History
What is known as Quintana Roo today, is the site of the first establishment of the itzaes, who founded the town of Bacalar (of bakhalal place of reeds) in the year 435 A.C. After having stayed there for 60 years, they founded Chichen Itza from 495 to 514 A.C., which they abandoned to settle in Champoton until 928 – 948 A.C. After a long peregrination they returned to Chichen. In 1194 A.C.the itzaes left Chichen again to establish in the Peten, because of the waged war with the cocomes.
Los cocomes exerted their dominion of the region until the period 1441 - 1461 d.C., when a coalition between the xius and the itzaes defeated them. Between 1461 and 1500 A.C. the chieftainships, small independent dominions without common authority appeared. The internal wars, the hurricanes and the pandemics decimated the population so that the Mayan empire had substantively declined when the Spaniards arrived.
In 1511, there was a shipwreck of a Spanish boat near the coasts of what we know as Quintana Roo. The survivors managed to reach ashore, but the majority died. Gonzalo Guerrero and Jeronimo de Aguilar survived and Guerrero married the daughter of a cacique, completing the first Mayan-Spanish crossbreeding. Jeronimo Aguilar was found recruited as an interpreter by Hernan Cortés in 1519.
In 1526, Francisco de Montejo was granted permission to initiate the conquest of Yucatan by Carlos V, obtaining the title of ruler of the area for him and his heirs. After failed attempts, the conquest of the peninsula took place on January 23, 1541, with the surrender of the main chieftainships in T-Ho (Merida).
In 1847, there was a violent Mayan uprising in Tepich, causing the destruction of large extensions of land and the displacement of thousands of people who lost their homes. Then, the Mayas found refuge in the jungle of Quintana Roo, where they continued engaging in battles for 5 decades more. During these years, the independent Mayan nation that controlled the zone had its political headquarters in Chan Santa Cruz (Felipe Carrillo Puerto).
Due to the difficulty that represented accessing the zone, the central government of Mexico had many problems to establish its authority and certain degree of control until the beginning of the XX century. In 1902 a presidential decree gave the area the status of a Federal Territory, separating it from the state of Yucatan. But it was not until 1910 that the Mexican army managed to pacify the region and retake control.
In 1913, the area was annexed to Yucatan and it was legally declared part of the state of Yucatan. In 1915, it was separated again and its status as a free district was restored. In 1931, under presidential decree, Quintana Roo was suppressed as a federal territory and divided between the states of Campeche and Yucatan, to be restituted in 1935 once again.
In October of 1974, Quintana Roo was conferred the character of a free and sovereign state of the Mexican Republic. Cancun was founded and the region started to develop with the potential to become a world-class beach destination. At the same time, Cozumel and Islas Mujeres began to boom too.
Once Cancun was established as a tourist pole, the construction of the freeway facilitated communication with the rest of the peninsula, and allowed travelers to move away from the mega development to look for alternatives. The Mayan Riviera had been born.
|
