Cajabamba (Villa la Unión) is a location in the

Chimborazo Province Chimborazo () is a province in the central Ecuadorian Andes. It is a home to a section of Sangay National Park. The capital is Riobamba. The province contains Chimborazo (6,267 m), Ecuador's highest mountain. Cantons The province is divided ...

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

. It is the seat of the Colta Canton. The village of Cajabamba (

Kichwa Kichwa (, , also Spanish ) is a Quechuan language that includes all Quechua varieties of Ecuador and Colombia ('' Inga''), as well as extensions into Peru. It has an estimated half million speakers. The most widely spoken dialects are Chimbor ...

: Kashapampa, "thorn plain") is situated in a fertile arable valley in Colta Canton,

(Chimborazo = "snows on the other side"). It is unknown when the valley was first inhabited but it is known to have been settled in pre-Incan times as the city of Liribamba, the capital of the ancient Puruhá people. As the

Incan empire The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

expanded, the region became an area of conquest and was fully under the control of the

Inca The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

by the time of

Wayna Qhapaq Wayna (real name Woyneab Miraf Wondwossen) is an R&B/soul singer and songwriter who was born in Ethiopia and raised in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. She worked as a writer for the Clinton White House before releasing three solo albums, garnerin ...

. After the capture and subsequent murder of his son and successor Atahualpa in

Cajamarca Cajamarca (), also known by the Quechua name, ''Kashamarka'', is the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region as well as an important cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes. It is located in the northern highlands of Peru ...

, resistance to the ''

conquista Spain began colonizing the Americas under the Crown of Castile and was spearheaded by the Spanish . The Americas were invaded and incorporated into the Spanish Empire, with the exception of Brazil, British America, and some small regions of ...

'' centered on the Incan general Rumiñawi, who withdrew his troops to the region. After a drawn-out series of engagements with the ''

conquistadors Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...

'', who allied with the

Cañari The Cañari (in Kichwa: Kañari) are an indigenous ethnic group traditionally inhabiting the territory of the modern provinces of Azuay and Cañar in Ecuador. They are descended from the independent pre-Columbian tribal confederation of the s ...

(recently conquered Incan subjects), Rumiñawi, faced with the prospect of near-certain defeat, ordered the city of Liribamba burned and the treasures of the Incas hidden or destroyed. Within the month (August 1534), Spanish conquistador

Diego de Almagro Diego de Almagro (; – July 8, 1538), also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo, was a Spanish conquistador known for his exploits in western South America. He participated with Francisco Pizarro in the Spanish conquest of Peru. While subd ...

founded a new city on the ashes of Liribamba which he named

Santiago de Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley on ...

, the first city founded by the Spanish. By the end of the year, Incan resistance had collapsed, culminating in a battle at the volcanic mountain

Chimborazo Chimborazo () is a currently inactive stratovolcano in the Cordillera Occidental range of the Andes. Its last known eruption is believed to have occurred around 550 A.D. Chimborazo's summit is the farthest point on the Earth's surface from t ...

, and Rumiñahui was captured. Soon after, the city of Quito was moved to its current location. The city in the valley was renamed by its founders Villa de Riobamba, which means "plain on the journey" (possibly referring to its centrality). The city was destroyed in a massive 8.3 magnitude earthquake in 1797 and moved to its current location 20 km away. (An important cavalry battle known as the Combate de Tapi was fought here in 1822 during the Independence War). The small populations remaining at the sites lived in the parishes known as Cajabamba and Sicalpa (also Cicalpa). In 1884, the parishes broke from the metropolitan umbrella of Riobamba and joined together to form Villa La Unión, which is the formal name of the village today known as Cajabamba.

References

www.inec.gov.ec

www.ame.gov.ec

External links

Canton Colta
{{Ecuador-geo-stub Populated places in Chimborazo Province