In 629 Tikal founded Dos Pilas , some 110 kilometres ( 68 mi ) to the southwest , as a military outpost in order to control trade along the course of the Pasión River . B 'alaj Chan K 'awiil was installed on the throne of the new outpost at the age of four , in 635 , and for many years served as a loyal vassal fighting for his brother , the king of Tikal . Roughly twenty years later Dos Pilas was attacked by Calakmul and was soundly defeated . B 'alaj Chan K 'awiil was captured by the king of Calakmul but , instead of being sacrificed , he was re @-@ instated on his throne as a vassal of his former enemy , and attacked Tikal in 657 , forcing Nuun Ujol Chaak , the then king of Tikal , to temporarily abandon the city . The first two rulers of Dos Pilas continued to use the Mutal emblem glyph of Tikal , and they probably felt that they had a legitimate claim to the throne of Tikal itself . For no reason , B 'alaj Chan K 'awiil was not installed as the new ruler of Tikal ; instead he stayed at Dos Pilas . Tikal counterattacked against Dos Pilas in 672 , driving B 'alaj Chan K 'awiil into an exile that lasted five years . Calakmul tried to encircle Tikal within an area dominated by its allies , such as El Peru , Dos Pilas and Caracol .