 Cover of the 1885 English edition | |
| Author | Francisco Hernández Arana Xajilá Francisco Rojas |
|---|---|
| Original title | Anales de los Cakchiqueles |
| Translator | Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg Daniel G. Brinton |
| Language | Kaqchikel |
| Subject | Kaqchikelhistory andmyth |
Publication date | 1571–1604 |
| Publication place | Spanish Guatemala |
Published in English | 1885 |
| Media type | manuscript |
| 498 | |
| LC Class | F1465.A53 |
| Text | Annals of the Cakchiquels atWikisource |
TheAnnals of the Cakchiquels (Spanish:Anales de los Cakchiqueles, also known by the alternative Spanish titles,Anales de los Xahil,Memorial de Tecpán-Atitlán orMemorial de Sololá) is amanuscript written inKaqchikel byFrancisco Hernández Arana Xajilá in 1571, and completed by his grandson, Francisco Rojas, in 1604.[1][2] The manuscript — which describes the legends of theKaqchikel nation and hashistorical andmythological components — is considered an important historical document onpost-classic Maya civilization in the highlands ofGuatemala.
The manuscript, initially kept by the Xahillineage in the town ofSololá in Guatemala, was later discovered in the archives of theSan Francisco de Guatemala convent in 1844. It was subsequently translated by the abbotCharles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg in 1855 (the same translator of theRabinal Achí), and then passed through several more hands before being published in an English translation byDaniel G. Brinton in 1885.[1]
The mythical and legendary part of the manuscript, which must have been orally preserved for centuries, was finally collected and preserved by members of the Xahilchinamit or lineage. The historical narrative continues with the exploits of kings and warriors and their various conquests, the founding of villages, and the succession of rulers up to the time of the Spanish Conquest.
Like thePopol Vuh, theAnnals also identifies the almost legendary Tulan as the place from which they all set out, at least at one point in their various migrations. The texts differs from the other sources, such as theHistoria de los Xpantzay de Tecpán Guatemala andTítulo de Totonicapán, but mainly from thePopol Vuh, in that it relates that the Kaqchikel ancestors came to Tulan,chʼaqa palow "across the sea", fromr(i) uqajibʼal qʼij, "where the sun descends, the west." The Kaqchikel narrative is quite gloomy, describing the forefather's departure from Tulan accompanied by a negative omen and the presaging of death and dismay. It also refers to theKʼicheʼ rulers forcing the King Qʼuicab the Great to leaveChaiviar (Chichicastenango), and migrate to theRatzamut Mountains to found Iximché, which remained the new Kaqchikel capital until the arrival of theconquistadores. The Kaqchikel document continues with an account of their journeys and the places through which they passed along the way, ending with a sober, factual account of the Conquest. This is the native story of the Conquest ofGuatemala from the point of view of the vanquished.
