The Xinca first encountered Spanish conquistadors in 1523, when Pedro de Alvarado entered Xinca territory. Xinca and other indigenous peoples in the region were subdued by Pedro de Portocarrero in 1526. The Xinca were treated very harshly by the Spanish, whose methods for ensuring capitulation included branding and enslavement. The latter practice gave name to the river in Xinca territory (esclavos, “slaves”).
Before Spanish colonization, Xinca people used relatively simple technologies and social organization, particularly when compared to neighbouring Mayan peoples. Traditional Xinca towns had wooden structures rather than stone buildings, and the people organized as a confederacy of tribes rather than adopting the Maya’s strong political centralization and social stratification.
Because late-20th-century political unrest in Guatemala made census data difficult to gather and verify, estimates of the Xinca population range from 1,200 to upwards of 100,000 in the early 21st century.