The Native Races [of the Pacific states], Volume 5, Primitive History

"Already masters of Pachalum, and on the point of entering Zquina, the Quichés found themselves checked by strong forces, when an unexpected ally was offered them; this was Cotuha, prince of Cakulgi, hereditary guardian of the sacred stone of Tzutuha in the temple of Cahbaha, whom they had just made a prisoner. Like a skillful politician, Qocavib took advantage of this occurrence so providential for him. The annals reveal that in the midst of their conquests the Quichés were divided by family rivalries; and it seems probable that Qocavib, whose name takes the place of that of his older brother, had as enemies all the princes of the house of Ahcan, sprung from Qocaib. Placing little reliance on the support of his relatives, he sought to strengthen himself by making allies among the conquered chiefs; and thus Cotuha having become his captive, he offered him in the order of the Ahqib and Ahqahb the fourth rank, vacant at the time by the death of the incumbent who had no offspring; so that this prince was assured of eventually rising to the command of the whole nation. Cotuha, proclaimed by the nobility, soon proved his worthiness of that high honor. After having powerfully aided the Quichés in the conquest of Zquina, Bayal, Chamilah, Ginom, Tocoy, and Patzima, returning to the Rio Chixoy with his new allies and subjects, he guided them by passes known only to himself to the centre of the great city of Cawinal on the bank of the river, an event soon followed by the submission of the whole Agaab nation, to which it belonged. The Quiché kings finding themselves pressed for room on Mount Hacavitz, left this city for that of Cawinal, where they established the seat of government. This was not, however, the permanent capital. At the death of Qocavib, Balam Conache, his successor, crossed the river southward, probably even before his coronation, and fixed his residence at Izmachi; and there he had himself proclaimed Ahau Ahpop and consecrated with all the Toltec ceremonial, conferring the title of Ahpop Camha on his son Iztayul."

MIGRATION FROM THE NORTH

Here should be given such scattered items of information respecting this primitive period of Guatemalan history, given by the same author in an earlier work,885 as are additional to or differ from those already presented. The famous mythical queen Atit is said by Fuentes to have lived four centuries, and from her sprang all the royal and noble families of Guatemala. The oldest nation, or tribe, in the country was that of Tamub, whose son Copichoch had come from the east with Cochochlam, Mahquinalo, and Ahcanail, brought the black stone afterwards venerated at Utatlan, and reigned for a time at Tulan. The tribe of Ilocab ruled after that of Tamub, or perhaps at the same time, over the adjoining provinces. Brasseur seems here to favor the idea that the tribes of Tamub and Ilocab were the Nahuas who occupied Guatemala before the overthrow of Xibalba in the time of Xbalanque and Hunahpu, who refused to receive the former at his return from the conquest, yet among whom he introduced human sacrifice. A Zutugil document makes the Seven Caves an earlier station on the Quiché migration than Tulan, and speaks of wars that drove the people from the latter place into the mountains of Vera Paz. The worthy abbé finds room in his capacious imagination for a theory that the Pokomams, Quichés, Cakchiquels, and other kindred peoples, originated in the regions north of Mexico, stayed a while with the Toltecs at Tollan, but not long enough to be influenced to any great extent by them, and then migrated to the Guatemalan highlands. It does not seem to occur to this author that there are no arguments in favor of such a theory, that there is no necessity for such a conjecture, and that it disagrees radically with nearly all that he ever wrote before or afterwards. The same writer notes that the Pokomams were bitter foes of Acxitl, the last Toltec king, while the other Quiché tribes were friendly to him, and he infers from Nuñez de la Vega and other authorities that the kingdom of Xibalba was still existing, though with greatly diminished power, at the time when the Quiché tribes came into notice in Guatemala and Acxitl established his southern empire. The Cakchiquels on their way are even said to have been employed to defend the Xibalban frontiers, and their chieftains, the Tukuches, took their name of Zotziles, or bats, from that of Tzinacantla, their residence at the time, which has the meaning of 'city of bats.' In fact the tribes are here represented as having gathered in the Xibalban region before they mounted to their later homes in the highlands.886

