The Muisca (also called the Chibcha) are

indigenous peoples in Colombia Indigenous Colombians (), also known as Native Colombians (), are the ethnic groups who have inhabited Colombia before the Spanish colonization of Colombia, in the early 16th century. Estimates on the percentage of Colombians who are indigenou ...

and were a

Pre-Columbian culture This is a list of pre-Columbian cultures. Cultural characteristics Many pre-Columbian civilizations established permanent or urban settlements, agriculture, and complex societal hierarchies. In North America, indigenous cultures in the Lower ...

of the

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 ...

that formed the

Muisca Confederation The Muisca Confederation was a loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (''zaques'', ''zipas'', ''iraca'', and ''tundama'') in the central Andes, Andean highlands of what is today Colombia before the Spanish conquest of the Americas, Spanis ...

before the

Spanish colonization of the Americas 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 Genoa, Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus under license from Queen Isabella ...

. The Muisca speak Muysccubun, a language of the Chibchan language family, also called ''Muysca'' and ''Mosca''. The first known contact with Europeans in the region was in 1537 during the

Spanish conquest of New Granada The Spanish conquest of New Granada refers to the conquest between 1525 and 1540 by the Monarchy of Spain, Spanish monarchy of the Chibcha language-speaking nations of modern-day Colombia and Panama, mainly the Muisca people, Muisca and Tair ...

. In

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

, Spanish clerics and civil officials had a major impact on the Muisca, attempting to

Christianize Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...

and incorporate them into the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

as subjects. Postconquest Muisca culture underwent significant changes due to the establishment of the

New Kingdom of Granada New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

. Sources for the Muisca are far less abundant than for the

Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire, also known as the Triple Alliance (, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ or the Tenochca Empire, was an alliance of three Nahuas, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states rul ...

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

or the

Inca 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 ...

and their incorporation to the Spanish Empire during the colonial era. In the New Kingdom of Granada and into the colonial era, the Muisca became "the official 'tribe' of the Colombian nation" and "a local version of the

Aztecs The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the ...

and

Incas 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 Inca civilisation rose fr ...

". Recent scholarship on the Muisca by archeologists, anthropologists, and historians is revising the understanding of the Muiscas' prehispanic and colonial era past.

History of the Muisca

Subgroupings were identified chiefly by their allegiances to three great

Muisca rulers 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 ''Zaque'' was the ruler of th ...

: the ''hoa'' in

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 mo ...

, ruling a territory roughly covering modern southern and northeastern Boyacá and southern Santander; the ''psihipqua'' in Muyquytá and encompassing most of modern Cundinamarca, the western

Llanos The Llanos ( Spanish ''Los Llanos'', "The Plains"; ) is a vast tropical grassland plain situated to the east of the Andes in Colombia and Venezuela, in northwestern South America. It is an ecoregion of the tropical and subtropical grasslands, ...

; and the ''iraca'', religious ruler of Suamox and modern northeastern Boyacá and southwestern Santander. The territory of the Muisca spanned an area of around from the north of Boyacá to the

Sumapaz Páramo Sumapaz Páramo (Spanish: ''Páramo de Sumapaz'' - meaning "Utterly peaceful moorland" ) is a large páramo ecosystem located in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense mountain range, considered the largest páramo ecosystem in the world. It was decla ...

and from the summits to the western portion of the

Eastern Ranges The Eastern Ranges is an Australian rules football team that currently competes in the Talent League, the Victorian statewide under-18s competition. History Inaugural playing squad (1992) Honours *Premiers (2): 2002, 2013 *Runners-up (6): 199 ...

