The Muisca Confederation was a loose

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

of different

Muisca The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The Muisca spe ...

rulers ('' zaques'', ''

zipa When the Spain, Spanish arrived in the central Colombian highlands, the region was organized into the Muisca Confederation, which had two rulers; the ''Zipa'' was the ruler of the southern part and based in Funza, Muyquytá. The ''Zaque'' was the ...

s'', '' iraca'', and '' tundama'') in the central

Andean The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long and wide (widest between 18°S ...

highlands of what is today

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

before the

Spanish conquest The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It ...

of northern

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. The area, presently called

Altiplano Cundiboyacense The Altiplano Cundiboyacense () is a high plateau located in the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes covering parts of the departments of Cundinamarca and Boyacá. (Do not confuse with The Altiplano or the Altiplano Nariñense, both fur ...

, comprised the current

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of Boyacá, Cundinamarca and minor parts of Santander. According to some Muisca scholars the Muisca Confederation was one of the best-organized confederations of tribes on the South American continent. Other

historians A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

s, however, such as

Jorge Gamboa Mendoza Jorge Augusto Gamboa Mendoza (born 27 January 1970) is a Colombian anthropologist and historian. He has been contributing on the knowledge of Hispanic and pre-Hispanic territories of what is now Colombia, especially the Muisca.

, attribute the present-day knowledge about the confederation and its organization more to a reflection by Spanish

chronicler A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, ...

s who predominantly wrote about it a century or more after the Muisca were conquered and proposed the idea of a loose collection of different people with slightly different languages and backgrounds.Gamboa Mendoza, 2016

Geography

Climate

Muisca Confederation

In the times before the

Spanish conquest of the Muisca The Spanish conquest of the Muisca took place from 1537 to 1540. The Muisca people, Muisca were the inhabitants of the central Andes, Andean highlands of Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors. They were organised in a loose M ...

, the central part of present-day Colombia; the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

was inhabited by the Muisca people who were organised in a loose confederation of rulers. The central authorities of Bacatá in the south and Hunza in the north were called ''

'' and '' zaque'' respectively. Other rulers were the '' iraca'' priest in sacred City of the Sun

Sugamuxi Sugamuxi (died 1539) was the last '' iraca''; ''cacique'' of the sacred City of the Sun Suamox. Sugamuxi, presently called Sogamoso, was an important city in the religion of the Muisca who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the times be ...

, the '' Tundama'' of Tundama and various other ''

cacique A cacique, sometimes spelled as cazique (; ; feminine form: ), was a tribal chieftain of the Taíno people, who were the Indigenous inhabitants of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles at the time of European cont ...

s'' (chiefs). The Muisca spoke

Chibcha The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian cultures of Colombia, Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonizati ...

, in their own language called ''Muysccubun''; "language of the people". The Muisca people, different from the other three great civilisations of the Americas; the

Maya Maya may refer to: Ethnic groups * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Mayan languages, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (East Africa), a p ...

Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...

and

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

, did not build grand stone

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

. Their settlements were relatively small and consisted of ''bohíos''; circular houses of wood and clay, organised around a central market square with the house of the ''cacique'' in the centre. Roads were present to connect the settlements with each other and with the surrounding indigenous groups, of which the Guane and Lache to the north, the Panche and

Muzo Muzo () is a town and municipality in the Western Boyacá Province, part of the department of Boyacá, Colombia. It is widely known as the world capital of emeralds for the mines containing the world's highest quality gems of this type. Muzo ...

to the west and Guayupe, Achagua and Tegua to the east were the most important.

History

Prehistory

Early Amerindian settlers led a hunter-gatherer life among still extant

megafauna In zoology, megafauna (from Ancient Greek, Greek μέγας ''megas'' "large" and Neo-Latin ''fauna'' "animal life") are large animals. The precise definition of the term varies widely, though a common threshold is approximately , this lower en ...

living in cool habitats around Pleistocene lakes, of which the humedales in Bogotá,

Lake Suesca Lake Suesca is a natural water body situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, belonging to the municipalities of Suesca and Cucunubá in the department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca, Colombia. The Drainage basin, basin has a semi-ellip ...

