Pacal the Great changed the rules of succession in the Mayan civilization by setting the precedent for rule to be passed down through a male relation.
To add, K'inich Janaab Pakal I was ajaw of the Maya city-state of Palenque in the Late Classic period of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican chronology. An ajaw is a pre-Columbian Maya political title attested from epigraphic inscriptions.