Kʼicheʼ kingdom of Qʼumarkaj
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The Kʼicheʼ kingdom of Qʼumarkaj was a
state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
in the highlands of modern-day
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
which was founded by the Kʼicheʼ (Quiché) Maya in the thirteenth century, and which expanded through the fifteenth century until it was conquered by Spanish and
Nahua The Nahuas () are a group of the indigenous people of Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. They comprise the largest indigenous group in Mexico and second largest in El Salvador. The Mexica (Aztecs) were of Nahua ethnicity, a ...
forces led by
Pedro de Alvarado Pedro de Alvarado (; c. 1485 – 4 July 1541) was a Spanish conquistador and governor of Guatemala.Lovell, Lutz and Swezey 1984, p. 461. He participated in the conquest of Cuba, in Juan de Grijalva's exploration of the coasts of the Yucatá ...
in 1524. The Kʼicheʼ kingdom reached its height under the king Kʼiqʼab who ruled from the fortified town of
Qʼumarkaj Qʼumarkaj ( Kʼicheʼ: ) (sometimes rendered as Gumarkaaj, Gumarcaj, Cumarcaj or Kumarcaaj) is an archaeological site in the southwest of the El Quiché department of Guatemala.Kelly 1996, p.200. Qʼumarkaj is also known as Utatlán, the Nahuatl ...
(also called by its
Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...
name Utatlán) near the modern town of
Santa Cruz del Quiché Santa Cruz del Quiché is a city, with a population of 78,279 (2018 census), in Guatemala. It serves as the capital of the El Quiché department and the municipal seat of Santa Cruz del Quiché municipality. The city is located at , at an elevati ...
. During his rule the Kʼicheʼ ruled large areas of highland Guatemala extending into
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, and they subdued other
Maya peoples The Maya peoples () are an ethnolinguistic group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. The ancient Maya civilization was formed by members of this group, and today's Maya are generally descended from people ...
such as the Tzʼutujil, Kaqchikel and Mam, as well as the Nahuan
Pipil people The Nahua people, also academically referred to as ''Pipil'', are an indigenous group of Mesoamerican people inhabiting the western and central areas of present-day El Salvador. Although very few speakers are now left, they speak the Nawat langua ...
.


Historical sources

The history of the Quiché Kingdom is described in a number of documents written in postcolonial times both in Spanish and in indigenous languages such as
Classical Kʼicheʼ Classical Kʼicheʼ was an ancestral form of today's Kʼicheʼ language (''Quiché'' in the older Spanish-based orthography), which was spoken in the highland regions of Guatemala around the time of the 16th-century Spanish conquest of Guatemala. Cl ...
and Kaqchikel. Important sources include the
Popol Vuh ''Popol Vuh'' (also ''Popol Wuj'' or ''Popul Vuh'' or ''Pop Vuj'') is a text recounting the mythology and history of the Kʼicheʼ people, one of the Maya peoples, who inhabit Guatemala and the Mexican states of Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Q ...
which, apart from the well-known mythology, also contains a history and genealogy of the Kaweq lineage such as the
Título de Totonicapán The ''Título de Totonicapán'' (Spanish for "Title of Totonicapán"), sometimes referred to as the ''Título de los Señores de Totonicapán'' ("Title of the Lords of Totonicapán") is the name given to a Kʼicheʼ language document written around ...
. Information from these can be crosschecked with the
Annals of the Cakchiquels The ''Annals of the Cakchiquels'' (in es, Anales de los Cakchiqueles, also known by the alternative Spanish titles, ''Anales de los Xahil'', ''Memorial de Tecpán-Atitlán'' or ''Memorial de Sololá'') is a manuscript written in Kaqchikel by Fra ...
recounting the history of the Kaqchikel vassals and later enemies of the Kʼicheʼ. A number of other títulos such as those of Sacapulas, the Cʼoyoi, Nijaib and Tamub titles each recount Kʼicheʼ history from the viewpoint of a specific Kʼicheʼ lineage. Other sources include those written by conquistadors and ecclesiastics, and administrative documents of the colonial administration.