, Lake Fúquene and Lake Herrera are notable examples. Multiple evidences of late

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

to middle

Holocene The Holocene () is the current geologic time scale, geological epoch, beginning approximately 11,700 years ago. It follows the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene to ...

population of the

Bogotá savanna The Bogotá savanna is a savanna#Savanna ecoregions, montane savanna, located in the southwestern part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the center of Colombia. The Bogotá savanna has an extent of and an average altitude of . The savanna is si ...

, the high plateau in the Colombian Andes, have been found to date. As is common with caves and rock shelters, Tequendama was inhabited from around 11,000 years BP, and continuing into the prehistorical, Herrera and

periods, making it the oldest site of Colombia, together with El Abra (12,500 BP), located north of Zipaquirá and Tibitó, located within the boundaries of Tocancipá (11,740 BP).Nivel Paleoindio. Abrigos rocosos del Tequendama
The oldest human remains and the oldest complete skeleton were discovered at Tequendama and has been named "Hombre del Tequendama" or ''Homo Tequendama''. Other artefacts have been found in Gachalá (9100 BP), Sueva ( Junín) and Zipacón. Just west of the Altiplano, the oldest archaeological remains were found; in Pubenza, part of Tocaima and have been dated at 16,000 years Before Present.

Pre-Columbian era

= Herrera Period

= The Herrera Period is a phase in the history of Colombia. It is part of the

Andean preceramic The Andean preceramic refers to the early period of human occupation in the Andes, Andean area of History of South America, South America that preceded the introduction of ceramics. This period is also called pre-ceramic or aceramic. Earliest hu ...

and

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

, time equivalent of the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era, also known as the pre-contact era, or as the pre-Cabraline era specifically in Brazil, spans from the initial peopling of the Americas in the Upper Paleolithic to the onset of European col ...

formative and classic stages and age dated by various

archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

s.Chronology of pre-Columbian periods: Herrera and Muisca
/ref> The Herrera Period predates the age of the

Muisca people The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are indigenous peoples in Colombia and were a Pre-Columbian culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish colonization of the Americas. The Muisca s ...

, who inhabited the

before the

and postdates the lithic formative stage and prehistory of the eastern Andean region in

. The Herrera Period is usually defined as ranging from 800 BCE to 800 AD, although some scholars date it as early as 1500 BCE, considered as the "Early Herrera Period". Ample evidence of the Herrera Period has been uncovered on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense and main archaeologists contributing to the present knowledge about the Herrera Period are

scholars A scholar is a person who is a researcher or has expertise in an academic discipline. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researcher at a university. An academic usually holds an advanced degree or a terminal ...

Ana María Groot Ana María Groot de Mahecha (born 29 August 1952 in Bogotá) is a Colombian historian, archaeologist, anthropologist and associate professor at the Department of Anthropology of the National University of Colombia, Universidad Nacional de Colombi ...

, Gonzalo Correal Urrego, Thomas van der Hammen, Carl Henrik Langebaek Rueda, Sylvia M. Broadbent, Marianne Cardale de Schrimpff and others.

= Muisca

= The Muisca were

polytheistic Polytheism is the belief in or worship of more than one Deity, god. According to Oxford Reference, it is not easy to count gods, and so not always obvious whether an apparently polytheistic religion, such as Chinese folk religions, is really so, ...

and their

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

and

mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...

was closely connected with the natural area they were inhabiting. They had a thorough understanding of astronomical parameters and developed a complex luni-

solar calendar A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicates the season or almost equivalently the apparent position of the Sun relative to the stars. The Gregorian calendar, widely accepted as a standard in the world, is an example of a solar calendar ...

; the

Muisca calendar The Muisca calendar was a lunisolar calendar, lunisolar calendar used by the Muisca people, Muisca. The calendar was composed of a complex combination of months and three types of years were used; rural years (according to Pedro Simón, Chibcha la ...

