Mo-Chel was the first

Halach Uinik Halach uinik or halach uinic (Yucatec Maya:'real man') was the name given to the supreme ruler, overlord or chief, as they were called in the colonial period of a Maya ''kuchkabal''. Most ''kuchkabal'' were run by a halach uinik, who ruled on beh ...

of the

Kuchkabal A ( , , 'province,' 'state,' 'polity') was a system of social and political organisation common to Maya polities of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Maya Lowlands, during the Mesoamerican_chronology#Postclassic_Period, Mesoamerican Postclas ...

Ah Kin Chel. He started the rule of the Chel family and the political state ruled by them. He was originally a nobleman, the son in law of one of the principal priests at

Mayapan Mayapan (Màyapáan in Yucatec Maya language, Modern Maya; in Spanish language, Spanish Mayapán) is a Pre-Columbian Maya civilization, Maya site a couple of kilometers south of the town of Telchaquillo in Municipality of Tecoh, approximately ...

. Another priest Ah Xupan Nauat married his daughter Namox Chel to Mo. He is said to have foreseen the destruction of the

League of Mayapan The League of Mayapan ( Yucatec: Luub Mayapan Maya glyphs: ) was a confederation of Maya states in the Postclassic period of Mesoamerica on the Yucatan Peninsula. The main members of the league were the Itza, the Tutul-Xiu, Mayapan, and U ...

, and he fled with some followers to Tecoh near Izamal, where he established an independent state. He named the nation Ah Kin (high priest, literally means is from the sun) Chel (from his last name, a way of naming used by many Kuchkabal). He may have founded his capital in Tecoh because of a pilgrimage he had once made to the coast in that area. He also believed that he could recruit followers there more easily.

References

Maya monarchs 15th-century monarchs in North America People from Yucatán {{NorthAm-native-bio-stub