. Their territory bordered the lands of the Panche in the west, the

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 ...

in the northwest, the

Guane Guane is a municipality and town in the Pinar del Río Province of Cuba. It was founded in 1602. Geography The wards of the municipality include Punta de La Sierra, Portales, Guane 1, Guane 2, Combate la Teneria, Isabel Rubio, Sabalo, and Moll ...

in the north, the

Lache The Lache ( ; sometimes simply Lache) is a housing estate in the city of Chester, in Cheshire, United Kingdom, with a population of around 10,000. It is located approximately southwest of the ancient city, with good local transport links en r ...

in the northeast, the Achagua in the east, and the Sutagao in the south. At the time of the Spaniard invasion, the area had a large population, although the precise number of inhabitants is not known. Estimates vary from 1 million to over 3 million inhabitants. Their

economy An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

was based on

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 ...

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 ...

mining,

trading Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market (economics), market. Traders generally negotiate throu ...

metalworking Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals in order to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term, it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on e ...

, and

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

. Due to Spanish colonization, the population of the Muisca drastically decreased and assimilated into the general population. The descendants of the Muisca are often found in rural municipalities including

Cota Cota or COTA may refer to: People Surname * Ava Michelle Cota (born 2002), American actress * Chad Cota (born 1971), American football player * Chase Cota (born 1999), American football player *Ed Cota (born 1976), American basketball player * H ...

, Chía, Tenjo, Suba,

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 ...

Tocancipá Tocancipá () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Central Savanna Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. Tocancipá is situated in the northern part of the Bogotá savanna, part of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the Easter ...

Gachancipá Gachancipá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Central Savanna Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at from the capital Bogotá. The municipality borders Suesca ...

, and

Ubaté Ubaté (originally Villa San Diego de Ubaté) is a town and municipality in the Ubaté Province, part of Cundinamarca Department, Colombia. Ubaté is the capital of the province with the same name and situated in the Ubaté–Chiquinquirá Vall ...

. A census by the Ministry of Interior Affairs in 2005 reports a total of 14,051 Muisca people in Colombia. Much of the historical knowledge about the Muisca comes from the testimony of conquisadores and colonists:

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 ...

; Spanish poet, soldier, and

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

Juan de Castellanos Juan de Castellanos (March 9, 1522 – November 1606)Ju ...

(16th century);

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 ...

Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita (1624, Bogotá – March 29, 1688) was a Spanish Neogranadine Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Panamá (1676–1688) ''(in Latin)'' and the Bishop of Santa Marta (1668–1676).Arzobispo de Pa ...

; and the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

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 f ...

(17th century). More recently,

Javier Ocampo López Javier Ocampo López (born 19 June 1939) is a Colombian historian, writer, folklorist and professor. He has been important in the fields of Colombian folklore and history of Latin America and Colombia, especially contributing on the department ...

and

Gonzalo Correal Urrego Gonzalo Correal Urrego ( Gachalá, Colombia, 23 October 1939) is a Colombian anthropologist, palaeontologist and archaeologist.

Archeology

Excavations in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense (the highlands of Cundinamarca and Boyacá departments) show evidence of human activity since the Archaic Period at the beginning of the

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 ...

. Colombia has one of the most ancient archaeological sites of the Americas:

El Abra El Abra is the name given to an extensive archeological site, located in the valley of the same name. El Abra is situated in the east of the municipality Zipaquirá extending to the westernmost part of Tocancipá in the department of Cundinama ...

, which is estimated to be approximately 13,000 years old. Other archaeological traces in the region of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense have led scholars to talk about an

Culture: In

Tibitó Tibitó is the second-oldest dated archaeological site on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia.Tequendama Falls The Tequendama Falls () is a high waterfall of the Bogotá River, located southwest of Bogotá in the municipality of Soacha. Named after the adjacent settlement of Tequendama, it holds historical significance as one of Colombia's earliest per ...

, other lithic tools dated a millennium later were found that belonged to specialized hunters. Human skeletons were found dating back to 5000 BCE, and an analysis demonstrated that the people were members of the El Abra culture.

Muisca era

Scholars agree that the group identified as Muisca migrated to the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in the

Formative stage Several chronologies in the archaeology of the Americas include a Formative Period or Formative stage etc. It is often sub-divided, for example into "Early", "Middle" and "Late" stages. The Formative is the third of five stages defined by Gord ...