. According to the calendar they had specific times for sowing, harvest and the organisation of festivals where they sang, danced and played music and drank their national drink

chicha ''Chicha'' is a Fermentation, fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post-Spanish conquest of Peru, Spanish conquest periods, corn beer (''chicha de jo ...

in great quantities. The most respected members of the community were mummified and the mummies were not buried, yet displayed in their

temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

, in natural locations such as caves and even carried on their backs during

warfare War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of State (polity), states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or betwe ...

to impress their enemies. Their

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

is the most famous remnant of their culture, as living spaces, temples and other existing structures have been destroyed by the Spanish who colonised the Muisca territories. A primary example of their fine goldworking is the

Muisca raft The Muisca raft (''Balsa Muisca'' in Spanish language, Spanish), sometimes referred to as the Golden Raft of El Dorado, is a pre-Columbian Votive offering, votive piece created by the Muisca people, Muisca, an Andean people of Colombia in the Cor ...

, together with more objects made of gold, ''tumbaga'', ceramics and cotton displayed in the Museo del Oro in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

, the ancient capital of the southern Muisca. The Muisca were a predominantly agricultural society with small-scale farmfields, part of more extensive terrains. To diversify their diet, they traded mantles,

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

emerald Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr., and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991). ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York ...

s and

salt In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...

for fruits, vegetables,

coca Coca is any of the four cultivated plants in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. Coca is known worldwide for its psychoactive alkaloid, cocaine. Coca leaves contain cocaine which acts as a mild stimulant when chewed or ...

yopo ''Anadenanthera peregrina'', also known as yopo, jopo, cohoba, parica or calcium tree, is a perennial tree of the genus ''Anadenanthera'' native to the Caribbean and South America. It grows up to tall, and has a thorny bark. Its flowers grow ...

and

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

cultivated in lower altitude warmer terrains populated by their neighbours, the Muzo, Panche, Yarigui, Guane, Guayupe, Achagua, Tegua, Lache, Sutagao and U'wa. Trade of products grown farther away happened with the Calima, Pijao and Caribbean coastal communities around the

Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: ''Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha'') is an isolated mountain range in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range that runs through the north of the country. Reaching an elevation of ...

. The Muisca economy was self-sufficient regarding the basic supplies, thanks to the use of raised terraces in agriculture. The system of trade was well established providing both the higher

social class A social class or social stratum is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the working class and the Bourgeoisie, capitalist class. Membership of a social class can for exam ...

es and the general population abundances of gold, feathers, marine snails, coca, yopo and other luxury goods. Markets were held every four to eight days in various settlements throughout the Muisca Confederation and special markets were organised around festivities where merchants from far outside the Andes were trading their goods with the Muisca. Apart from agriculture, the Muisca were well developed in the production of different crafts, using the raw materials traded with surrounding indigenous peoples. Famous are the golden and ''tumbaga'' objects made by the Muisca people. Cotton mantles, cloths and nets were made by the Muisca women and traded for valuable goods, tropical fruits and small cotton cloths were used as money. The Muisca were unique in South America for having real coins of gold, called ''tejuelos''. Mining was an important source of income for the Muisca, who were called "Salt People" because of their salt mines in Zipaquirá, Nemocón and Tausa. Like their western neighbours, the

—who were called "The Emerald People"—they mined

s in their territories, mainly in Somondoco.

Carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...

was found throughout the region of the Muisca in

Eocene The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...

sediments and used for the fires for cooking and the production of salt and golden ornaments. The people used a decimal counting system, based on the digits of the hand. Their system went from 1 to 10 and for higher numerations they used the prefix ''quihicha'' or ''qhicha'', which means "foot" in their

Chibcha language Chibcha, Mosca, Muisca, Muysca (*/ˈmɨska/ * �mʷɨska, or Muysca de Bogotá is a language spoken by the Muisca people, one of the many indigenous cultures of the Americas. The Muisca inhabit the Altiplano Cundiboyacense of what today is th ...

''Muysccubun''. Eleven became thus "foot one", twelve "foot two", etc. As in the other

civilizations, the number 20 was special. It was the total number of all body extremities; fingers and toes. The Muisca used two forms to express twenty: "foot ten"; ''quihícha ubchihica'' or their exclusive word ''gueta'', derived from ''gue'', which means "house". Numbers between 20 and 30 were counted ''gueta asaqui ata'' ("twenty plus one"; 21), ''gueta asaqui ubchihica'' ("twenty plus ten"; 30). Larger numbers were counted as multiples of twenty; ''gue-bosa'' ("20 times 2"; 40), ''gue-hisca'' ("20 times 5"; 100). The Muisca script consisted of

hieroglyph Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs ( ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined ideographic, logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with more than 1,000 distinct characters. ...

s, only used for numerals.

