mural on House B in the Palace. The narrative points to the recounting of the accessions of the last Palenque rulers in House E at the Palace, starting with K'inich Janaab' Pakal I and going on to K'inich K'an Joy Chitam II, K'inich Ahkal Mo' Naab' III and then to this ruler...
Janaab' Pakal III also known as 6 Cimi Pakal or 6 Death Shield	799	?	The record of his name was found on a black vessel found in a residential quarter of the city. After this time Palenque collapses and is abandoned. The fact that he took a date from the calendar probably indicates that Central Mexico groups extended their influence this far. One last Comalcalco inscription dated around 814 A.D. mentions the name Bakal for the last time, although it is not clear if it is referring to Palenque or if Comalcalco is trying to take on the name for itself...

This work was compiled by several Maya Archaeologists since the 1960s and is a shortlist based on the one found in the Palenque chapter of one of the best books ever written on the dynasties that ruled the Maya World during the Classic period, written by Simon Martin and Nikolai Grube, titled Chronicle of the Maya Kings and Queens, Deciphering the Dynasties of the Ancient Maya published by Thames & Hudson Ltd., London in 2000. We at Ecotourism & Adventure Specialists and www.palenquepark.com sincerely thank you both for this wonderful book and for bringing the story of these great rulers to light!

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