(between 1000 BCE and 500 CE), as shown by evidence found at

Aguazuque Aguazuque is a pre-Columbian archaeological site located in the western part of the municipality Soacha, close to the municipalities Mosquera and San Antonio del Tequendama in Cundinamarca, Colombia. It exists of evidences of human settlement o ...

and

Soacha Soacha is an autonomous municipality of the department of Cundinamarca in Colombia, and part of the Metropolitan Area of Bogotá. It has an important industrial zone and is home to mostly working-class families. Soacha borders Bojacá and Mosq ...

. Like the other formative-era cultures of America, the Muiscas were transitioning between being hunter-gatherers and becoming sedentary farmers. Around 1500 BCE, groups of agrarians with ceramic traditions came to the region from the lowlands. They had permanent housing and stationary camps, and worked the salty water to extract salt. In Zipacón, there is evidence of agriculture and ceramics; the oldest settlement of the highlands dates to 1270 BCE. Between 800 BCE and 500 BCE, a second wave of migrants came to the highlands. Their presence is identified by multicolor ceramics, housing, and farms. These groups were still in residence upon the arrival of the Spanish invaders. They left abundant traces of their occupation that have been studied since the 16th century, allowing scientists to reconstruct their way of life. The Muisca may have integrated with more ancient inhabitants, but the Muisca were the ones who molded the cultural profile and the social and political organization. Their language, a dialect of

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 ...

, was very similar to those peoples of 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 ...

( Kogi, Ijka, Wiwa, and Kankuamo) and the

Sierra Nevada del Cocuy The Sierra Nevada del Cocuy Chita or Guican National Natural Park (or Sierra Nevada de Chita or Sierra Nevada de Güicán, is a national park and a series of highlands and glaciated peaks located within the Cordillera Oriental (Colombia), Cordill ...

( U'wa).

Wars

''Zipa''

Saguamanchica Saguamanchica (died Chocontá, 1490) was the second ruler (''zipa'') of Muyquytá, as of 1470. His '' zaque'' enemy ruling over the northern area of the Muisca territory was Michuá. Alternative spellings of his name are Sacuan Machica, Sagua ...

(ruled 1470 to 1490) was in a constant war against aggressive tribes such as the Sutagao, and especially the Panche, who would also make difficulties for his successors,

Nemequene Nemequene or Nemeguene (died 1514) was the third ruler (''zipa'') of Bacatá as of 1490. His '' zaque'' counterpart ruling over the northern area of the Muisca territory was Quemuenchatocha. Etymology Nemequene in the Chibcha language of t ...

and

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 ...

. Kalina Caribs were also a permanent threat as rivals of the ''zaque'' of

, especially for the possession of the

salt mine Salt mining extracts natural salt deposits from underground. The mined salt is usually in the form of halite (commonly known as rock salt), and extracted from evaporite formations. History Before the advent of the modern internal combustio ...

s of

Zipaquirá Zipaquirá () is a municipality and city of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. Its neighboring municipalities are Cogua and Nemocón to the north; Tabio, Cajicá and Sopó to the south, Tocancipá and Gachancipá to the east and ...

Nemocón Nemocón is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Central Savanna Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. Nemocón, famous for its salt mine, was an important village in the Muisca Confederation, the country in the central Colombi ...

and

Tausa Tausa () is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Ubaté Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. Tausa is and was an important town on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense due to its salt mine. It was the third most prolific salt deposit f ...

Political and administrative organization

The Muisca people were organized in a

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 ...

that was a loose union of polities that each retained sovereignty. The confederation was not a kingdom, as there was no absolute monarch, nor was it an

empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

, because it did not dominate other ethnic groups or peoples. It is hard to compare the Muisca Confederation with other American civilizations, such as the

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 ...

or 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 ...

empires as it was more similar to a confederation of states, such as the

Achaean League The Achaean League () was a Hellenistic period, Hellenistic-era confederation of polis, Greek city-states on the northern and central Peloponnese. The league was named after the region of Achaea (ancient region), Achaea in the northwestern Pelopon ...