Territorial organization

Bacatá

* Capital – Bacatá * Area – * Average elevation – * Last rulers – ''

s''

Tisquesusa Tisquesusa, also spelled Thisquesuza, Thysquesuca or Thisquesusha (referred to in the earliest sources as Bogotá, the Elder) (died Facatativá, 1537) was the fourth and last independent ruler ('' psihipqua'') of Muyquytá, main settlement of t ...

, Sagipa * Date of conquest – 20 April 1537 (Funza) – Jiménez & Pérez de Quesada * First city – 6 August 1538 (Bogotá) –

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada y Rivera, also spelled as Ximénez and De Quezada, (; 1509 – 16 February 1579) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador in northern South America, territories currently known as Colombia. He explored the territory n ...

Chipazaque

Hunza

* Capital – Hunza * Area – * Average elevation – * Last rulers – '' zaques'' Quemuenchatocha, Aquiminzaque * Date of conquest – 20 August 1537 (Hunza) – Jiménez & Pérez de Quesada * First city – 6 August 1539 (Tunja) – Gonzalo Suárez Rendón

Iraca

* Capital – Suamox * Area – * Average elevation – * Last ruler – '' iraca''

* Date of conquest – Early September 1537 (Sogamoso) – Jiménez & Pérez de Quesada * Important settlements – Suamox, Busbanzá, Firavitoba, Gámeza and Tota * Archaeological remains – mummies, Sun Temple reconstruction, Lake Tota

Tundama

* Capital – Tundama * Area – * Average elevation – * Last ruler – Tundama * Date of conquest – Late December 1539 (Duitama) – Baltasar Maldonado * Important settlements – Tundama, Onzaga, Soatá, ''Chitagoto'' (now Paz de Río)

Independent ''caciques''

* Capital – ''none'' * Area – * Average elevation – * Important ''caciques'' – Guatavita, Ubaté, Chiquinquirá, Ubaque, Tenza, Vélez

Neighbouring indigenous groups

* Panche ** Cariban-speaking ** frequent

** beaten in the Battle of Tocarema ** pathways to gold ** conquest by Hernán Venegas Carrillo (1543–44) * Muzo or ''The Emerald people'' ** Cariban-speaking ** trading access to western neighbours ** Furatena ** pathways to gold ** conquest by Luis Lanchero (1539–1559) * Guane ** Chibcha-speaking ** producers of cotton for mantle making ** producers of fruits ** access to La Tora (Barrancabermeja); trading sea shells at

Magdalena River The Magdalena River (, ; less commonly ) is the main river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, ...

** conquest by Martín Galeano (1539–1551)

Sacred sites

The sacred sites of the Muisca Confederation were based in the

Muisca religion Muisca religion describes the religion of the Muisca people, Muisca who inhabited the central highlands of the Colombian Andes before the Spanish conquest of the Muisca. The Muisca formed a Muisca Confederation, confederation of holy Muisca ruler ...

and

. The Muisca were a highly religious people with their own beliefs on the origin of the Earth and life and human sacrifices were no exception to please the gods for good harvests and prosperity. Lake Guatavita, Guatavita, was the location where the new ''zipa'' would be inaugurated. It became known with the Spanish conquerors as the site of ''El Dorado'' where the new zipa was covered in

dust and installed as the new ruler of the southern Muisca. In the legends of the Muisca, humankind originated in Lake Iguaque, Monquirá, when the goddess Bachué came out from the lake with a boy in her arms. When the boy grew, they populated the Earth. They are considered the ancestors of the human race. Finally, they disappeared unto the lake in the shape of snakes. According to Muisca myths, the Tequendama Falls, outside Soacha, was the site where the first ''zipa''

Meicuchuca Meicuchuca (died 1470) was the first ruler (''zipa'') of Bacatá, as of around 1450. His '' zaque'' counterpart ruling over the northern area of the Muisca territory was Hunzahúa. Biography Little is known about Meicuchuca and many stories ...

lost his lover who turned in a snake and disappeared in the waters of the

Bogotá River The Bogotá River is a major river of the Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca department of Colombia. A right tributary of the Magdalena River, the Bogotá River crosses the region from the northeast to the southwest and passing along the wester ...