The accounts of this gathering are chiefly from the Cakchiquel record. The locality is called Deozacuancu, apparently in the tierra caliente of Tabasco; but war was declared against some neighboring power, and the tribes went to Oloman – perhaps the Tepeu and Oliman, mentioned in a preceding chapter.887 The cities against which this expedition was directed were Nonualcat and Xulpiti, the former suggesting the Nonohualcas, whose home was in the Tabascan region. The leaders were the Cakchiquel, or Zotzil-Tukuche, chiefs Hacavitz (Gagawitz) and Zactecauh; the enemies were defeated in a battle fought chiefly on the water; their cities were taken and their people massacred. But even while engaged in the massacre, their foes rallied, attacked them in the rear, and in their turn routed the Quiché tribes with great slaughter, not without the aid of magic arts, as we are informed by the record. The remnants of the vanquished were re-united on Mt Oloman, but the influence of Hacavitz and Zactecauh was destroyed, the tribes could be no longer kept together, and they resolved to separate and each for itself to seek the regions of the interior. No particulars are preserved of their wanderings, but Brasseur believes that the Quichés proper were the first to reach the heights of Vera Paz, after a generation at least had passed since they left the Xibalban region of Tabasco, and the sufferings from cold and the giving of fire by Tohil, are by him applied to the period immediately following their arrival. Then the other tribes arrived one by one and applied for fire, as has already been stated, their languages having become different one from another during that interval. The envoy from Xibalba also appeared among them, a circumstance that indicates to Brasseur that the Xibalban empire still existed in the eleventh or twelfth century; but which may, I think, be taken much more reasonably as a proof that these events took place at a date as early as the fifth or sixth century. The Cakchiquels were the last to arrive, and they stole the fire of Tohil without submitting to the required conditions, coming, as it is said, like bats, another derivation of their name of Zotziles.

MAMES AND POKOMAMS

The Cakchiquels are said to have applied, on their arrival, the name Mem, or as the Spaniards afterwards called it, Mames, or 'stutterers,' to the Maya-speaking aboriginal tribes whom they found in possession of the country, on account of their peculiar pronunciation, although the Cakchiquel was also a Maya dialect. The Mames in later times occupied the north-western part of the country towards the Chiapan frontiers, where they were never entirely conquered by the Quiché nations down to the time of the Conquest, their capital being Zakuléu, near Huehuetenango.888 Besides the Mames, probably the most ancient of the Guatemalan nations, the tribes of Tamub and Ilocab also occupied the country before the later Quiché tribes. According to Fuentes the capital of the Tamub was Utatlan, or Gumarcaah, and it is stated that the Ilocab were bitter enemies of the Quichés, and were only conquered when nearly annihilated. The Pokomams and Pokonchis, kindred tribes or divisions of the same tribe, are here estimated by Brasseur to have arrived something more than a half century before the other Quiché tribes, and are said to have conquered or allied themselves with the Uxab, elsewhere889 spoken of as a division of that tribe. Nothing is known of Pokomam history, but some remains of their language and of their towns may yet be studied. These people, together with the Tamub and Ilocab, were perhaps the chief foes of the Quichés in the earlier days of their power.

In their wars against the Pokomams the Quiché tribes made use of the ancient chieftains who had been subjected by that people, among whom are mentioned Zakbim and Huntzuy on the Chiquimula frontier. The first battle and the first Quiché victory was in the valley of Rabinal and brought into the possession of the Cakchiquels – for these events are taken from the Cakchiquel record – the stronghold of Mount Zactzuy, and also made allies of Loch and Xet, chieftains of the Ahquehayi, who afterwards became almost identical with the Cakchiquels. The next point against which Hacavitz proceeded was Mount Cakhay; but the allied Quiché forces were repulsed with great loss, and so weakened that it was long before they were able again to attack the warlike Pokomams. Then they retired from a hopeless contest, and took refuge in the inaccessible mountain fastnesses about Utatlan, now Santa Cruz del Quiché in the department of Totonicapan. The mountain where they established themselves is called in the Cakchiquel record Tohohil, 'clashing of arms,' but in the Popol Vuh is known as we have seen as Mount Hacavitz. All that is known of their stay at Mount Hacavitz, of their oppression by the neighboring tribes, their gradually increasing power, their final victory over those tribes, and the establishment of the Quiché monarchy with its capital at Izmachi, related by Brasseur in the work from which the preceding notes have been extracted, is taken by him from the Popol Vuh, and is substantially the same that I have already given on the same authority.

