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Experts believe that the first villages on the Yucatán Peninsula were founded between 500 and 300 B.C., although the exact date is unclear.
During the Classic period the Mayan cities of Cobá, Dzibanché and Kohunlich flourished. Tulum, the inland port of Muyil and Cobá prospered during the Post-Classic period and Cobá's importance as a regional trade center waxed. Muyil was linked to the coast via canals that wind through the wetlands.
The Post-Classic Yucatán was divided into chiefdoms or cacicazgos. After the fall of Mayapán ca 1450, there were no less than 19 chiefdoms. Ekab, Cochuah and Chetumal were fiefs located in what is now Quintana Roo.
When the Spaniards first set foot on Mexican soil, the Yucatecan Maya were beset by hardships. Nevertheless, the Europeans found subjugation of the Indians no easy task. It wasn't until 1546 that they controlled large parts of the Peninsula and were able to divide the land into encomiendas or land-holdings. The estates soon foundered and the region was abandoned. The area's isolation attracted pirates who sought refuge along the coast between Bahía de la Ascención and Honduras.
Independence brought little change to the Peninsula and in 1847, the Caste War ignited the entire region. The greatest in a long line of Mayan rebellions, it continued for more than 50 years.
In 1902, Quintana Roo became a territory and was declared a state in 1974.
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© 2004 Editorial Veras. La guía Oficial del Caribe Mexicano.