Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat

Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat appears in the historical record as the ajaw of Quiriguá during the Classic Maya period. According to dated monuments, he assumed elevated titulary and regalia—recorded as taking the title kʼuhul ajaw on Altar M in 734 AD and receiving the K'awiil sceptre to signify formal accession—and thereby declared Quiriguá independent from its former overlord Copán. His accession and subsequent military victory over Copán in 738 AD are the defining events framing his rise in the archaeological and epigraphic record.

The supplied sources do not provide living-person physical descriptions in text. His likeness and regalia are preserved in large-scale carved stone monuments at Quiriguá: numerous stelae and zoomorphs produced during his reign celebrate him. Notably, Stele E — carved from a single stone and cited as the tallest Maya stele (approximately 10.7 m or 35 feet high) — is among the monumental works associated with his rule, and Zoomorph G is identified in the sources as a probable funerary marker associated with him.

Sources describe Kʼakʼ Tiliw Chan Yopaat in political and military terms: he issued a formal declaration of sovereignty by taking kʼuhul ajaw in 734, received the K'awiil sceptre as accession regalia, and led or commanded forces that defeated Copán and captured its ruler Uaxaclajuun Ubʼaah Kʼawiil in AD 738 (an event followed by the latter's execution). His reign corresponds with increased autonomy for Quiriguá, extensive monumental sculpture (stelae and zoomorphs), and control over important trade routes. The supplied materials do not ascribe supernatural powers to him; cosmological or theophoric readings of elements of his name appear in secondary popular accounts but are not presented in the documentary sources as literal personal supernatural abilities.