Description: Dutt's engaging exploration of the life and career of Andrés Canché, and of his fellow Maya caciques, illuminates the realities of politics in Yucatán, revealing that seemingly ordinary political relationships were carefully negotiated by indigenous leaders. Theirs is a story not of failure and decline, but of survival and empowerment.
Brief description: Rajeshwari Dutt is Assistant Professor of History in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mandi, India.
Review Quotes: "Maya Caciques in Early National Yucatán provides an updated account of Maya village headmen in the first half-century following Mexican independence in 1821. Rajeshwari Dutt's detailed narrative contributes to our knowledge of how Maya peoples responded to pressures generated by the construction of the modern Mexican state."--Terry Rugeley, author of Rebellion Now and Forever: Mayas, Hispanics, and Caste War Violence in Yucatán, 1800-1880