. The Muisca Confederation was one of the biggest and best-organized confederations of tribes on the South American continent. Every tribe within the confederation was ruled by a chief or a

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 ...

. Most of the tribes were part of the Muisca ethnic group, sharing the same language and culture and forming relations through trade. They united in the face of a common enemy. The army was the responsibility of the ''zipa'' or ''zaque''. Güeches, the traditional ancient warriors of the Muisca, made up the military. The Muisca Confederation existed as the union of two lesser confederations. The southern confederation, headed by the ''

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 ...

'', had its capital at Bacatá (now

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 ...

). This southern polity included most of the Muisca population and held greater economic power. The northern territory was ruled by the ''zaque'', and had its capital in Hunza, known today as

Tunja Tunja () is a municipality and city on the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes, in the region known as the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, 130 km northeast of Bogotá. In 2018 the municipality had a population of 172,548. It is the capital of B ...

. Although both areas had common political relations and affinities and belonged to the same tribal nation, rivalries still existed between them. Among the territories there were four chiefdoms:

Bacatá Bacatá (Chibcha: or ) is the name given to the main settlement of the Muisca Confederation on the Bogotá savanna. It mostly refers to an area, rather than an individual village, although the name is also found in texts referring to the modern ...

Duitama Duitama () is a city and municipality in the department of Boyacá. It's the capital of the Tundama Province. Duitama is located northeast of Bogotá, the capital of Colombia and northeast of Tunja, the capital of Boyacá. In 2023 Duitama had ...

, and

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 ...

. The chiefdom was composed by localities.The place of religion in the Muisca social organization
– Museo del Oro – Biblioteca Luís Ángel Arango The tribes were divided into ''Capitanías'' (ruled by a capitan). There were two kinds: ''Great Capitania'' (''sybyn'') and ''Minor Capitania'' (''uta''). The status of ''Capitan'' was inherited by maternal lineage. :Confederation (''zipa'' or ''zaque'') ::→ Priests (

Iraca The ''iraca'', sometimes spelled ''iraka'',Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.12, p.77Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.14, p.85 was the ruler and high priest of Sugamuxi in the confederation of the Muisca who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense; the central high ...

) :::→ Chiefdoms (Cacique) ::::→ ''Capitanía'' (Capitan) :::::→ Sybyn ::::::→ Uta * Territories of the ''zipa'': # Bacatá rule:

Teusaquillo Teusaquillo is the 13th locality of Bogotá, capital of Colombia. It is located in the geographic center of the city, to the northwest of downtown Bogotá. This district is inhabited by middle and upper class residents. It is an urbanized locality ...

, Tenjo, Subachoque,

Facatativá Facatativá is a city and municipality in the Cundinamarca Department, located about 18 miles (31 km) northwest of Bogotá, Colombia and 2,586 meters above sea level. The city is known for its Archaeological Park Piedras del Tunjo (Rocks of ...

Tabio Tabio is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Departments of Colombia, department of Cundinamarca Department, Cundinamarca. It is located from Bogotá. The town was officially founded April 8, 1603, by Diego Gómez de Mena, on grounds that w ...

, Chía,

Usme Usme is the 5th locality of the Bogotá, Capital District, Capital District of Bogotá, capital city of Colombia. Usme is located in the south of Bogotá, bordering to the north the localities of San Cristóbal, Bogotá, San Cristóbal, Rafael Ur ...

and Zipacón # Fusagasugá District:

Fusagasugá Fusagasugá (; ) or Fusa is a city and municipality in the department of Cundinamarca, in central Colombia. It is located in the warm valley between the rivers Cuja and Panches, a central region of the Andes Mountains in South America. The mun ...