. '' El Infiernito'', close to the present town of Villa de Leyva was a sacred site where the Muisca erected structures based on astronomical parameters.

Other sacred sites

* Sun Temple,

Sogamoso Sogamoso () is a city in the department of Boyacá of Colombia. It is the capital of the Sugamuxi Province, named after the original Sugamuxi. Sogamoso is nicknamed "City of the Sun", based on the original Muisca tradition of pilgrimage and ado ...

Hunzahúa Well The Hunzahúa Well (Spanish: ''Pozo de Hunzahúa'') is an archeological site of the Muisca people, Muisca located in the city of Tunja, Boyacá Department, Boyacá, which in the time of the Muisca Confederation was called Hunza. The well is named ...

, Tunja * Goranchacha Temple, Tunja * Cojines del Zaque, Tunja * Moon Temple, Chía File:LagunaDeGuatavita.jpg, Lake Guatavita; site of ''El Dorado'' File:Panoramique_iguaque_2011.jpg, Lake Iguaque File:Salto_de_Tequendama_1.jpeg, Tequendama Falls File:Villa de Leyva el infiernito.jpg, ''El Infiernito''; astronomical site File:Cojines_del_Zaque._Vista_actual_(2015).JPG, Cojines del Zaque

Spanish conquests

Conquest and early colonial period

The conquest of the Muisca was the heaviest of all four Spanish expeditions to the great American civilisations.Personajes de la Conquista a América
– Banco de la República More than 80 percent of the soldiers and horses that started the journey of a year to the northern Muisca Confederation did not survive it.List of conquistadors led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
– Banco de la RepúblicaBiography Hernán Pérez de Quesada
– Banco de la RepúblicaConquista rápida y saqueo cuantioso de Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
/ref> Various settlements were founded by the Spanish between 1537 and

1539 __NOTOC__ Year 1539 ( MDXXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events January–March * January 4 – Giannandrea Giustiniani Longo is elected two a two year term as Doge of the Republic of Genoa ...

.Official website Chipatá
Official website Guachetá
Official website Lenguazaque
/ref>Official website Suesca
/ref>Official website Funza
Engativá celebra hoy sus 458 años
– El TiempoOfficial website Chocontá
/ref>Official website Tenza
Official website Turmequé
A delegation of more than 900 men left the tropical city of Santa Marta and went on a harsh expedition through the heartlands of Colombia in search of ''El Dorado'' and the civilisation that produced all this precious gold. The leader of the first and main expedition under Spanish flag was

, with his brother Hernán second in command. Several other soldiers were participating in the journey, who would later become

encomenderos The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish labour system that rewarded conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. In theory, the conquerors provided the labourers with benefits, including military protection and education. In pr ...

and taking part in the conquest of other parts of Colombia. Other contemporaneous expeditions into the unknown interior of the Andes, all searching for the mythical land of gold, were starting from later

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

, led by Bavarian and other German conquistadors and from the south, starting in the previously founded Kingdom of Quito in later

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. The first phase of the conquest was ended by the victory of the few conquistadors left over

, the last ''

'' of Bacatá, who fell and died after the battle at

Funza Funza () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Western Savanna Province, of the Departments of Colombia, department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca. Funza is situated on the Bogotá savanna, the southwestern part of the Altiplano C ...

, on the

, April 20, 1537. The arrival of the Spanish conquerors was revealed to Tisquesusa by the mohan Popón, from the village of Ubaque. He told the Muisca ruler that foreigners were coming and Tisquesusa would die "bathing in his own blood". When Tisquesusa was informed of the advancing invasion of the Spanish soldiers, he sent a spy to

Suesca Suesca is a town and municipality in the Almeidas Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca, Colombia. It is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, north of the capital Bogotá. Suesca forms the northern edge of ...

