While many traditional histories of the Maya people begin with the Spanish Conquest, Maya history can be traced back much further in time through archaeological investigations and the oral traditions of the Maya. Below is a very brief outline of Maya history which includes these other perspectives. Much of the focus of this outline is on Mexico and Guatemala.
Choose an event to learn more about it.
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Classic period 200 AD – 900 AD |
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Post-Classic Period 900 AD – 1519 |
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Columbus encounters Maya in Honduras – 1502
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Arrival of the Cortez in Mexico – 1519
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Beginning of the Spanish Conquest | |
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Fall of the Aztec empire – 1521
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1523 – Invasion of Guatemala by Alvarado | |
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Colonial period in Mexico 1519 – 1821 |
1523 – 1821 – Colonial period in Guatemala | |
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INDEPENDENCE – 1821
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Mexico and Guatemala win independence from Spain | |
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Porfirio Diaz comes to power in Mexico – 1876
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The Mexican Revolution – 1910 – 1920
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Reform period in Mexico – 1920 – 1940
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Mexico creates Instituto Nacional Indigenista,
a state agency to support indigenous culture and traditions – 1949 |
1945 – 1954 – Reform period in Guatemala, known affectionately as the Ten Years of Spring | |
| 1954 – Rebels overthrow Guatemalan government. Beginning of Guatemala’s civil war. | ||
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Sna Jolobil, an indigenous weaving cooperative, formed in Chiapas, Mexico – 1977
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| 1984 – I, Rigoberta Menchu, the life story of a Guatemala human rights activist, is published. | ||
| Establishment of the Guatemalan Academy of Mayan Languages (ALMG), a regulatory body that standardizes the writing 22 Maya languages – 1990 | 1992 – Rigoberta Menchu wins Nobel Peace Prize. | |
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The North American Free Trade Act passes.
In Chiapas, Mexico, the Zapatistas begin rebelling in response to NAFTA and against the Mexican government – 1994 |
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| 1996 – End of the Guatemalan Civil War. | ||
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Establishment of the indigenous sociopolitical movement WINAQ by Rigoberta Menchu -2007 |
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| -2013 The trial of former Guatemalan dictator, Efrain Rios Montt, begins for the displacement and massacre of indigenous peoples from 1982-1983 | ||
