Essay On Mayan Society

The Maya had a class society. There were slaves, peasants, craftsmen, nobility, priests, and leaders. There were also warriors. At the top were the nobles and priests. The middle class had the craftsmen, traders, and warriors. At the bottom were farmers, other workers, and slaves. Thus the Mayan society had several strata: rulers, priests, commoners, and slaves. This social stratification resembles the four-fold classification of the Hindu society named the Chaturvarna Vyawastha. At the top of the Mayan hierarchy was the halach uinic ("True Man") or the Kulguru as in the Hindu system, whose position was hereditary. The halach uinic ruled both domestic and foreign affairs with the help of a council. Lesser chiefs ruled smaller social units.
There used to be what the Hindus call gurukulam where the pupils used to stay with the teachers in order to acquire knowledge. The priests enjoyed authority as the Astronomers, who devoted their time to finding harmony in the universe and its recurring cycles of time, had to make complicated calculations to predict natural events and connect them with the fate of the population; scribes recorded history, religion and mythology using a complicated system of hieroglyphs, while painters and sculptors depicted both mythical and religious subjects as well as the deeds of governors. In the religious hierarchy, the head was called Ah Kin Mai ("The Highest One of the Sun") who ruled over all the priests below him (called Ah Kin, "The One of the Sun").
Nobles: Kshatriya Rulers: A different noble family ruled each city. The Mayas were governed by city-state. The same family ruled forever. The crown was handed from father to son forever. Their right to rule came from the fact that they were direct descendants of the Hero Twins. They were the kids of the kids of the kids of the