From the Book of Chilan Balam of Chumayel,
The following chronicle is stated by its writer to be distinctively called the “Maya Katuns,” and to be written for (or by) the Itzas. We have, therefore, no longer to do with the reckoning of the subjects of the Xiu family who ruled at Mani, but with one which emanates from the priests of the Cocomes, who were hereditary masters of Chichen Itza. It is evidently of different origin, although many of the same facts are referred to in it.
TEXT.
U kahlay katunob utial ahYtzaob mayakatun u kaba lae.
Notes1. Lahca ahau.
Lahun ahau.
Uaxac ahau.
Uac ahau; paxciob ahoni.
Can ahau.
Cabil ahau.
Oxlahun ahau.
Buluc ahau.
Bolon ahau.
Uuc ahau.
Hoo ahau; paxci u cah yahau ahYtzmal kinich kakmo y pop hol chan tumenel hun nac ceel.
Ox ahau.
Notes2. Hun ahau: paxci yala ahYtza tu cħicheen, tu yoxpiztun ychil hun ahau paxci u chicħeen.
Lahca ahau.
Lahun ahau.
Notes3. Uaxac ahau: u katunil heɔci cah yala ahYtza likul yan che yalan haban tan xuluc mul u kaba ti likulob ca u heɔahob luum Zaclactun Mayapan u kaba tu uucpiztun uaxac ahau u katunil; laix u katunil cimci Chakanputun tumen kak u pa cal yetel tec uilue.
Notes4. Uac ahau.
Can ahau.
Cabil ahau.
Oxlahun ahau.
Buluc ahau.
Bolon ahau.
Uuc ahau.
Hoo ahau: ulci ɔul ti chibil uinic, yxma pic ɔul u kaba; ma paxci peten tumenelobi.
Ox ahau.
Notes5. Hun ahau: paxci peten tan cah mayapan u kaba tu hunpiztun ychil hun ahau u katunile; lukci halach uinic tutul y u Batabilob cabe y cantzuc culcahobe; lay u katunil paxi uincob tan cah 167-1cauec 167-2chahiob u Batabilob cabe.
Notes6. Lahca ahau te cħabi Otzmal u tunile.
Lahun ahau, te cħabi Zizal u tunile.
Uaxac ahau, te cħabi Kancaba u tunile.
Uac ahau, te cħabi hunnacthi u tunile.
7. Can ahau, te cħabi atikuhe u tunilae; lay u katunil uchci mayacimlal tu hopiztun ychil can ahau u katunil lae.
Cabil ahau, te cħabi chacalna u tunile.
Oxlahun ahau, te cħabi euan u tunile.
Notes8. Buluc ahau, u yaxchun kin coloxpeten cħabi u tunile; laix u katunil cimci Ahpula Napotxiu u kaba tu hunpiztun Buluc ahau. Laix u katunil yax hulciob espaÑolesob uay tac lumil lae tu uucpiztun Buluc ahau u katunil tiix hoppi xpnoil lae tu habil quinientos diez y nueve aÑos Do 1519 as.
9. Bolon ahau ma cħabi u tunil lae; lay katun yax ulci obispo Fray Franco 168-1to Ral, huli tu uacpiztun ychil ahBolon ahau katun lae.
Uac ahau, ma cħabi u tunil lae; lay u katunil cimci Obispo e landa lae, tii xuli uhel Obispo xani.
Hoo ahau.
Ox ahau.
TRANSLATION.
The Record of the Katuns by the men of Itza called the Maya Katuns.
Notes1. The twelfth ahau.
The tenth ahau.
The eighth ahau.
The sixth ahau; the well dressed ones were driven out.
The fourth ahau.
The second ahau.
The thirteenth ahau.
The eleventh ahau.
The ninth ahau.
The seventh ahau.
The fifth ahau; the town was destroyed by Kinich kakmo, ruler of Itzmal, and Pop Hol Chan on account of Hunnac Ceel.
The third ahau.
Notes2. The first ahau; the remainder of the Itzas at Chichen were driven out; on the third year in the first ahau Chichen was depopulated.
The twelfth ahau.
The tenth ahau.
Notes3. The eighth ahau; in this katun was founded a city by the remainder of the Itzas coming out of the woods from under the branches, from the midst of Xuluc Mul as it is called; they came from there and established the land called Zaclactun Mayapan, in the seventh year of the eighth Ahau katun; in this katun perished Chakanputun by fire, which destroyed it quickly, and suddenly consumed it.
Notes4. The sixth ahau.
The fourth ahau.
The second ahau.
The thirteenth ahau.
The eleventh ahau.
The ninth ahau.
The seventh ahau.
The fifth ahau; foreigners came seeking men to eat; “breechless foreigners” they were called; the country was not depopulated by them.
The third ahau.
Notes5. The first ahau; the district in the middle of Mayapan (or Tancah Mayapan) was depopulated in the first year of the first ahau katun; there went forth the governor Tutul, with the chiefs of the country and four divisions from the towns; in this katun the men in the centre of the town (or of Tancah) were driven out, and the chiefs of the country lost their power.
Notes6. The twelfth ahau: the stone of Otzmal was taken.
The tenth ahau; the stone of Zizal was taken.
The eighth ahau; the stone of Kancaba was taken.
The sixth ahau; the stone of Hunnacthi was taken.7. The fourth ahau; the stone of Ahtiku was taken; in this katun took place the pestilence, in the fifth year in the fourth ahau katun.
The second ahau; the stone of Chacalna was taken.
The thirteenth ahau; the stone of Euan was taken.
