Palenque History, Mexico

Although a huge part of the history related to the city of Palenque hasn’t yet been discovered, there have been lots of successful excavations which reveal a lot about the history of Palenque.

The first king was K'uk Balam (also known as Quetzal Jaguar). He took control of the city in 431 and continued to rule the city for 4 years. After his decline it was Gasparín who took control of this town. In the years to come it were the sons of Gasparín who ruled the land one after the other. Some family relative Ahkal Mo' Naab I is said to be the successor of these sons.

After him his sons Ahkal Mo' Naab II and then later on K'an B'alam I governed the city one after the other. It was the year 583 when Yok Iknal (who is said to be the daughter of B'alam I) took control of this land from the hands of B'alam I. In the upcoming two decades the city of Palenque had to face two severe attacks by Calakmul and the Calakmul army took control of the city after the death of the king in the year 612.

In 683 K'inich Kan B'alam took control of this city, but by the year 702 he lost control of this city to his brother namely K'inich K'an Joy Chitam II. It was this ruler who built many of the present historical monuments in the city of Palenque. It was his hard work that helped the archeologists learn more about the history of Palenque.

Hence after the year 800 the city of Palenque had zero monuments and the progress of this city slowed down. During the year 1520 when the Spanish Army entered the city of Palenque there was hardly any order left in this city.