MAYA  , an important tribe and stock of

American Indians, the dominant race of Yucatan and other states of Mexico and part of Central America at the time of the Spanish conquest . They were then divided into many nations, chief among them being the Maya proper, the Huastecs, the Tzental, the Pokom, the Mame and the Cakchiquel and Quiche . They were spread over Yucatan, Vera Cruz, Tabasco, Campeche, and Chiapas in Mexico, and over the greater part of Guatemala and Salvador . In civilization the Mayan peoples rivalled the Aztecs .