to find out more about their army strength, weapons and with how many warriors they could be beaten. The ''zipa'' left the capital Bacatá and took shelter in Nemocón which directed the Spanish troops to there, during this march attacked by more than 600 Muisca warriors. When Tisquesusa retreated in his fort in Cajicá he allegedly told his men he would not be able to combat against the strong Spanish army in possession of weapons that produced "thunder and lightning". He chose to return to Bacatá and ordered the capital to be evacuated, resulting in an abandoned site when the Spanish arrived. In search for the Muisca ruler the conquistadores went north to find Tisquesusa in the surroundings of Facatativá where they attacked him at night. Tisquesusa was thrusted by the sword of one of De Quesada's soldiers but without knowing he was the ''zipa'' he let him go, after taking the expensive mantle of the ruler. Tisquesusa fled hurt into the mountains and died of his wounds there. His body was only discovered a year later because of the

black vulture The black vulture (''Coragyps atratus''), also known as the American black vulture, Mexican vulture, zopilote, urubu, or gallinazo, is a bird in the New World vulture family whose range extends from the southeastern United States to Peru, Ce ...

s circling over it. When Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada found out the ''caciques'' were conspiring against him, he sent out several expeditions of soldiers. His captain Juan de Céspedes went south to found

Pasca Pasca is a town and municipality in the Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca department of Colombia located in the Andes. It belongs to the Sumapaz Province. Pasca is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at a distance of from the capital B ...

on July 15, 1537.Official website Pasca
Hernán was sent north and Gonzalo himself went northeast, to search for the mythical Land of Gold ''

El Dorado El Dorado () is a mythical city of gold supposedly located somewhere in South America. The king of this city was said to be so rich that he would cover himself from head to foot in gold dust – either daily or on certain ceremonial occasions � ...

''. There he did not find golden cities, but

s, the

were extracting in

Chivor Chivor is a town and municipality in the Eastern Boyacá Province, part of the Colombian Departments of Colombia, department of Boyacá Department, Boyacá. The mean temperature of the village in the Tenza Valley is and Chivor is located at from ...

and Somondoco. First foundation was

Engativá Engativá is the 10th locality of Bogotá. It is located in the west of the city. This district is mostly inhabited by lower middle and working class residents. Etymology Engativá is either derived from ''Ingativá''; ''cacique'' Inga; "Land ...

, presently a locality of Bogotá, on May 22, 1537. Passing through Suba, Chía, Cajicá, Tocancipá, Gachancipá, Guatavita and Sesquilé, he arrived in Chocontá, founding the modern town on June 9. The journey went eastward into the

Tenza Valley The Tenza Valley (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Valle de Tenza'') is an intermontane valley in the Cordillera Oriental (Colombia), Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The valley stretches over the southeastern part of the departments of Colomb ...

through Machetá, Tibiritá, Guateque, Sutatenza and Tenza, founded on

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

; June 24. On the same day, Hernán founded Sutatausa. Gonzalo continued northwest through

La Capilla La Capilla is a town and municipality in the Eastern Boyacá Province, part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. The urban centre is situated at an altitude of in the Tenza Valley. Borders * North with Úmbita and Pachavita * South w ...

and Úmbita. He arrived in Turmequé that he founded on July 20. In August 1537 Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada entered the territories of the '' zaque'', who ruled from Hunza. When the Spanish conquerors entered the outskirts of Hunza and found a hill with poles were bodies were dangling, they named it ''Cerro de la Horca'' ("Gallow Hill"). At the time of the conquest Quemuenchatocha was the ''zaque'' and he ordered his men to not submit to the European invaders or show them the way to his ''bohío''. He sent messengers to the Spanish conquistadors with valuable peace offers. While this was happening, Quemuenchatocha had hidden his treasures from the Spanish. Hunza was located in a valley not as green as the

. The advantage of the Spanish weaponry and the use of the horses quickly beat the Muisca warriors. When Gonzalo arrived at the main ''bohío'' of Quemuenchatocha, he found the Muisca ruler sitting in his throne and surrounded by his closest companions. All men were dressed in expensive mantles and adorned with

en crowns. On August 20, 1537, the Spanish beat the ''zaque'' and the big and strong Muisca ruler was taken captive to

. There he was tortured and the Spanish soldiers hoped he would reveal where he hid his precious properties. The absence of Quemuenchatocha paved the route for his nephew Aquiminzaque to succeed him as ruler of the northern Muisca, a practice common in Muisca traditions. When Quemuenchatocha was finally released from captivity in Suesca, he fled to Ramiriquí, where he died shortly after. The Spanish soldiers found gold, emeralds,

