27th Divine King (K'uhul Ajaw) of Tikal
"On 9.15.12.11.13 (February 4, 744 CE), Sa'al (Naranjo) was brought down in a Star War, and its king Yax Mayuy Chan Chaak was captured by the hand of Yik'in Chan K'awiil."— Victory inscription carved on wooden Lintel 2 of Temple IV and Stela 5 at Tikal.
Yik'in Chan K'awiil (reigned 734–c. 746 CE) was the 27th divine king (K'uhul Ajaw) of Tikal, who built upon the triumph of his father Jasaw Chan K'awiil I to systematically conquer Calakmul and its surrounding allies, bringing the two-century Tikal–Calakmul Wars to a decisive close. His name translates from Mayan as 'K'awiil Darkens the Sky.'
When Yik'in Chan K'awiil was crowned on December 8, 734 CE, Tikal's strategic recovery was still unfinished. Although his father had broken Calakmul's main army in 695 CE, the Kaan Kingdom continued to menace Tikal through powerful allied states guarding the western and eastern trade corridors at Waka' (El Perú) and Naranjo.
Yik'in Chan K'awiil struck first at the head of the serpent. In 736 CE, he defeated the forces of Calakmul's King Yuknoom Took' K'awiil, capturing high-ranking Kaan lordship captives (commemorated on Tikal Altar 9) and neutralizing Calakmul's offensive capacity. In July 743 CE, he marched west and crushed Waka' in a decisive Star War, seizing its sacred Celestial Jaguar effigy palanquin. Just six months later, in February 744 CE, he wheeled east and stormed Naranjo, capturing its king Yax Mayuy Chan Chaak. After more than 180 years, Calakmul's strategic encirclement was completely destroyed.
Having secured undisputed mastery over the trade routes of the Petén Basin, Yik'in Chan K'awiil transformed Tikal's skyline. After completing his father's mortuary pyramid, the Temple of the Great Jaguar (Temple I), he celebrated his victories over Waka' and Naranjo by erecting Tikal Temple IV (the Temple of the Two-Headed Serpent), rising 70 meters above the jungle floor as the tallest pyramid structure in the Classic Maya world.
Carved onto the sapodilla-wood lintels atop Temple IV are magnificent portraits of Yik'in Chan K'awiil seated in triumph upon the captured royal palanquins of Waka' and Naranjo, immortalizing the warrior king who brought Tikal to the zenith of its power.