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 ...

and Tibacuy # Ubaté District:

Cucunubá Cucunubá is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Ubaté Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. It borders with the municipalities of Ubaté, Lenguazaque, Suesca, Chocontá, Tausa and Sutatausa. Geography The urban centre ...

Simijaca Simijaca () is a town and municipality in the Ubaté Province, part of the Cundinamarca Department, Colombia. The town centre is located at an altitude of on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at from the capital Bogotá. Simijaca borders the Boyacá ...

Susa Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh River, Karkheh and Dez River, Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital o ...

# Guatavita District:

Gachetá Gachetá, Cundinamarca is a municipality and town of Colombia, capital of the Guavio Province, part of the department of Cundinamarca. The urban centre of Gachetá is situated at an altitude of in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes. The ...

Guatavita Guatavita is a municipality and town of Colombia in the Guavio Province of the department of Cundinamarca. Guatavita is located 75 km northeast of the capital Bogotá. It borders Sesquilé and Machetá in the north, Gachetá and Junín ...

and

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 ...

, Chocontá, Teusacá,

Sesquilé Sesquilé is a town and municipality in Almeidas Province in the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. Sesquilé in the Chibcha language of the Muisca means "hot water".

Guasca Guasca is a Colombian town and municipality in the Guavio Province, part of the Cundinamarca Department located approximately 55 km from Bogotá passing through the town of La Calera, Cundinamarca or 65 km passing through Sopó. Guasca ...

Sopó Sopó is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. The town is located 39 km north of the Colombian capital Bogotá. History The area of Sopó was inhabited first by indigenous groups during the Herrera Period ...

Usaquén Usaquén is the 1st locality of Bogotá, capital of Colombia. It is located in the north of the city. This district is mostly inhabited by upper middle and upper class residents. It is designated as Bogotá's #1 locality, while being a separate m ...

Tuna A tuna (: tunas or tuna) is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bul ...

, Suba * Territories of the ''zaque'': ** Hunza rule:

Soracá Soracá is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the subregion of the Central Boyacá Province. Soracá borders the municipalities of Chivatá in the north, Siachoque, Viracacha and Ramiriquí in the east, B ...

Ramiriquí Ramiriquí is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the subregion of the Márquez Province. Ramiriquí borders the department capital Tunja in the north, in the south Chinavita and Zetaquirá, in the east Rond� ...

Samacá Samacá is a town and municipality in the Central Boyacá Province, part of the Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in N ...

Machetá Machetá is a municipality and town of Colombia in Almeidas Province of the department of Cundinamarca. Machetá is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at from the capital Bogotá and from Tunja. It borders Tibiritá and Manta in the eas ...

Tenza Tenza () is a town and municipality in the subregion of the Eastern Boyacá Province of the Colombian department Boyacá. Tenza borders La Capilla and Pachavita in the north, in the east the department of Cundinamarca, in the south with Sutat ...

Tibiritá Tibirita is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. Tibirita is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at a distance of from the capital Bogotá. It borders Villapinzón in the north, in the east La Capilla ( Bo ...

Lenguazaque Lenguazaque is a municipality and town of Colombia in the department of Cundinamarca. Lenguazaque is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, part of the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes at a distance of from the capital Bogotá.

and

Turmequé Turmequé is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the subregion of the Márquez Province. Turmequé is located at northeast from the capital Bogotá. The municipality borders Ventaquemada in the west, in the ...

* Territory of

Tundama Tundama or Saymoso (15th century – late December 1539 in Duitama) was a ''cacique'' of the Muisca Confederation, a loose confederation of different rulers of the Muisca who inhabited the central highlands (Altiplano Cundiboyacense) of the Co ...

Cerinza Cerinza is a town and municipality in the Colombian Departments of Colombia, Department of Boyacá Department, Boyacá, and part of the Tundama Province subregion. Cerinza borders Belén, Boyacá, Belén in the north, Encino, Santander, Encino, Sa ...

