a special sack or bag for cacao beans or incense; or, the number 8,000, which may have been the number of cacao beans in the sack, or it meant a very large number; also, the number 1,000, such as we see in the Anales de Juan Bautista for Feb. 18, 1564; we also see xiquipilli to mean 1,000 in some Techialoyan manuscripts (see attestations)
Pipiltin Mexíca yei xiquí pillí = twenty-four thousand Mexica nobles
mihtóa caoquipouhque cenzontli xiquipillí, tlacatl. = And it is said that they counted 3,200,000 men.
yepohua lli yhuá ome xiquipilli yhuá tlâco = five hundred thousand
copalxiqujpilli (copalxiquipilli) = incense bag (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
cen xiquipilli pesos tomines ihuan caxtoltzontli pesos yhuan ontzontli pesos tomin no ixquich in tlaolli hanegas in totlacallaquil yn ticchivazque = The tribute we are to give is 14,800 pesos in money, and also all the bushels of maize (Huejotzingo, 1560)
auh yhtic hualyetihuia miec tlatquitl. yn cacahuatl. xiquipiltica hualloonotihuia = inside it came many goods; cacao beans came in bags (central Mexico, early seventeenth century)
xiquipilli = an incense bag which is carried by Aztec rulers, shown in sculptures and reliefs; e.g. the icpacxiquipilli omicallo xoxoctic, Florentine Codex (VIII, 62), was a special green cotton incense bag decorated with bones (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
This term has also been seen in three Techialoyan manuscripts to intend 1000 (used in dates, adding fifteen plus ten more twenties to represent the year 1500). See the following example:
axcan ipan toxiuh molpia mopohua xihuitl cahuitl in omocuilo in omotlilmachioti inin mapa omoquaxochtlalli inin toaltepeuh ipampa çemicac tlaneltie.. nictlilmachiotia axcan miércoles itlapohual julio mopohua çenxiquipilli ipan caxtolpohualli ihuan matlacpohualli i..uan çenpohualli xihuitl---- = On this day our years are tied. The year and time is counted, [the year count when] this map was written and recorded and the boundaries of our altepetl were established so that it would always be verified. I record that it is today, Wednesday, in the count of July, counting one ‘xiquipilli’ [here, thousand] and 300 and 200 and 20 [i.e. 1520] years. (central Mexico, late seventeenth or early eighteenth century)
Tlani xiquipilhuilax. Qualli in quitoa pani, auh in itic amo qualli in quitoa teuicpa = Underneath he drags a bag. Outwardly he speaks nicely to people but inwardly he speaks nastily. (central Mexico, sixteenth century)
"...until the present day it is the custom among some of the Indians, and even others, in the city of Mexico to sell firewood by zontles of four hundred pieces. Twenty zontles, or eight thousand make one xiquipilli, and three xiquipillis are equal to a carga or load, the which has twenty four thousand grains of cacao. To evade the trouble of counting so many when the merchandise was of considerable value, sacks of certain dimensions were used." (late nineteenth century, Mexico City)
jn quitquitiaque tlamacazque, copalli, iiauhtli, tecuciztli in quipitztiaque: iaon intotoxi quimamamatiaque, iehoatl in copalxiquipilli = The priests went carrying copal [and] aromatic herbs, [and] blowing shell trumpets. And they went carrying their small bags upon their backs: these were incense bags (16th century, Mexico City)
If we consider that ipilli is 20, xiquipilli may have a historical association with the number 400 (which is then multiplied times 20). See our headword ipilli (20) and various numbers that end in ipilli (e.g. caxtolipilli, which is 15 x 20, or 300). (SW)
frai P[edr]o de Gante yn ixquich tictequitizq'[ue] 12 mill cenxiquipilli ypa[n] matlactzontli = fray Pedro de Gante mencionó que por todo tributaríamos 12 mil [pesos]
(ca. 1582, Mexico City)
mopoa cahuitli cen chiquipili molpia ypan castolpual yhuan matlacpuali yhua [568] yepuali yhua ihua chique chihuitli = se cuenta el tiempo que en una atadura de años se ata. Sobre los quinientos sesenta y ocho años. (Estado de Hidalgo, ca. 1722?)
au ipanpa cemicac tlaneltilities omo tlilmachioti axcan ipan nahui cali tecpatl cali tochi acatl cen chiquipil molpia ipan cas tolpuali ihuan matlacpuali yhuan epuali ihua chique chihuitl cahuitl = Pues para siempre estar dando testimonio de este hecho, se escribió y firmó ahora en este dia cuatro casa. Pedernal, Casa, Consejo, Caña, (4 trecenas) en un atado de años se atan. Encima de quinientos sesenta y ocho años el tiempo. (Estado de Hidalgo, ca. 1722?)
"...para la cuenta de mantas, una carga correspondía a 20 unidades, y para el cacao el mismo término equivalía a 24,000 granos, o sean tres xiquipilli. Por último, anoto la posibilidad de múltiplos y submúltiplos de la carga, ya que en Bernal Díaz se advierte que 'dos cargas' pueden ser equivalentes a 'una gran carga.'"
copal xiquipilli = la bolsa de copal, llevada en la mano; parte del sacerdocio