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

, mantles and other valuables in Tunja. They were not able to take all the precious pieces and many were secretly taken away by the Muisca, using folded deer skins. They hid the valuables in nearby hills. :I – Soldiers of the main expedition – Santa Marta-Funza and on – February – April 20, 1537 :II & III – Soldiers of the expeditions De Belalcázar & Federmann (1535–1539) :I – 1 – Main expedition – inland and up from Chipatá to Funza – March – April 1537 :I – 2 – Gonzalo – Tenza Valley – Conquest of Hunza & Sugamuxi – May – August 20 & September, 1537 :3 – Hernán – Foundation of Sutatausa – June 24, 1537 :4 – Juan de Céspedes – Southern savanna – 1537 :5 – Juan de San Martín – 1537–1550 :6 – Gonzalo et al. – Foundations of Bogotá and savanna :7 – Gonzalo Suárez Rendón – Foundation of Tunja – August 6, 1539 :8 – Baltasar Maldonado – Conquest of Tundama – December 1539 :9 – Hernán & Lázaro Fonte a.o. – 1540

Early colonial period

Not only the Spanish settlers had lost large percentages of their men due to warfare and diseases. The assessed corregimientos of the province of Tunja between 1537 and 1636 shows a decline of the total Muisca population between 65 and 85%. Epidemics were the main cause of the rapid reduction in population. Various have been reported and many undescribed in the first twenty years of contact. After the foundation of Bogotá and the installation of the new dependency of the Spanish Crown, several strategies were important to the Spanish conquerors. The rich

mineral resources Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest, and cultural value. ...

of the Altiplano had to be extracted, the

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

was quickly reformed, a system of

encomienda The ''encomienda'' () was a Spanish Labour (human activity), labour system that rewarded Conquistador, conquerors with the labour of conquered non-Christian peoples. In theory, the conquerors provided the labourers with benefits, including mil ...

s was installed and a main concern of the Spanish was the evangelisation of the Muisca. On October 9, 1549,

Carlos V Charles V may refer to: Kings and Emperors * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise Others * Charles V, Duke ...

sent a royal letter to the New Kingdom directed at the priests about the necessity of population reduction of the Muisca.Suárez, 2015, p.128 The indigenous people were working in the encomiendas which limited their religious conversion. To speed up the process of submittance to the Spanish reign, the mobility of the indigenous people was prohibited and the people gathered in resguardos.Segura Calderón, 2014, p.38 The formerly celebrated festivities in their

disappeared. Specific times for the

catechesis Catechesis (; from Greek: , "instruction by word of mouth", generally "instruction") is basic Christian religious education of children and adults, often from a catechism book. It started as education of converts to Christianity, but as the ...

were controlled by laws, as executed in royal dictates in 1537, 1538 and 1551.Suárez, 2015, p.125 The first

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of Santafé, Juan de los Barrios, ordered to destroy the temples of the Muisca and replace them with Catholic churches.Suárez, 2015, p.129 The last public religious ceremony of the Muisca religion was held in Ubaque on December 27, 1563. The second bishop of Santafé, Luis Zapata de Cárdenas, intensified the aggressive policies against the Muisca religion and the burnings of their sacred sites. This formed the final nail in the coffin of the former polytheistic society. The transition to a mixed agriculture with

Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...

crops was remarkably fast, mainly to do with the fertility of the lands of the Altiplano permitting European crops to grow there, while in the more tropical areas the soil was not so much suited for the foreign crops. In 1555, the Muisca of

Toca TOCA, formally trading as BARC (TOCA) Ltd, is an organiser of motorsport events in the United Kingdom. The company organises and administers the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) and the support series to the BTCC, sometimes known as the ...

were growing European crops as

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

and

barley Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...

and

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

was grown in other areas. The previously self-sustaining economy was quickly transformed into one based on intensive agriculture and

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

that produced changes in the landscape and culture of the Muisca.Martínez & Manrique, 2014, p.102

Notes

References

Bibliography and further reading

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Spanish chroniclers

* * * * * * * {{Muisca navbox, Geography and history, state=expanded Indigenous culture of the Americas Altiplano Cundiboyacense 3