Oicatá Oicatá is a town and municipality in the Central Boyacá Province, Department of Boyacá, Colombia. The urban centre is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at an altitude of and a distance of from the national capital Bogotá and from ...

, Onzaga, Sativanorte, Sativasur,

Soatá Soatá is a town and municipality in Boyacá Department, Colombia. Soatá is located on the western slopes of the Cordillera Oriental mountain range, at the northeast end of the Department of Boyacá. It is the capital of the Northern Boyacá Pr ...

Paipa Paipa is a town and municipality in the Tundama Province, a part of the Colombian department of Boyacá. Paipa borders Duitama, Firavitoba, Tibasosa, Sotaquirá and Tuta.Tobasia * Territory of

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 ...

Busbanzá Busbanzá () is a town and municipality in the Colombian Departments of Colombia, Department of Boyacá Department, Boyacá. Busbanzá is part of the Tundama Province, a subregion of Boyacá. Busbanzá is located at from Sogamoso. It borders Beté ...

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 ...

Pesca Pesca is a town and municipality in the Colombian Department of Boyacá, part of the Sugamuxi Province, a subregion of Boyacá. The town is located in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes at altitudes between and . Pesca is west from th ...

Pisba Pisba (sometimes spelled Pisva) is a town and municipality in Boyacá Department, Colombia, part of the subregion of La Libertad Province. Pisba is situated in the Eastern Ranges of the Colombian Andes at altitudes between and . Distance to Sogamo ...

, Tópaga * Autonomous chiefdoms: Charalá, Chipatá,

Tinjacá Tinjacá is a town and municipality in Boyacá Department, Colombia, part of the subregion of the Ricaurte Province. Tinjacá is located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense at a distance of from the department capital Tunja. It borders Sutamarchán ...

, Saboyá, Tacasquirá Muisca legislation was

customary law A legal custom is the established pattern of behavior within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law". Customary law (also, consuetudinary or unofficial law) exists wher ...

; that is, their rule of law was determined by long-extant customs with the approval of the ''zip'' or ''zaque''. This kind of legislation was suitable for a well-organized confederation system. Natural resources could not be privatized: woods, lakes, plateaus, rivers, and other natural resources were common goods.

Language

Muisca cyphers acc acosta humboldt zerda

''Chibcha'', also known as ''muysca'', ''mosca'', or ''muysca cubun'', belongs to the

Chibchan languages The Chibchan languages (also known as Chibchano) make up a language family indigenous to the Isthmo-Colombian Area, which extends from eastern Honduras to northern Colombia and includes populations of these countries as well as Nicaragua, Costa R ...

. At the height of its expanse, the language was spoken across several regions of

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

and the north of

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

Tairona Tairona or Tayrona was a Pre-Columbian cultures of Colombia, Pre-Columbian culture of Colombia, which consisted in a group of chiefdoms in the region of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in present-day Cesar Department, Cesar, Magdalena Department, Mag ...

culture and the U'wa, related to the Muisca culture, speak similar languages, which encouraged trade. The Muisca used a form 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 for numbers. Many Chibcha words were absorbed or "loaned" into Colombian Spanish: * Geography: Many names of localities and regions were kept. In some cases, the Spanish named cities with a combination of Chibcha and Spanish words, such as

Santa Fe de Bogotá Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle or Santa) is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Christma ...

(Chibcha: "Bacatá"). Most of the municipalities of the Boyacá and Cundinamarca departments are derived from Chibcha names: Chocontá,

, and many others. * Fruits, such as curuba and

uchuva ''Physalis peruviana'' is a species of plant in the nightshade family (Solanaceae) native to Chile and Peru. Within that region, it is called aguaymanto, uvilla or uchuva, in addition to numerous indigenous and regional names. In English, its co ...

. * Relations: the youngest child is called ''cuba'', or ''china'' for a girl; ''muysca'' means people.