VERSION OF JUARROS

To conclude this primitive period of Guatemalan history, it only remains to present a few notes given on the subject by the Spanish writers, chiefly by Juarros, who follows the manuscript writings of Fuentes y Guzman, founded as is claimed on native documents, but full of inconsistencies, and doubtless also of errors. Juarros, or the authority followed by him, was fully imbued with the belief that the Quichés were the Toltecs who left Anáhuac after the fall of their empire, and his efforts to reconcile the native records to this theory perhaps account for many of his inconsistencies. I translate from this author that part of his work which relates to this primitive period. "The Toltecs referred to were of the house of Israel, and the great prophet Moses freed them from the captivity in which they were held by Pharaoh; but, having passed the Red Sea, they gave themselves up to idolatry, and persisting in it notwithstanding the warnings of Moses, either to escape the chidings of this law-giver or for fear of punishment, they left him and their kindred and crossed the sea to a place called the Seven Caves on the shores of the Mar Bermejo (Gulf of California) now a part of the Mexican kingdom,890 where they founded the celebrated city of Tula. The first chief who ruled and conducted this great band from one continent to the other, was Tamub, ancestor of the royal families of Tula and of Quiché, and first king of the Toltecs. The second was Capichoch; the third Calel Ahus; the fourth Ahpop; the fifth Nimaquiché,891 who, being the best beloved and most distinguished of all, at the order of his oracle, led these people away from Tulan, where they had greatly increased in numbers, and guided them from the Mexican kingdom to this of Guatemala. In this migration they spent many years, suffered unspeakable hardships, and journeyed in their wanderings for many leagues over an immense tract of country, until, beholding a lake (that of Atitan), they determined to fix their habitation at a certain place not far from the lake, which they named Quiché, in memory of the king Nimaquiché (or, the 'great' Quiché), who had died during their long wanderings. There came with Nimaquiché three of his brothers, and by an agreement between the four they divided the region; one founding the province, or seigniory, of the Quelenes and Chiapanecs; another the department of Tezulutan (Tezulutlan), or Vera Paz; the third became the ruler of the Mames and Pokomams; while Nimaquiché was the father of the Quichés, Cakchiquels, and Zutugils. The latter having died on the journey, Acxopil, a son of Nimaquiché, entered Quiché at the head of his nation, and was the first to reign at Utatlan. This prince, seeing the great increase of his monarchy in numbers and influence, appointed three captains, or governors, with whom he shared the burden of the administration of affairs. It is also added in the manuscripts referred to, that Acxopil, at a very advanced age, determined to divide his empire into three kingdoms, that of the Quichés, that of the Cakchiquels, and that of the Zutugils. Retaining for himself the first, he gave the second to his oldest son, Jiutemal, and the third to his second son, Acxiquat; and this division was made on a day when three suns were seen, which has caused some to think that it took place on the day of the birth of our Redeemer, a day on which it is commonly believed that such a meteor was observed."892

PRIMITIVE QUICHÉ PERIOD

Torquemada893 briefly mentions a few of the points in early Quiché history, agreeing with Juarros. Orozco y Berra's reasoning from a linguistic point of view respecting the primitive inhabitants of this region, is not very clear, or at least it is difficult to determine what are his conclusions on the subject. In one place he says that Utatlan was founded at the time of the Toltec migration southward; and elsewhere, that the Toltecs could not have been the ancestors of the Quichés, Cakchiquels, and Zutugils.894 Gallatin accepts the popular theory that the Quichés were a Toltec colony, but does not explain the linguistic difficulties in the way of such a supposition.895 Waldeck rejects the Toltec theory on account of differences in language and physique; but states that the Guatemalan tribes came originally from Yucatan896.

