K'iche' Kingdom of Q'umarkaj - Social Organization

Social Organization

In the Late Postclassic, the greater Q'umarkaj area is estimated to have had a population of around 15,000. The inhabitants of Q'umarkaj were divided socially between the nobility and their vassals. The nobles were known as the ajaw, while the vassals were known as the al k'ajol. The nobility were the patrilineal descendants of the founding warlords who appear to have entered as conquerors from the Gulf coast around AD 1200 and who eventually lost their original language and adopted that of their subjects. The nobles were regarded as sacred and bore royal imagery. Their vassals served as foot-soldiers and were subject to the laws laid out by the nobility, although they could receive military titles as a result of their battlefield prowess. The social divisions were deep seated and were equivalent to strictly observed castes. The merchants were a privileged class, although they had to make tributary payments to the nobility. In addition to these classes, the population included rural labourers and artisans. Slaves were also held and included both sentenced criminals and prisoners of war.

There were twenty-four important lineages, or nimja, in Q'umarkaj, closely linked to the palaces in which the nobility attended to their duties; Nimja means "big house" in K'iche', after the palace complexes that the lineages occupied. Their duties included marriage negotiations and associated feasting and ceremonial lecturing. These lineages were strongly patrilineal and were grouped into four larger, more powerful nimja that chose the rulers of the city. At the time of the Conquest, the four ruling nimja were the Kaweq, the Nijaib, the Saqik and the Ajaw K'iche'. The Kaweq and the Nijaib included nine principal lineages each, the Ajaw K'iche' included four and the Saqik had two. As well as choosing the king and king elect, the ruling Kaweq dynasty also had a lineage that produced the powerful priests of Q'uq'umatz, who may have served as stewards of the city.