Pacanchique was a person in the

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

of the

Muisca The Muisca (also called Chibcha) are an indigenous people and culture of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia, that formed the Muisca Confederation before the Spanish conquest. The people spoke Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan langu ...

. He is said to have been the son of the '' cacique'' of Ramiriquí; Baganique. During that time, Ramiriquí was part of the '' zacazgo'' of

Quemuenchatocha Quemuenchatocha or Quimuinchateca (named in the earliest sources Eucaneme) ( Hunza, 1472– Ramiriquí, 1538) was the second-last ''hoa'' of Hunza, currently known as Tunja, as of 1490. He was the ruler of the northern Muisca when the Spanish con ...

of the northern Muisca Confederation. Pacanchique's fiancé, Azay, is said to have been kidnapped by Quemuenchatocha and Pacanchique did all to get her back, eventually leading the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

conquistadores to

Hunza Hunza may refer to: * Hunza, Iran * Hunza Valley, an area in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan ** Hunza (princely state), a former principality ** Hunza District, a recently established district ** Hunza River, a waterway ** Hunza Peak, a mou ...

to beat Quemuenchatocha.Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.19, p.103

Background

In the centuries before the arrival of the

conquistadors, the central highlands (

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. The altiplano corresponds to the ancient territory of the Muisca. The Alt ...

) of present-day Colombia were ruled by ''

zaque When the 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 Muyquytá. The ''hoa'' was the ruler of the ...

s'' (northern Muisca Confederation) and ''

zipa When the 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 Muyquytá. The ''hoa'' was the ruler of the ...

s'' (southern territories). Other areas were ruled by ''caciques'', one of which was the ruler of Ramiriquí.

Mythography

Pacanchique, who lived in the times of the rule of ''zaque''

, had a beautiful fiancé, Azay. Quemuenchatocha organised pilgrimages to the Temple of the Sun, built by Goranchacha. At the temple

human sacrifice Human sacrifice is the act of killing one or more humans as part of a ritual, which is usually intended to please or appease gods, a human ruler, an authoritative/priestly figure or spirits of dead ancestors or as a retainer sacrifice, wherein ...

s were performed; young boys of twelve years old were offered to worship

Sué Sué, Xué, Sua, Zuhe or Suhé was the god of the Sun in the religion of the Muisca. He was married to Moon goddess Chía.Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.4, p.33 The Muisca and their confederation were one of the four advanced civilizations of the Ameri ...

, the god of the Sun of the Muisca. These rituals took place at the

Cojines del Zaque The ''Cojines del Zaque'' (English: "Cushions of the ''Zaque''") is an archeological site of the Muisca located in the city of Tunja, Boyacá, which in the time of the Muisca Confederation was called Hunza. The ''cojines'' are two round stones us ...

("Cushions of the Zaque"), two round stones of equal rock type, and were accompanied by

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

and

dances Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its reperto ...

with flutes, ocarinas and drums. At one of the celebrations, the delegation of Ramiriquí composed of the ''cacique'' Baganchique, his son Pacanchique and his fiancé Azay, together with other leaders of the area around Ramiriquí, came from Soracá to the temple to worship the Sun. The celebrations started at dawn; when Sué was rising in the east. ''Zaque'' Quemuenchatocha kneeled down on the Cojines to start the ritual. The hearts of the young boys were pulled out and sacrificed to the Sun, while Quemuenchatocha drank their blood. The ''zaque'' saw the beautiful Azay and ordered his servants to bring her to his palace (''gran bohío'') that night. The choice for Azay was considered a great honour according to the Muisca traditions and was arranged by the gods and Azay was captured that same night.Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.19, p.104

Pacanchique's artifices

Desperate for the loss of his lover, Pacanchique needed an artifice to get Azay back. After consulting his father, he went to the swamps of Soracá where the Muisca cultivated their medicinal and psychoactive plants. He took two types of plants from here and went to the palace of Quemuenchatocha where he found Azay crying for help. He gave her one of the plants and she immediately fell asleep. When Quemuenchatocha entered and found his conquered beauty dead, he and his shamans tried to save her life, but their attempts were unsuccessful. With a sad funeral march, Quemuenchatocha brought back the body of Azay to Baganique in Ramiriquí. There Pacanchique gave her the other plant he picked from the swamps and Azay came back to life. When Quemuenchatocha found out his conquered lady was not dead, he sent his

guecha warrior Guecha warriors (Spanish: ''güechas'' or ''gueches'') were warriors of the Muisca Confederation in the Tenza Valley, Ubaque valley and Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the pre-Colombian era. The Guecha warrior was chosen for his merit in attitude and ...

s to Ramiriquí to find her and punish the culprits of the plot. Pacanchique fled the village but Azay and Baganique were captured by the soldiers and taken to Hunza. The protests of former friend Baganchique and his people were in vain; the ''zaque'' ordered Azay and Baganique to be hung at the

gallows A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...

on "Gallow Hill". Shortly after the conquistadores led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada reached the Muisca territories and found the hanging bodies. Pacanchique wanted revenge on the deaths of his father and fiancé and led the small army of De Quesada to the domains of Quemuenchatocha where he was found sitting in on his throne with

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

, emeralds and expensive cloths. Pacanchique also showed the Spanish troops the way to the Temple of the Sun in sacred city

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 ...

. Pacanchique died close to Bonza by the sword of one of the Spanish soldiers.Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.19, p.106 Other

chronicler A chronicle ( la, chronica, 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 lo ...

s call Azay "Nagantá".Nagantá or Azay, the story of Pacanchique
- accessed 02-05-2016

References

Bibliography

* {{Muisca navbox, Mythology and religion, state=expanded Muisca mythology and religion Pre-Columbian mythology and religion

Background

Mythography

Pacanchique's artifices

See also

References

Bibliography