Economy

The Muisca had an economy and society considered to have been one of the most powerful of the American

Post-Classic stage In the classification of the archaeology of the Americas, the Post-Classic stage is a term applied to some Pre-Columbian era, pre-Columbian cultures, typically ending with local contact with Europeans. This stage is the fifth of five Archaeology, ...

, mainly because of the precious resources of the area: gold and emeralds. When the Spaniards arrived in Muisca territory, they found a prosperous state, with the Muisca Confederation controlling the mining of the following products: *

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 ...

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 ...

is the primary producer of emeralds in the world *

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

: the coal mines still operate today at

and other sites. Colombia has some of the world's most significant coal reserves. *

: there were mines in production at

, and

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 ...

: gold was imported from other regions but was so abundant that it became a preferred material for Muisca handicrafts. The many handicraft works in gold and the ''zipa'' tradition of offering gold to the goddess

contributed to the legend of ''

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 � ...

''. The Muisca traded their goods at local and regional markets with a system of

barter In trade, barter (derived from ''bareter'') is a system of exchange (economics), exchange in which participants in a financial transaction, transaction directly exchange good (economics), goods or service (economics), services for other goods ...

. Items traded ranged from basic necessities to luxury goods. The abundance of salt, emeralds, and coal brought these commodities to '' de facto''

currency A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use within a specific envi ...

status. Having developed an agrarian society, the people used terrace farming and irrigation in the highlands. Main products were

fruits In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

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 ...

quinoa Quinoa (''Chenopodium quinoa''; , from Quechuan languages, Quechua ' or ') is a flowering plant in the Amaranthaceae, amaranth family. It is a herbaceous annual plant grown as a crop primarily for its edible seeds; the seeds are high in prote ...

yuca ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although a perennia ...

and

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es. Another major economic activity was weaving. The people made a wide variety of complex textiles. Scholar Paul Bahn said, "The Andean cultures mastered almost every method of textile weaving or decoration now known, and their products were often finer than those of today." Villa de Leyva el infiernito

Culture

The Muisca were an agrarian and ceramic society of the

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 ...

of the north of

. Their political and administrative organization enabled them to form a compact cultural unity with great discipline. The contributions of the Muisca culture to the Colombian national identity have been many.

Heraldry

Pre-Columbian Muisca patterns appear in various seals of modern municipalities located on the

, for instance

and

, Cundinamarca.Official website Sopó
– accessed 05-05-2016Official website Guatavita
– accessed 05-05-2016 The remaining Muisca people in central Colombia also have their own seal.

Sports

The Muisca culture had certain sports which were part of their rituals. The ''turmequé'' game, also known as tejo, has survived and became a popular sport of Colombia. Also important were matches of

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

. The winner received a finely woven cotton blanket from the chief and was qualified as a guecha warrior.

Religion

Recent scholarship on the Muisca contends that

's 1688 ''Historia general'' of New Granada, has unduly shaped understandings of Muisca religion, saying that it was "full of confident assertions concerning a Muisca 'religion' with a pantheon of deities, creation stories, and visions of the afterlife, led from great temples by high priests -- some of whom were pictured, at great expense, in three richly illustrated pages that accompanied his book." Muisca priests were educated from childhood and led the main religious ceremonies. Only the priests could enter the temples. Besides the religious activities, the priests had much influence in the lives of the people, giving counsel in matters of farming or war. The religion originally included

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 deity, gods, a human ruler, public or jurisdictional demands for justice by capital punishment, an authoritative/prie ...

, but the practice may have been extinct by the time of the Spanish conquest, as there are no first-hand Spanish accounts. Oral tradition suggests that every family gave up a child for

sacrifice Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...

, that the children were regarded as sacred and cared for until the age of 15, when their lives were then offered to the Sun-god,

Sué Sué, Xué, Sua, Zuhe or Suhé was the deity, god of the Sun in the Muisca religion and mythology, religion of the Muisca. He was married to Moon goddess Chía (goddess), Chía.Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.4, p.33 The Muisca people, Muisca and their Mu ...

