c. 1400 – 1475
The K'iche' kingdom
The ruling lineages of the K'iche' descend from warlords who enter the Guatemalan highlands from the Gulf coast around 1200. After capitals at Jakawitz and Pismachi', Q'uq'umatz founds Q'umarkaj around 1400 on a plateau ringed by ravines over 100 m deep, near present-day Santa Cruz del Quiché. About 15,000 people live in and around the city. Four lords from the four leading lineages rule together: the ajpop, the king elect, a judge and a speaker. The Kaweq lineage provides the king.
The Temple of Tohil at Q'umarkaj, drawn by Frederick Catherwood in 1840Wikimedia Commons, Frederick Catherwood, Public domain (Catherwood - Santa Cruz del Quiche - Gumarkaj - Tohil Temple detail 1.jpg)
Q'uq'umatz dies fighting the K'oja of the Cuchumatán mountains. Two years later his son K'iq'ab leads the K'iche' and their Kaqchikel allies into K'oja, kills its king Tekum Sik'om and conquers the Sacapulas area and the Mam near Zaculeu. Under K'iq'ab, who rules until about 1475, the kingdom reaches Rabinal, Cobán and Quetzaltenango, the Okos River in the west, the Motagua in the east and Escuintla in the south. The Tz'utujil and the Mam become subjects.
The remains of the Temple of Awilix at Q'umarkaj, 2006Wikimedia Commons, Joe from Boston, CC BY 2.0 (Temple of Awilix.jpg)
In 1470, during a festival at Q'umarkaj, two sons of K'iq'ab rise against him and kill many lords and Kaqchikel warriors. K'iq'ab survives but has to give way to the rebel lords, and the Kaqchikel leave the city.
The first page of the Popol Vuh in the copy by Francisco Ximénez, Newberry Library, ChicagoWikimedia Commons, Francisco Ximénez, Public domain (Popol vuh.jpg)
The kingdom’s history comes from documents written after the conquest in K'iche' and Kaqchikel, in Latin letters. The Popol Vuh, written down between about 1554 and 1558, tells of the creation of the world, the Hero Twins and the Kaweq kings. The Dominican Francisco Ximénez makes the oldest surviving copy at Chichicastenango around 1701.
Sources
- Robert M. Carmack, Kik'ulmatajem le K'iche'aab': Evolución del Reino K'iche' (2001), pp. 158 to 166.
- Robert J. Sharer with Loa P. Traxler, The Ancient Maya (6th ed. 2006), pp. 626 and 717.
- Allen J. Christenson (trans.), Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Maya (2007).
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