History


Origins

The Mayan Kʼicheʼ people had lived in the highlands of Guatemala since 600 BCE but the documented history of the Kʼicheʼ kingdom began when foreigners from the Mexican Gulf coast entered the highlands via the
Pasión River The Pasión River ( es, Río de la Pasión, ) is a river located in the northern lowlands region of Guatemala. The river is fed by a number of upstream tributaries whose sources lie in the hills of Alta Verapaz. These flow in a general northerly di ...
around 1200 CE. These invaders are known as the "kʼicheʼ forefathers" in the documental sources, because they founded what would be the three ruling lineages of the Kʼicheʼ kingdom. The invading peoples were composed of seven tribes: the three Kʼicheʼ lineages (the Nima Kʼicheʼ, the Tamub and the Ilokʼab), the forefathers of the Kaqchikel,
Rabinal Rabinal is a small town, with a population of 15,157 (2018 census),Citypopulation.de
Population of cities & to ...
, Tzʼutujil peoples, and a seventh tribe called the Tepew Yaqui. Not much is known about the ethnicity of the invaders: the ethnohistoric sources state that they were unable to communicate with the indigenous Kʼicheʼ when they arrived, and that they were ''yaqui''es, meaning that they spoke
Nahuatl Nahuatl (; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahua peoples, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller ...
. J.E.S. Thompson identified them as Mexicanized Putún merchants. But
Carmack Carmack is a surname derived from the Irish given name " Cormac". Notable people with the surname include: * Adrian Carmack (born 1969), game artist, cofounder of id Software * Chris Carmack (born 1980), American actor *Edward W. Carmack (1858–19 ...
(1968) is of the opinion that they were probably bilingual Nahuatl and
Chontal Maya The Chontal Maya are a Maya people of the Mexican state of Tabasco. "Chontal", from the Nahuatl word for ''chontalli'', which means "foreigner", has been applied to various ethnic groups in Mexico. The Chontal refer to themselves as the Yokot'ano ...
speakers who were influenced by
Toltec The Toltec culture () was a Pre-Columbian era, pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture that ruled a state centered in Tula (Mesoamerican site), Tula, Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, Mexico, during the Epiclassic and the early Post-Classic period of Mesoam ...
culture and arrived as conquerors rather than merchants. It is well documented that Nahuan influence in the
Kʼicheʼ language Kʼicheʼ (, also known as among its speakers), or Quiché (), is a Mayan language of Guatemala, spoken by the Kʼicheʼ people of the central highlands. With over a million speakers (some 7% of Guatemala's population), Kʼicheʼ is the secon ...
already occurs in this period, and the names of the "forefathers" are better understandable as coming from Chontal and Nahuatl than from Kʼicheʼ. The Kʼicheʼ forefathers brought with them their tribal Gods: the Patron God of the Kʼicheʼ tribe was the sky god
Tohil Tohil (, also spelled Tojil) was a deity of the Kʼicheʼ Maya in the Late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica. At the time of the Spanish Conquest, Tohil was the patron god of the Kʼicheʼ. Tohil's principal function was that of a fire deity a ...
.


Foundation (c. 1225–1400)

The "forefathers" conquered the indigenous highland peoples and founded a capital at Jakawitz in the Chujuyup valley. During this period the Kaqchikel, Rabinal and Tzjutujil tribes were allies of the Kʼicheʼ and subordinate to Kʼicheʼ rulership. In these days the languages of the four peoples were largely similar but as contact between the groups waned, and finally became enmity, the languages diverged becoming the distinct modern languages. The Kʼicheʼ people itself was also composed of three separate lineages, the Kʼicheʼ, the Tamubʼ and the Ilokʼabʼ. Each lineage served a different function, the Nima Kʼicheʼ were the ruling class, the Tamub were probably traders and the Ilokʼab warriors. Each lineage was further divided into sublineages which also each had their specific functions: The Kʼicheʼ sublineages were Ajaw Kʼicheʼ, Kaweq, Nijaib and Sakiq. The Tamub sublineages were Ekoamakʼ and Kakoj. The Ilokʼab sublineages were the Siqʼa and Wanija. After conquering and settling Jakawitz under Balam Kitze, the Kʼicheʼ now ruled by Tzʼikin expanded into Rabinal territory and subdued the Poqomam with the help of the Kaqchikel. Then they went southwest to found Pismachi where a large ritual center was built. At Pismachi, both Kʼoqaib and Kʼonache ruled, but soon internal conflicts between the lineages erupted, and finally the Ilokʼabs left Pismachi and settled in a nearby town called Mukwitz Chilokʼab. During the rule of the ''ahpop'' ("man of the mat" – the title of the Kʼiche ruler) Kʼotuja the Ilokʼabs revolted against the leadership of the Nima Kʼicheʼ lineage but were soundly defeated. Kʼotuja expanded the influence of the Kʼicheʼs and tightened the political control over the Kaqchikel and Tzʼutujil peoples by marrying his family members into their ruling lineages.


