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What the Book Explores

The First New Chronicle and Good Government (originally titled El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno) is a monumental manuscript completed around 1615 by Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, an indigenous Andean nobleman. Spanning nearly 1,200 pages and containing nearly 400 pen-and-ink drawings, the work is both a detailed history of the Andean people and a searing critique of Spanish colonial rule in Peru. It was written as a lengthy letter addressed to King Philip III of Spain, though there is no evidence the monarch ever saw it.

Andean History and the Four Ages

The first part of the chronicle, the Nueva Corónica, examines the history of the world through a unique synthesis of Andean and Christian cosmologies. Guaman Poma describes five ages of the world, beginning with the ‘Uari Viracocha Runa’ and ending with the reign of the Incas. He attempts to synchronize these ages with biblical history, suggesting that the Andean people were descendants of Noah’s lineage who had preserved a primitive form of monotheism. This section serves to legitimize indigenous culture, arguing that Andean societies were civilized and God-fearing long before the arrival of Europeans.

The Visual Narrative and Symbolic Mapping

One of the most significant aspects of the work is its extensive use of visual communication. Guaman Poma’s 398 drawings are not merely illustrations; they function as a complex semiotic system. The author utilizes Andean spatial logic—where ‘up’ (hanan) and ‘down’ (hurin), ‘right’ and ‘left’ carry specific symbolic weights—to organize the figures within the frame. These drawings document everything from the agricultural calendar and religious festivals to the harsh realities of colonial labor in the mines. By mapping the Andean world visually, Guaman Poma provides a record of indigenous life, dress, and architecture that is unparalleled in the historical record.

Good Government and the ‘World Upside Down’

The second part, Buen Gobierno, explores the social and political conditions of the early 17th-century Viceroyalty of Peru. Guaman Poma uses the term Pacha Kuti—an Andean concept referring to a cataclysmic turning of the world—to describe the chaos brought by colonial administration. He documents the abuses of Spanish officials, clergy, and settlers, arguing that the social order had been turned ‘upside down.’ His proposal for ‘Good Government’ is not a call for violent rebellion, but a sophisticated legal and moral argument for a return to indigenous self-governance under the distant sovereignty of the Spanish Crown. He envisions a world where the two ‘republics’ (Spanish and Indian) exist side by side, respected and distinct.

Historical / Cultural Context

Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala wrote at a critical juncture in South American history. By 1615, the initial era of conquest had ended, and the colonial state was becoming institutionalized. As a member of the indigenous provincial elite, Guaman Poma occupied a precarious middle ground; he was literate in Spanish and a converted Catholic, yet he witnessed the rapid erasure of the traditional social structures and technologies that had sustained his people for centuries. His work is an act of resistance through literacy, using the colonizer’s own tools—the written word and the petition format—to advocate for justice.

The manuscript followed an extraordinary path through history. After its completion, it vanished for nearly three centuries. It was rediscovered in 1908 by scholar Richard Pietschmann in the Royal Library of Denmark in Copenhagen, where it remains today. Its rediscovery transformed the study of the Andes, providing an indigenous voice that challenged the dominant narratives written by Spanish chroniclers. It has since become a foundational document for the study of colonial Latin American history, art history, and the development of indigenous political thought.

Who This Book Is For

This work is of primary interest to historians, anthropologists, and scholars of indigenous studies. It provides a rare and detailed look into the cognitive and symbolic frameworks of the post-conquest Andean mind. Readers interested in the history of social justice and human rights will find Guaman Poma’s legal and moral arguments to be a compelling early example of indigenous advocacy. Furthermore, the chronicle is a vital resource for those studying the intersection of visual culture and text, as it demonstrates how a single work can bridge two vastly different cultural traditions of storytelling and record-keeping.

Further Reading

For those seeking to explore the historical and cultural context of the Andean world further, the following works are recommended:

• Royal Commentaries of the Incas and General History of Peru by Inca Garcilaso de la Vega – A contemporary work that also attempts to bridge Andean and European perspectives.
• The Huarochirí Manuscript (Anonymous) – A foundational record of Andean myths and religious traditions from the late 16th century.
• Writing and Resistance in Colonial Peru by Rolena Adorno – A scholarly analysis specifically focused on Guaman Poma’s chronicle and its literary significance.
• The Memory of the Bones by Stephen Hugh-Jones – For insight into the persistence of indigenous symbolic systems in South America.

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