The Maya Elites of Nineteenth-Century Yucatán

Colonial rule in Yucatán depended on the cooptation of native Maya leaders known as batabs. The batab's role as broker and tax collector continued into the early national period. But destabilization of the rural tax structure, together with rapid commercialization of land usage, undermined batab loyalty, which contributed to the Caste War of 1847. Thereafter, the batab role survived in varying forms throughout the Yucatán Peninsula.