Quqʼkumatz and Kʼiqʼab (c. 1400–1475)

Under Kʼotujas's son Quqʼkumatz the Nima Kʼiche lineage also left Pismachi and settled nearby at
Qʼumarkaj Qʼumarkaj ( Kʼicheʼ: ) (sometimes rendered as Gumarkaaj, Gumarcaj, Cumarcaj or Kumarcaaj) is an archaeological site in the southwest of the El Quiché department of Guatemala.Kelly 1996, p.200. Qʼumarkaj is also known as Utatlán, the Nahuatl ...
, "place of the rotten cane". Quqʼkumatz became known as the greatest "
Nagual In Mesoamerican folk religion, a nagual (pronounced a'wal is a human being who has the power to shapeshift into their tonal animal counterpart. Nagualism is tied to the belief one can access power and spiritual insight by connecting with the ...
" lord of the Kʼicheʼ and is claimed to have been able to magically transform himself into snakes, eagles, jaguars and even blood. He could fly into the sky or visit the underworld,
Xibalba (), roughly translated as "place of fright", is the name of the underworld (or quc, Mitnal) in Maya mythology, ruled by the Maya death gods and their helpers. In 16th-century Verapaz, the entrance to Xibalba was traditionally held to be a c ...
. Qʼuqʼumatz greatly expanded the Kʼicheʼ kingdom, first from Pismachiʼ and later from Qʼumarkaj. At this time, the Kʼicheʼ were closely allied with the Kaqchikels. Qʼuqʼumatz sent his daughter to marry the lord of the Kʼoja, a Maya people based in the Cuchumatan mountains, somewhere between
Sacapulas Sacapulas is a town and municipality in the Guatemalan department of El Quiché. History Pre Hispanic era Worried about the defection of the aj K’ub’ul family chief -who had taken his family away in order to look for fertile and, above ...
and
Huehuetenango Huehuetenango () is a city and municipality in the highlands of western Guatemala. It is also the capital of the department of Huehuetenango. The city is situated from Guatemala City, and is the last departmental capital on the Pan-American Highw ...
. Instead of marrying her and submitting to the Kʼicheʼ-Kaqchikel alliance, Tekum Sikʼom, the Kʼoja king, killed the offered bride.Carmack 2001a, p.161. This act initiated a war between the Kʼicheʼ-Kaqchikel of Qʼumarkaj and the Kʼoja. Qʼuqʼumatz died in the resulting battle against the Kʼoja. With the death of his father in battle against the Kʼoja, his son and heir Kʼiqʼab swore vengeance, and two years later he led the Kʼicheʼ-Kaqchikel alliance against his enemies, together with the ''Ajpop Kʼamha'' (king-elect).Carmack 2001a, p.162. The Kʼicheʼ-led army entered Kʼoja at first light, killed Tekum Sikʼom and captured his son. Kʼiqʼab recovered the bones of his father and returned to Qʼumarkaj with many prisoners and all the jade and metal that the Kʼoja possessed, after conquering various settlements in the Sacapulas area, and the
Mam people The Mam are an indigenous people in the western highlands of Guatemala and in south-western Mexico who speak the Mam language. Most Mam (617,171) live in Guatemala, in the departments of Huehuetenango, San Marcos (department), San Marcos, and Qu ...
near
Zaculeu Zaculeu or Saqulew is a pre-Columbian Maya archaeological site in the highlands of western Guatemala, about outside the modern city of Huehuetenango. Occupation at the site dates to the Early Classic period (AD 250–600) of Mesoamerica ...
. During the reign of Kʼiqʼab, who was particularly warlike, the Kʼicheʼ kingdom expanded to include
Rabinal Rabinal is a small town, with a population of 15,157 (2018 census),Citypopulation.de
Population of cities & to ...
,
Cobán Cobán ( kek, Kob'an), fully Santo Domingo de Cobán, is the capital of the department of Alta Verapaz in central Guatemala. It also serves as the administrative center for the surrounding Cobán municipality. It is located 219 km from Guat ...
, and
Quetzaltenango Quetzaltenango (, also known by its Maya name Xelajú or Xela ) is both the seat of the namesake Department and municipality, in Guatemala. The city is located in a mountain valley at an elevation of above sea level at its lowest part. It may ...
, and extended as far west as the Okos River, near the modern border between the Chiapas coast of Mexico and Guatemalan Pacific coast. With Kaqchikel help, the eastern frontier of the kingdom was pushed as far as the
Motagua River The Motagua River () is a river in Guatemala. It rises in the western highlands of Guatemala where it is also called Río Grande, and runs in an easterly direction to the Gulf of Honduras. The final few kilometres of the river form part of the ...
and south as far as
Escuintla Escuintla () is an industrial city in Guatemala, its land extension is 4384 km², and it is nationally known for its sugar agribusiness. Its capital is a minicipality with the same name. Citizens celebrate from December 6 to 9 with a small fair i ...
.Carmack 2001a, p.163. In 1470 a rebellion shook Qʼumarkaj during a great celebration that saw a great gathering that included representatives of all the most important highland peoples. Two sons of Kʼiqʼab together with some of his vassals rebelled against their king, killing many high ranking lords, Kaqchikel warriors and members of the Kaweq lineage.Carmack 2001a, p.164. The rebels tried to kill Kʼiqʼab himself but he was defended by sons loyal to him in Pakaman, on the outskirts of the city. As a result of the rebellion, Kʼiqʼab was forced to make concessions to the rebelling Kʼicheʼ lords.Carmack 2001a, p.165. The newly empowered Kʼicheʼ lords turned against their Kaqchikel allies, who were forced to flee Qʼumarkaj and found their own capital at
Iximche Iximcheʼ () (or Iximché using Spanish orthography) is a Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeological site in the western highlands of Guatemala. Iximche was the capital of the Late Postclassic Kaqchikel Maya kingdom from 1470 until its abandon ...
. After the death of king Kʼiqʼab in 1475 the Kʼicheʼ were engaged in warfare against both the Tzʼutujils and the Kaqchikels, perhaps in an attempt to recover the former power of Qʼumarkaj.


