c. 1470 – 1521
The Kaqchikel at Iximche
After the revolt at Q'umarkaj the K'iche' lords sentence the Kaqchikel lords Hun-Toh and Wuqu-Batz' to death. K'iq'ab warns them, and on the day 13 Iq' the Kaqchikel leave the K'iche' capital and found Iximche on a ridge between deep ravines near present-day Tecpán. The year falls between 1470 and 1485, and Guillemín prefers 1470. Four lords rule the city, but power lies with two kings, the Ahpo Sotz'il and the Ahpo Xahil.
Temples and plazas of Iximche near Tecpán, 2009Wikimedia Commons, chensiyuan, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Iximche guatemala 2009.JPG)
K'iq'ab keeps his nobles from attacking Iximche until his death around 1475. Around 1491 the K'iche' under Tepepul attack the city. The Kaqchikel kings Oxlahuh-Tz'i' and Kablahuh-Tihax defeat them, capture the K'iche' kings Tepepul and Itzayul with the image of the god Tohil, and sacrifice them. The Tz'utujil hold Lake Atitlán from their capital Chiaa, and the K'iche' king Tekum dies fighting them near the lake. The Mam rule the western highlands from Zaculeu.
Zaculeu, the capital of the Mam near Huehuetenango, as restored in the late 1940sWikimedia Commons, Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Zaculeu 04.JPG)
Late in the 15th century the Aztec ruler Ahuitzotl conquers Xoconochco on the Pacific coast, which had paid tribute to the K'iche', and takes its cacao as tribute. In 1510 envoys of Moctezuma II reach Q'umarkaj and the K'iche' agree to pay tribute. The Annals of the Kaqchikels record locusts in 1513, a fire at Iximche in 1514 and a plague from 1519 that lasts two years, probably smallpox. On 11 August 1521 Cahi Imox and Belehe Qat become kings, and after the fall of Tenochtitlan Iximche sends envoys to Cortés.
Sources
- Linda Schele and Peter Mathews, The Code of Kings (1999), pp. 292 to 299.
- Jorge F. Guillemín, Iximché: Capital del Antiguo Reino Cakchiquel (1965).
- Annals of the Kaqchikels.
Prev: The fall of MayapanNext: Tulum, Cozumel and the sea trade