Notes8. The eleventh ahau: in the time of its beginning, the stone of Coloxpeten was taken; in this katun died Ahpula Napotxiu, in the first year of the eleventh ahau; it was also in this katun that the Spaniards first arrived here in this land, in the seventh year of the eleventh ahau katun; also Christianity began in the year fifteen hundred and nineteen, the year of our Lord 1519.9. The ninth ahau; no stone was taken at this time; in this katun first came the bishop Brother Francisco Toral; he arrived in the sixth year of the ninth ahau katun.
The seventh ahau; no stone was taken: in this katun died Bishop Landa; then also ended the bishop his successor.
The fifth ahau.
The third ahau.
NOTES.
Maya
English1. The writer begins with the 12th ahau, although nothing is noted until the 6th. Here we have the brief entry paxciob ahoni. This might be translated “those of Oni were driven out or scattered.” But no such locality is known or mentioned elsewhere. The Diccionario de Motul, MS. gives the meaning of ahoni as “pulido, galan, muy bien vestido,” ahoni a talel ex, “you come very well dressed.” I suppose, therefore, that it was a term applied to some early tribe who distinguished themselves in comparison with their ruder neighbors by elegance of costume. Later we shall find a similar term, “breechless foreigners,” applied to another tribe whose condition of nudity suggested their appellation.
The name Kinich Kakmo is mentioned by Cogolludo as that of an idol worshiped at Itzamal. He says:—“They had another temple on another mound in the northern part of the city, and this, from the name of an idol which they worshiped here, they called Kinich KakmÓ, which means the sun with a face. They say that the rays were of fire and descended at mid-day to consume the sacrifice, as the vacamaya flies through the air (which is a bird something like a parrot, though larger in size, and with finely colored feathers). They resorted to this idol in time of mortality, pestilence or much sickness, both men and women, and brought many offerings. They said that at mid-day a fire descended and consumed the sacrifice in the sight of all. After this the priests replied to their inquiries about the sickness, famine or pestilence, and thus they learned their fate; although it often turned out quite the contrary of what he predicted.” (Historia de Yucatan, Lib. IV, cap. VIII.)
The title given by Cogolludo to the divinity appears to have also been adopted by the ruling chief, who may also have been the high priest. It is both imperfectly and incorrectly translated by the historian. Its components are kin, the sun, day; ich, the eye, the face; kak, fire; moo, the macaw, Psittacus Macao, deemed sacred throughout Mexico and Central America, on account of its beautiful plumage. The full translation of the name is “the Eye of Day, the Sacred Bird of Fire,” a symbolic name of a solar deity.
The Chan family is mentioned by Sanchez Aguilar (Informe contra Idolum Cultores, etc.), as among the princely houses of Yucatan at the date of the Conquest.
Paxci u cah, “the town,” that is, Chichen Itza. The writer composed his chronicle at that place, so he does not think it necessary to name it specifically. The distance in a straight line from Chichen Itza to Itzamal is 40 geographical miles.
Maya
English2. Yala, the remainder, from ala, above, over. A portion of the Itzas remained in Chichen after the attack by Kinich Kakmo; these also now leave it.
Maya
English3. The place Xuluc mul is unknown in the present geography of the peninsula. It means “the completed mounds,” mul being, as I have before remarked, the name given to the artificial pyramids and tumuli of stone so common in the peninsula, probably so called from the joint labor of many in their construction.
The province of Zaclactun-Mayapan is also unknown, although there is a hacienda Zaclactun within the boundaries of the modern district of Itzamal (Berendt, Nombres geograficos en Lengua Maya, MS.). The name apparently means “the place where white pottery is made.”
Maya
English4. Ti chibil uinic “for men to be eaten;” chibil, the passive of chii, to eat. The Diccionario de Motul gives chibil bak, flesh to be eaten. Pic was the breech cloth or waist cloth, fastened around the waist and falling to the knees, which was the common dress of the women. The Dictionary just quoted translates the word, “naguas de Indias que se sirven de saya Ó faldellin ordinario, para cubrir desde la cintura abajo; y son las blancas sin color ni bordado.” The phrase ixma pic ɔul, foreigners without a breech cloth, intimates that they were nude.
Who were these naked cannibals, who raided the provinces in order to obtain their unnatural food? Those daring navigators, those naked man-eaters, the Caribs, from whose name our word cannibal is derived, at once suggest themselves. Curiously enough, the Abbe Brasseur has argued for the probability of their invasions upon other (though I think insufficient) grounds (see his Informe acerca de las Ruinas de Mayapan y de Uxmal). This passage of the chronicle renders his theory probable.
Maya
English5. Peten tan cah Mayapan could also be rendered, “the district Tancah Mayapan.”
Maya
English6. Cħabi Otzmal u tunile, “the stone of Otzmal was taken.” Otzmal was a locality under the rule of the Cocomes. (Cogolludo, Historia, Lib. III, cap. VI.) Other versions read Itzmal and Uxmal. The reference is to the u heɔ katun, the setting up of the Katun-stone as a memorial at the end of each period of twenty years. Incomplete descriptions of this ceremony are given by Landa, Relacion, § IX, and Cogolludo, Historia, Lib. IV, cap. IV. I propose a more extended examination of this question in a future volume of this series, devoted to documents relating to the calendars and chronology of the Central American nations.
Maya
English8. The death of Ahpula Napot Xiu is given with minuteness but not in accordance with previous chronicles. In 1519 Cortes touched at the Island of Cozumel, and that might have been assumed as the date of the commencement of Christianity.
167-1 caua.