Decline and conquest

In the period after the death of Kʼiqʼab the weakened Kʼicheʼ continuously struggled against the Kaqchikel, the Tzʼutujil, the Rabinal, and the Pipil. Under the leadership of Tepepul the Kʼiche tried to launch a sneak attack on Iximché, whose inhabitants were weakened because of a famine, but the Kaqchikel got word of the attack and defeated the Kʼiche army. Constant warfare ensued until 1522 when a peace accord was made between the two peoples. Although the Kʼiche also experienced some military successes in this period, for example in the subordinations of the Rabinal and the peoples on the Pacific coast of Chiapas (
Soconusco Soconusco is a region in the southwest corner of the state of Chiapas in Mexico along its border with Guatemala. It is a narrow strip of land wedged between the Sierra Madre de Chiapas mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It is the southernmost pa ...
), the Kʼicheʼ didn't achieve the same level of hegemony as they had experienced in earlier times. From around 1495 the
Aztec The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...
empire which was then at its height in central Mexico began asserting influence on the Pacific coast and into the Guatemalan highlands. Under the Aztec
Tlatoani ''Tlatoani'' ( , "one who speaks, ruler"; plural ' or tlatoque) is the Classical Nahuatl term for the ruler of an , a pre-Hispanic state. It is the noun form of the verb "tlahtoa" meaning "speak, command, rule". As a result, it has been various ...
Ahuitzotl Ahuitzotl ( nah, āhuitzotl, ) was the eighth Aztec ruler, the '' Huey Tlatoani'' of the city of Tenochtitlan, son of princess Atotoztli II. His name literally means "Water Thorny" and was also applied to the otter. It is also theorized that mo ...
the Soconusco province which was then paying tribute to the Kʼicheʼ was conquered by the Aztecs, and when Aztec ''
pochteca ''Pochteca'' (singular ''pochtecatl'') were professional, long-distance traveling merchants in the Aztec Empire. The trade or commerce was referred to as ''pochtecayotl''. Within the empire, the ''pochteca'' performed three primary duties: market ...
'' (long distance traders) later arrived at Qʼumarkaj the Kʼicheʼ ruler 7 Noj was so embittered that he ordered them to leave his kingdom, not to return. However, in 1510 when Aztec emissaries from
Moctezuma II Moctezuma Xocoyotzin ( – 29 June 1520; oteːkˈsoːmaḁ ʃoːkoˈjoːt͡sĩn̥), nci-IPA, Motēuczōmah Xōcoyōtzin, moteːkʷˈsoːma ʃoːkoˈjoːtsin variant spellings include Motewksomah, Motecuhzomatzin, Montezuma, Moteuczoma, Motecu ...
arrived in Qʼumarkaj to request tribute from the Kʼiche they saw themselves forced to accept vassalage to the Aztecs. From 1510 to 1521 Aztec influence at Qʼumarkaj increased and the Kʼiche lord 7 Noj also married two daughters of the Aztec ruler, further cementing the Aztec lordship, by becoming his son in-law. During this period Qʼumarkaj also became known as ''Utatlán'', the Nahuatl translation of the placename. When the Aztecs were defeated by the Spanish in 1521 they sent messengers to the Kʼicheʼ ruler that he should prepare for battle. Before the arrival of the Spanish led army, the Kʼicheʼ were struck by the diseases the Europeans had brought to the Americas. The Kaqchikels allied themselves to the Spaniards in 1520, before they had even arrived in Guatemala, and they also told of their enemies the Kʼiche and asked for assistance against them. Cortés sent messengers to Qʼumarkaj and requested their peaceful submission to Spanish rule and a cessation of hostilities towards the Kaqchikel. The Kʼiche denied and made ready for battle. In 1524
conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...
Pedro de Alvarado Pedro de Alvarado (; c. 1485 – 4 July 1541) was a Spanish conquistador and governor of Guatemala.Lovell, Lutz and Swezey 1984, p. 461. He participated in the conquest of Cuba, in Juan de Grijalva's exploration of the coasts of the Yucatá ...
arrived in Guatemala with 135 horsemen, 120 footsoldiers and 400 Aztec,
Tlaxcaltec The Tlaxcalans, or Tlaxcaltecs, are a Nahua people who live in the Mexican state of Tlaxcala. Pre-Columbian history The Tlaxcaltecs were originally a conglomeration of three distinct ethnic groups who spoke Nahuatl, Otomi, and Pinome that compri ...
s and Cholultec allies. They were quickly promised military assistance by the Kaqchikels. The Kʼiche knew all about the movements of the Spanish forces through their network of spies. When the army arrived at the Kʼicheʼ town of Xelajú Noj (
Quetzaltenango Quetzaltenango (, also known by its Maya name Xelajú or Xela ) is both the seat of the namesake Department and municipality, in Guatemala. The city is located in a mountain valley at an elevation of above sea level at its lowest part. It may ...
) the Kʼicheʼ steward of the town sent word to Qʼumarkaj. The Kʼicheʼ chose
Tecún Umán Tecun UmanAlternate transliterations include Tecún Umán, Tecúm Umán, Tecúm Umam, Tekun Umam, etc. (1500? – February 20, 1524) was one of the last rulers of the K'iche' Maya people, in the Highlands of what is now Guatemala. According to ...
, a lord from
Totonicapán Totonicapán is a city in Guatemala. It serves as the capital of the department of Totonicapán and as the administrative seat for the surrounding municipality of Totonicapán. History In 1838 Totonicapam was declared an independent republic ...
, as their commander against the Spanish, and he was ritually prepared for the battle. He and his 8,400 warriors met the Spanish/Aztec/Kaqchikel army outside of Pinal south of Quetzalteango and were defeated. After several more defeats the Kʼicheʼ offered the Spanish vassalage and invited them to Qʼumarkaj. By way of deceit Alvarado then seized the lords of Qʼumarkaj and burned them alive. He instated two lower Kʼiche leaders as his puppet rulers and continued to subdue the other Kʼicheʼ communities in the area. Qʼumarkaj was razed and levelled to hinder the Kʼicheʼ in reestablishing themselves at the well-fortified site, and the community relocated to the nearby town of
Santa Cruz del Quiché Santa Cruz del Quiché is a city, with a population of 78,279 (2018 census), in Guatemala. It serves as the capital of the El Quiché department and the municipal seat of Santa Cruz del Quiché municipality. The city is located at , at an elevati ...
.


