When did the Itza Mayans exist?

The Itza Mayans existed c. 1194/1525–1697. On this map they are drawn 1547–1699.

How large were the Itza Mayans?

At their greatest extent drawn on this map, the Itza Mayans covered about 33,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives them across the years they are drawn, not necessarily their greatest extent in history.

Central America · Conquest and the Spanish colonial era

Itza Mayans

c. 1194/1525–1697

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Existed: c. 1194/1525–1697
Shown on the map: 1547–1699
Peak area: 33k km²
Region: Central America

Overview

The Petén Itzá kingdom was the last independent Maya polity, centered on the island-city of Nojpetén (also called Tayasal) in Lake Petén Itzá, in the rainforest of northern Guatemala. The Itza traced their arrival to their expulsion from Chichén Itzá (traditionally under Hunac Ceel, around 1194). Rulers bore the dynastic title Kan Ek'; the kingdom was a hereditary monarchy tempered by a council of lineage heads, with the settlement organized into four quarters based on clan divisions. Hernán Cortés passed through in 1525 en route to Honduras and was received by a Kan Ek', but the Itza remained unconquered for another 170-plus years, protected by their remote, defensible forest location; at contact Nojpetén reportedly held some 2,000–2,500 people amid whitewashed temples and palaces visible across the lake.

Decline and legacy

After Franciscan missionary overtures failed (the friar Andrés de Avendaño y Loyola visited and recorded his journey in 1696), Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi assembled an expedition from Yucatán, arriving at the western shore of Lake Petén Itzá in February 1697 with 235 Spanish soldiers and 120 native laborers. On 13 March 1697 he launched an all-out amphibious assault using a large oar-powered attack galley; the bombardment caused heavy loss of life among the Itza defenders (who paddled out in hundreds of canoes but were overwhelmed by Spanish firepower), the island was stormed, its temples burned, and the last Kan Ek' captured within hours. Nojpetén was renamed Nuestra Señora de los Remedios y San Pablo, Laguna del Itza (often shortened to "Remedios" or simply "Petén"); the island is now the town of Flores, capital of the Petén department. The fall of Nojpetén marked the end of independent indigenous kingdoms in the Americas.

Common questions

What were the Itza Mayans?: The Petén Itzá kingdom was the last independent Maya polity, centered on the island-city of Nojpetén (also called Tayasal) in Lake Petén Itzá, in the rainforest of northern Guatemala. The Itza traced their arrival to their expulsion from Chichén Itzá (traditionally under Hunac Ceel, around 1194).
When did the Itza Mayans exist?: The Itza Mayans existed c. 1194/1525–1697. On this map they are drawn 1547–1699.
How large were the Itza Mayans?: At their greatest extent drawn on this map, the Itza Mayans covered about 33,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives them across the years they are drawn, not necessarily their greatest extent in history.
How did the Itza Mayans end?: After Franciscan missionary overtures failed (the friar Andrés de Avendaño y Loyola visited and recorded his journey in 1696), Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi assembled an expedition from Yucatán, arriving at the western shore of Lake Petén Itzá in February 1697 with 235 Spanish soldiers and 120 native laborers.

Sources

This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each polity and for the key figures and events as the basis of these profiles, supplemented by Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, EBSCO Research Starters and academic sources. The article this entry is anchored on:

Wikipedia — Itza people en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itza_people

This entry was last updated 12 September 2026.

This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made

Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.

Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).

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