Cajabamba (Villa la Unión) is a location in the

Chimborazo Province Chimborazo () is a Provinces of Ecuador, 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 (volcano), Chimborazo (6,267 m), Ecuador's highest mou ...

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 ...

. 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. Classification Kichwa belongs to the Nor ...

: 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 The Puruhá are an indigenous people of Ecuador. Their traditional area in the highlands of the Andes Mountains includes much of Chimborazo Province and parts of Bolívar Province. History In the early period they grew subsistence crops, rais ...

people. As the

Incan empire 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 ...

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

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 ...

by the time of

Wayna Qhapaq Huayna Capac (; Cuzco Quechua: ''Wayna Qhapaq'' ) (before 14931527) was the third Sapa Inca of Tawantinsuyu, the Inca Empire. He was the son of and successor to Túpac Inca Yupanqui,Sarmiento de Gamboa, Pedro; 2015, originally published in Span ...

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

Atahualpa Atahualpa (), also Atawallpa or Ataw Wallpa ( Quechua) ( 150226 July 1533), was the last effective Inca emperor, reigning from April 1532 until his capture and execution in July of the following year, as part of the Spanish conquest of the 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 Per ...

, resistance to the ''

conquista The Spanish colonization of the Americas began in 1493 on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) after the initial 1492 voyage of Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus under license from Queen Isabella I of C ...

'' 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 (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

'', 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 ...

(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 subduing ...

founded a new city on the ashes of Liribamba which he named Santiago de Quito, 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 stratovolcano situated in Ecuador in the Cordillera Occidental (Ecuador), Cordillera Occidental range of the Andes. Its last known Types of volcanic eruptions, eruption is believed to have occurred around AD 550. Although not ...

, 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 village 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