Social organization

In the Late Postclassic, the greater Qʼumarkaj area is estimated to have had a population of around 15,000. The inhabitants of Qʼumarkaj were divided socially between the nobility and their vassals. The nobles were known as the ''ajaw'', while the vassals were known as the ''al kʼajol''.Sharer & Traxler 2006, p.717. The nobility were the
patrilineal Patrilineality, also known as the male line, the spear side or agnatic kinship, is a common kinship system in which an individual's family membership derives from and is recorded through their father's lineage. It generally involves the inheritanc ...
descendants of the founding warlords who appear to have entered as conquerors from the
Gulf coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississ ...
around AD 1200 and who eventually lost their original language and adopted that of their subjects. The nobles were regarded as sacred and bore royal imagery.Coe 1999, p.189. Their vassals served as foot-soldiers and were subject to the laws laid out by the nobility, although they could receive military titles as a result of their battlefield prowess. The social divisions were deep seated and were equivalent to strictly observed
caste Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...
s. The merchants were a privileged class, although they had to make tributary payments to the nobility. In addition to these classes, the population included rural labourers and artisans. Slaves were also held and included both sentenced criminals and prisoners of war. There were twenty-four important lineages, or ', in Qʼumarkaj, closely linked to the palaces in which the nobility attended to their duties;Coe 1999, p.190. ' means "big house" in Kʼicheʼ, after the palace complexes that the lineages occupied.Carmack & Weeks 1981, p.329. Their duties included marriage negotiations and associated feasting and ceremonial lecturing. These lineages were strongly patrilineal and were grouped into four larger, more powerful ' that chose the rulers of the city. At the time of the Conquest, the four ruling ' were the Kaweq, the Nijaib, the Saqik and the Ajaw Kʼicheʼ. The Kaweq and the Nijaib included nine principal lineages each, the Ajaw Kʼicheʼ included four and the Saqik had two. As well as choosing the king and king elect, the ruling Kaweq dynasty also had a lineage that produced the powerful priests of Qʼuqʼumatz, who may have served as stewards of the city.Carmack 2001a, p.367.


See also

*
Cerro Quiac Cerro Quiac () (K'iaq and K'iaqb'al in the K'iche language) is a small Maya archaeological site located at an altitude of , overlooking the Plains of Urbina in the Guatemalan Highlands. When investigated in 1970 it had five stone sculptures, by 1 ...
*
Chitinamit Chitinamit (or Chitinamit-Chujuyup) is an archeological site of the Maya civilization in the highlands of Guatemala. It has been identified as Jakawitz, the first capital of the K'iche' Maya. The site is located in the El Quiché department, in ...
*
Chojolom Chojolom is a small Maya archaeological site in the western highlands of Guatemala. The site features a number of sculpted stones that are presumed to belong to the Kʼicheʼ Maya culture of the Postclassic Period (approximately AD 900–152 ...
* Chutixtiox


Notes


References and bibliography

: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : {{authority control K'iche' Maya civilization Mesoamerican cultures Pre-Columbian cultures 1524 disestablishments in North America 16th-century disestablishments in Guatemala States and territories established in the 13th century Retalhuleu Department Former kingdoms 1225 establishments in Guatemala 16th-century disestablishments in the Maya civilization