Título C'oyoi

The Título C'oyoi is an important early colonial K'iche document documenting the mythical origins of the K'iche' people and their history up to the Spanish conquest. It describes K'iche' preparations for battle against the Spanish, and the death of the K'iche' hero Tecun Uman. The document was written in Q'umarkaj, the K'iche' capital city, by the C'oyoi Sakcorowach lineage, which belonged to the Quejnay branch of the K'iche', and who held territory just to the east of Quetzaltenango, now in Guatemala. The document was largely written by Juan de Penonias de Putanza, who claimed to be the relative of a C'oyoi nobleman who was killed during the Spanish conquest. It was composed with the assistance of the K'iche' officialdom at Q'umarkaj, and portions of the text reflect the official version of K'iche' history as produced in the capital. An illustration in the document shows that the Maya nobility of Quetzaltenango adopted the double-headed Hapsburg Eagle as their family crest.

The original K'iche' document, including two illustrations, is held by the Robert Garrett Collection of Middle American Manuscripts at the Princeton University Library. Fifty-six pages survive, and the document is poorly preserved in places, with the pages mixed out of their reading order. The surviving pages are clearly written, with clear use of symbols to phonetically render the K'iche' language. The document is roughly one-third of the length of the Popul Vuh and the Annals of the Kaqchikels, and roughly the same length as the Título de Totonicapán, making it one of the shorter indigenous títulos.

Although Christian dates are given in the document, they are indecipherable. However, the document has been tentatively dated to 1550-1570 by the presence of several names that also appear in other early colonial documents, particularly the Título Nijaib I and the Título Nijaib II. The account of the Spanish conquest, and the description of the area around Quetzaltenango, are likely to have been derived from the recollections of K'iche' lords who had survived the Spanish invasion.

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