K'iche'

The K'iche' are one of the principal Maya peoples of the Guatemalan highlands; their name means many trees, and its Nahuatl translation, Cuauhtēmallān, gave Guatemala its name. After the Classic collapse they built a Postclassic kingdom, moving its capital around 1400 to Q'umarkaj, founded by King Q'uq'umatz.

Allied with the Kaqchikel, the K'iche' conquered the K'oja and expanded under Q'uq'umatz's son K'iq'ab, subduing the Mam of Zaculeu. A noble rebellion in 1470 drove out their Kaqchikel allies; after K'iq'ab died around 1475 the kingdom weakened through wars with the Kaqchikel and Tz'utujil. In March 1524 Pedro de Alvarado destroyed their army, killed its commander Tecún Umán and burned Q'umarkaj.

The K'iche' preserved their traditions in writing. The Popol Vuh, with its creation myth and Hero Twins, was set down around 1550 and transcribed and translated by the Dominican Francisco Ximénez in 1701.