PRIMER NUEVA CRÓNICA Y BUEN GOBIERNO

Abstract

Although there are no exact data, specialists agree that Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala was born around 1535 in the Viceroyalty of Peru, specifically, in the region of Huamanga. Guaman Poma lived at a time of great turmoil in the Viceroyalty, as colonization was underway. He experienced firsthand the social, cultural and political transformations that characterized this period, so he is undoubtedly a crucial witness. He is known for his work El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno [The first new chronicle and good government], which is a manuscript detailing the pre-Columbian history of Peru and the Spanish conquest. It consists of some 1,200 pages and contains hundreds of illustrations depicting the life, customs, genealogies and abuses suffered by the indigenous people. The fragments selected here refer to what the author understood as Mapamundi. It presents foundational data of some cities, informs about populations that adapted to the Spanish ordinance and of populations that still resisted. He talks about cities that today are in Ecuadorian territory such as Riobamaba, Cuenca, Guayaquil and Loja. It also refers to other Peruvian cities such as Cajamarca, Paita, Trujillo, and others more distant geographically such as Panama.