author
Francisco Hernández Arana Xajilá
d. 1581
A Kaqchikel noble and early colonial chronicler, he helped preserve one of the most important Indigenous historical records from Guatemala. His writing connects pre-Columbian memory with the first decades of Spanish rule.
1 Audiobook
The Annals of the Cakchiquels
by Francisco Hernández Arana Xajilá
About the author
Born around 1502 and dying in 1581, Francisco Hernández Arana Xajilá is known as one of the authors associated with the Memorial de Sololá, also called the Annals of the Kaqchikels. He belonged to the Xajil ruling lineage and wrote in the Kaqchikel language after learning alphabetic writing during the early colonial period.
The work linked to him is valued because it records the history, migrations, conflicts, and political life of the Kaqchikel people from an Indigenous point of view. It is also one of the rare colonial-era texts that preserves Native historical memory in a written form close to the time of the events it describes.
Later sections of the chronicle were continued by other members of his family line, including his grandson Francisco Díaz Gebuta Quej. Together, their record remains a key source for understanding Kaqchikel history and the profound changes brought by the Spanish conquest.