I have now given all the information accessible respecting Quiché history preceding the establishment of the empire, which began in the twelfth or thirteenth century and endured with some modifications down to the coming of the Spaniards. It has been presented in the form of fragments, for the reader will readily perceive that to form from the authorities a connected narrative would have been an utter impossibility. I have in a preceding chapter presented the evidence of the existence during a few centuries before and after the beginning of the Christian era, of a great aboriginal empire in Central America, narrating all that may be known of its decline and fall resulting from the contentions of the great Maya and Nahua powers. In the sixteenth century the Spaniards found two powerful empires, the Aztec in the north, the Quiché in the south, both of which doubtless were offshoots of the great primitive monarchy. The annals of the northern branch have been traced more or less clearly back to the parent trunk, with only a blank of one or two centuries at most, during which the Nahua power was transferred northward; but in the annals of the southern branch, whose connection with the primitive empire was of precisely the same nature, the blank is lengthened to some eight centuries at least. From the Xibalban times and the tribal separation at Tulan down to the establishment of the Quiché empire we have only the fragments of the preceding pages. These fragments represent the history of many peoples for many centuries; they are not necessarily contradictory, for in the absence of all chronology we have no means of knowing to what epoch each refers. The apparent contradictions and inconsistencies result for the most part from the efforts of authors through whose writings the traditions are handed down to us to reconcile them with the Toltec theory; to apply to one people the traditions of many, to a modern people the traditions of a remote antiquity; to compress the events of eight or nine centuries into one. We shall still find the Quiché annals fragmentary and far from satisfactory, but from the foundation of Izmachi I shall attempt to carry along the tale as told by the different authorities together. By far the most complete of these are the Quiché records as given in the Popol Vuh and that of the Cakchiquels contained in Brasseur's works.

EARLY CAKCHIQUEL HISTORY

I begin with the adventures of the Cakchiquels after the defeat of Hacavitz and Zactecauh by the Pokomams, already mentioned.897 They seem not to have continued in the company with the Quichés at Izmachi, but to have retired to other localities in the country of the Mames somewhat further west, among the Mames of Cholamag, as the record states it. They found the people very friendly, but only remained long enough among them to learn their language, which they found most difficult. Leaving this place they approached the Valley of Panchoy, in the region of the volcanos, and twice they penetrated the mountain of fire, Hunahpu, where a most wonderful and unintelligible interview with Zakiqoxol, the phantom or guardian of the fiery abysses is related, all being possibly the account of a volcanic eruption. Having reached the shores of Lake Atitlan the Cakchiquels wished to settle there permanently although the chief, Hacavitz, seems to have opposed the settlement. Tolqom, a powerful chieftain and a most wonderful magician, lived on Mount Qakbatzulu, which extended like a promontory into the lake; but the bold Hacavitz took him prisoner and became master of his domain. The Cakchiquels, or the Cakchiquel nobility, seem to have been divided in four families, the Zotzil-Tukuches, the Cibakihay, the Baqahol, and the Gekaquchi. All united in giving to Hacavitz and Zactecauh, of the house of Zotzil-Tukuche, after the victory over Tolqom, the supreme power, the former having the first rank. The conquered chieftain, Tolqom, was sacrificed at the coronation of Hacavitz, in the midst of great festivities, and a part of his body was thrown from the summit of Qakbatzulu, his former home, into the waters of the lake. Many of the Cakchiquels decided to remain here and chose a site which they named Chitulul; others built houses on a point called Abah, afterwards the site of the city of Atitlan. But Hacavitz was not pleased, and a violent wind arose and an extraordinary white cloud hung over the surface of the lake; the new dwellings were destroyed and great damage was done. The Cakchiquels accepted this as a warning to obey the will of the gods, except the Ah-Tziquinihayi who decided to remain with the Zutugils.

The other tribes retired under their leaders into the mountains, and became much scattered. In passing a deep ravine Zactecauh missed his footing and was dashed to death on the rocks below, the record hinting that his colleague and superior was not wholly free from the suspicion of having caused his death. This suspicion destroyed much of the prestige of Hacavitz, but he regained it all and more by extinguishing the fire of a volcano which by its lava and flames had hemmed in and threatened with total destruction all his followers. Zakitzunun aided him and was given the second place in the government. They then seem to have returned to the lake shores, conquering and making allies of several aboriginal tribes, including the people of Ikomag, with a lady of which people Hacavitz seems to have married. In the meantime the Gekaquchi, the Cibakihay, and the Baqahol, three of the four principal Cakchiquel families, had settled on the mountains in the region of Iximché, or Tecpan Guatemala, and the ambitious chief of the latter family had succeeded in obtaining the allegiance of his companions, who crowned him as supreme king of the three bands.

Hacavitz was filled with wrath, but being unable to overthrow his rival, Baqahol, was obliged to be content with establishing himself and his own band of Zotziles on the shores of the lake, where their dwellings were erected and the Cakchiquel god, Chimalcan, had his altars. A little later Hacavitz is reported to have aided Baqahol in overcoming certain foes that had attacked him, and as having received, at the end of the campaign, the voluntary allegiance of that chief, thus regaining the supreme power over the Cakchiquel tribes, whom he ruled from his residence at a place known as Chigohom, where he seems to have settled after his new accession to power, somewhat away from the shores of the lake. Here he died at a ripe old age, not long after his wife gave birth to Caynoh and Caybatz, his successors in later years.

