What is "chikinchel"

Chikinchel (also called Chauacá)(in Yucatec Mayan: '''Chikinchel de Chinkín) was the name of a Mayan chiefdom of the northern coast of Yucatán, before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century. Chauaca has also been used to name this province, but apparently it was the name of the main city.

After the destruction of Mayapan (1441–1461), in the Yucatán Peninsula, it created rivalries among the Maya, and formed 16 separate jurisdictions, called Kuchkabals. In each Kuchkabal there was a Halach Uinik (in Mayan: Halach Uinik), who was the chief with the most political, judicial, and militaristic authority and lived in a principal city considered the capital of the jurisdiction.