Editing Palenque (section)

===Early Classic period===
The first ''[[ajaw]]'', or king, of Bʼaakal that we know of was Kʼuk Balam ([[Quetzal]] [[Jaguar]]), who governed for four years starting in the year 431. After him, a king came to power, nicknamed "[[Casper (Maya ruler)|Casper]]" by archaeologists. The next two kings were probably ''Casper'''s sons. Little was known about the first of these, Bʼutz Aj Sak Chiik, until 1994, when a tablet was found describing a ritual for the king. The first tablet mentioned his successor Ahkal Moʼ Naab I as a teenage prince, and therefore it is believed that there was a family relation between them. For unknown reasons, Akhal Moʼ Naab I had great prestige, so the kings who succeeded him were proud to be his descendants.

When Ahkal Moʼ Naab I died in 524, there was an interregnum of four years, before the following king was crowned at Toktán in 529. [[Kʼan Joy Chitam I]] governed for 36 years. His sons [[Ahkal Moʼ Naab II]] and [[Kʼan Bʼalam I]] were the first kings who used the title ''Kinich'', which means "the great [[Solar deity|sun]]". This word was used also by later kings. Bʼalam was succeeded in 583 by [[Yohl Ikʼnal]], who was supposedly his daughter. The inscriptions found in Palenque document a battle that occurred under her government in which troops from [[Calakmul]] invaded and sacked Palenque, a military feat without known precedents. These events took place in 599.

A second victory by Calakmul occurred some twelve years later, in 611, under the government of [[Aj Ne' Yohl Mat]], son of Yohl Iknal. In this occasion, the king of Calakmul entered Palenque in person, consolidating a significant military disaster, which was followed by an epoch of political disorder. Aj Ne' Yohl Mat was to die in 612.