REIGN OF COTUHA AND IZTAYUL

Returning to the Quiché record as given in the Popol Vuh,898 we find nothing recorded of the reign of Balam Conache,899 son of Qocavib, in his new capital of Izmachi. He was succeeded early in the thirteenth century, as it seems, by Cotuha, with Iztayul as Ahpop Camha, and under this monarch many improvements were made in the city, including many houses of stone and mortar and three royal palaces, one for the house of Cawek, one for the house of Nihaïb, and a third for the house of Ahau Quiché. "Now all were of one heart in Izmachi; there were no enmities; there were no difficulties; the monarchy was in a state of repose, without disputes or troubles; peace and felicity were in all hearts." But their power was yet confined to narrow limits; they had as yet achieved no great success. The Rabinals, the Cakchiquels, and the mingled Zutugils and Ah-Tziquinihayi of Atitlan are spoken of as being at this time allies and friends of the Quichés; but the descendants of the ancient Ilocab were yet powerful, and became hostile, although hitherto represented as joined to the house of Cawek; their capital was but a short distance from Izmachi. When Ilocab – the tribal name being used, as is often the case, for that of the ruling monarch – perceived the prosperity of the Quichés, "war was kindled by Ilocab, who wished to kill this king Cotuha, his people being unwilling that there should be any king but their own. And as to the king Iztayul, they desired to punish him also, to put him to death, in the cause of Ilocab. But their jealousy was not successful against the king Cotuha, who marched against them. Such was the origin of the revolt and of the war. At first they entered the city (Izmachi) by assault, spreading death in their way, for what they desired was the ruin of the Quiché name, that they alone might rule. But they came only to die; they were taken captives, and but few escaped. Then their sacrifices began; the people of Ilocab were immolated before the god, and that was the penalty of their crime, which was inflicted by the order of Cotuha. Many also were reduced to slavery, now that they had brought ruin upon themselves by kindling the flames of war against the king and against the city. What they had desired was that the name of the Quichés should be ruined and disgraced, but nothing could be done. Thus originated the usage of human sacrifices before the god at the declaration of war; and this was the origin of the fortifications which they began to erect in Izmachi."

Another document900 is said to give some additional information respecting the immediate cause of the war, which is reported to have been connected in some way with Cotuha's marriage. He married Hamai-Uleü, 'rose of the earth,' a daughter of one of the friendly Zutugil princes whose territory was on Lake Atitlan, annexing that prince's domain to his own, and giving his father-in-law, Malah by name, high rank at the Quiché court. The favor thus shown to Malah, with other acts of like nature, seem to have excited the jealousy of other Zutugil lords, who at last marched against Cotuha and were utterly defeated. It was while Cotuha had this war on his hands that the Ilocab engaged in the desperate effort above recorded to check the Quiché monarchs in their rapid progress to supreme power, and were enabled, perhaps during the absence of Cotuha, to penetrate his capital. After their final defeat, Uquincat, the Ilocab capital, was taken and destroyed, and many other towns fell into Cotuha's possession.

TRANSFER OF THE CAPITAL TO UTATLAN

The Quiché record narrates no further historical events down to the time when Izmachi was abandoned. It dwells, however, on the greatness of the kingdom after the overthrow of the Ilocab, and mentions the power and number of the surrounding princes yet unsubdued as the strongest proof of Quiché valor, since the new people even in the face of such environment had been able to establish and extend their monarchy. After the immolation which followed the Ilocab's defeat, the practice of human sacrifice was carried to such an extent that the surrounding tribes were filled with terror at the number of captives slain by order of Cotuha and Iztayul. At this period the system of government was perfected by measures, the exact nature of which is not clearly given, and magnificent festivities with complicated ceremonial rites were instituted. "Long they remained in Izmachi, until they had found and had seen another city, and had abandoned in its turn that of Izmachi. After that they departed and came to the capital called Gumarcaah (Utatlan), which was so named by the Quichés, when the kings Cotuha and Gucumatz came together with all the princes. They were then in the fifth generation (of kings) from the commencement of civilization and from the origin of their national existence."