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The Panche or Tolima is an indigenous group of people in what is now Colombia. Their language is unclassified – and possibly unclassifiable – but may have been Cariban. They inhabited the southwestern parts of the department of Cundinamarca and the northeastern areas of the department of Tolima, close to the
The Panche were inhabiting the lower altitude southwestern areas of the Cundinamarca department, close to the Magdalena River. Their northern neighbours were the Muzo in the northeast and the Pantágora in the northwest, in the east the Muisca, in the southeast the Sutagao and to the south and southwest the Pijao. The northern limits were defined by the Río Negro and the Guarinó River and the southern limits the Coello and Fusagasugá Rivers.
The Panche people were organized in a loose confederation with different subgroups whose names still remain as municipalities of Cundinamarca.
Chair of the Panche chief, resistance against the Spanish
/ref> The first Spanish conquerors who invaded the Panche territories were Juan de Céspedes and Alonso de San Martín. Later conquest was performed by Hernán Venegas Carrillo. More than 2000 artefacts from the Panche are stored in the
Magdalena River
The Magdalena River ( es, Río Magdalena, ; 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 o ...
. At the time of the Spanish conquest, more than 30,000 Panche were living in what would become the New Kingdom of Granada. Early knowledge about the Panche has been compiled by scholar
A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or research ...
Pedro Simón
''Fray'' Pedro Simón (San Lorenzo de la Parrilla, Spain, 1574 - Ubaté, New Kingdom of Granada, ca. 1628) was a Spanish franciscan friar, professor and chronicler of the indigenous peoples of modern day Colombia and Venezuela, at the time ...
. According to the latter, the word ''panche'' in their own Panche language means "cruel" and "murderer".
Panche territory
The Panche were inhabiting the lower altitude southwestern areas of the Cundinamarca department, close to the Magdalena River. Their northern neighbours were the Muzo in the northeast and the Pantágora in the northwest, in the east the Muisca, in the southeast the Sutagao and to the south and southwest the Pijao. The northern limits were defined by the Río Negro and the Guarinó River and the southern limits the Coello and Fusagasugá Rivers.
The Panche people were organized in a loose confederation with different subgroups whose names still remain as municipalities of Cundinamarca.
Municipalities belonging to Panche territories
Description
The Panche were a strong group of warriors who fought numerous battles with the neighbouring Muisca. They walked partially naked and were ornamented with earrings, feathers andgold
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 ...
en pieces.Martínez, 2005
The Panche hunted and fought wars with their enemies using sticks and clubs and poisoned arrows. They used poison of spiders and snakes for their arrows.
Petroglyph
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
s of the Panche were discovered in Tibacuy, Viotá
Viotá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative divisi ...
, El Colegio
El Colegio () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative ...
, Cachipay
Cachipay is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Tequendama Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. Cachipay borders Quipile in the west, Zipacón in the east, Anolaima in the north and La Mesa in the south. The urban centre is ...
, Albán, Sasaima. Rock paintings have been found in Tibacuy.
Like other indigenous peoples of the Americas, such as the Guane, the Panche performed cranial deformation
Artificial cranial deformation or modification, head flattening, or head binding is a form of body alteration in which the human skull, skull of a human being is deformed intentionally. It is done by distorting the normal growth of a child's skull ...
.
According to Pedro Simón, the Panche performed cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...
on parts of their conquered enemies.De Perdomo, 1975, p.253 Some sources state they ate everything except for the heads, which they hung in their ''bohíos''. However, later research by various researchers has found no evidence for cannibalism and attribute the cannibalistic ideas to the Spanish conquistadores.
In terms of their burial practices the Panches differed from their neighbours that the dead were not oriented in a fixed position, like the Muisca with their heads to the east and the Muzo with their heads to the west.De Perdomo, 1975, p.275
History
The Panche civilization has been described from 300 AD onwards. Around the year 1000 migrations from the Caribbean coast of Colombia happened inward. After the Spanish conquest and the installation of the New Kingdom of Granada, the Panche quickly diminished due to their resistance against the Spanish conquistadores./ref> The first Spanish conquerors who invaded the Panche territories were Juan de Céspedes and Alonso de San Martín. Later conquest was performed by Hernán Venegas Carrillo. More than 2000 artefacts from the Panche are stored in the
Museo del Oro Museo may refer to:
* Museo, 2018 Mexican drama heist film
*Museo (Naples Metro)
Museo is a station on line 1 of the Naples Metro. It was opened on 5 April 2001 as the eastern terminus of the section of the line between Vanvitelli and Museo. O ...
in Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the largest ...
.
1543-44 - Expedition Hernán Venegas Carrillo
See also
* Muisca * Muzo * Pijao, Sutagao * Colombian mythology *Indigenous peoples in Colombia
Indigenous peoples of Colombia, are the ethnic groups who have inhabited Colombia since before the European colonization, in the early 16th century. According to the last census, they comprise 4.4% of the country's population, belonging to 115 ...
References
Bibliography
* * * {{authority control Andean civilizations Indigenous peoples in Colombia Colombian culture Unclassified languages of South America