Deities

, Suá, Zuhé or Xué (The Sun god): he is the father of the Muisca. His

temple 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 ...

was in Suamox, the sacred city of the Sun. He was the most venerated god, especially by the Confederation of the ''zaque'', who was considered his descendant. "was "full of confident assertions and visions of the afterlife, led from great temples by high priest --some of whom were pictured, at great expensse, in three richly illustrated title pages that accompied his book" * Chía (The Moon-goddess): her temple was in what is today the municipality of Chía. She was widely worshipped by the Confederation of the ''zipa'', who was considered her son. *

Bochica Bochica (also alluded to as Nemquetaha, Nemqueteba and Sadigua) is a mythical figure in the religion of the Muisca, who inhabited the ''Altiplano Cundiboyacense'' before the Spanish invasion by conquistadors in the central Andean highlands of pre ...

: though not properly a god, he enjoyed the same status as one. He was a chief or hero eternized in the oral tradition. The land was flooded by a

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

, a beautiful and sometimes mean woman, or by

Chibchacum Chibchacum or Chichebachun is the rain and thunder god in the religion of the Muisca who inhabited the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in pre-Columbian times. Description In myth, when Chibchacum was angry, he sent heavy rains to the flatlands, cau ...

, protector of the farmers. Bochica listened to the complaints of the Muisca about floods. With his stick, he broke two rocks at the edge of the

Tequendama Falls The Tequendama Falls () is a high waterfall of the Bogotá River, located southwest of Bogotá in the municipality of Soacha. Named after the adjacent settlement of Tequendama, it holds historical significance as one of Colombia's earliest per ...

and all the water came out, forming a waterfall. Bochica punished Huitaca and Chibchacum: He made Huitaca an owl and made her hold up the sky. Chibchacum was tasked with holding up the Earth. *

Bachué The goddess Bachué (in Chibcha language: "the one with the naked breast") is a mother goddess that, according to the Muisca religion, is the mother of humanity. She emerged of the waters in the Iguaque Lake with a baby in her arms, who grew to ...

: the mother of the Muisca people. It was said that a beautiful woman with a baby came out of

Lake Iguaque Lake Iguaque is a lake located in the Boyacá Department of Colombia. The lake and the surrounding area was declared a Flora and Fauna Sanctuary in 1977. Geography and climate Lake Iguaque is located northeast of Villa de Leyva and is part of t ...

. Bachué sat down at the bank of the lake and waited for the child to grow up. When he was old enough, they married and had many children, who were the Muisca. Bachué taught them to hunt, to farm, to respect the laws, and to worship the gods. Bachué was so good and loved that the Muisca referred to her as ''Furachoque'' (Good woman in

). When they became old, Bachué and her husband decided to go back to the deep of the lagoon. That day the Muisca were so sad, but at the same time very happy because they knew their mother was very happy. Other versions of the legend say that after stepping into the lagoon of Iguaque, Bachué ascended to the sky and became Chía; in other versions Chia and Bachué are two different figures.

Astronomy

The cult of the Muisca centered on two main deities;

for the Sun and Chía for the Moon. They developed a vigesimal (based on 20)

calendar A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A calendar date, date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is ...

and knew exactly the timing of the

summer solstice The summer solstice or estival solstice occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). The summer solstice is the day with the longest peri ...

(June 21), which they considered the Day of ''Sué'', the Sun god. The Sué temple was in

, the sacred city of the Sun and the seat of the

(priest). The Muisca name of the city, ''Suamox'' or ''Sugamuxi'', means "City of the Sun". On the

solstice A solstice is the time when the Sun reaches its most northerly or southerly sun path, excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around 20–22 June and 20–22 December. In many countries ...

, the ''zaque'' went to Suamox for a major festival where ritual offerings were made. It was the only day of the year when the ''zaque'' showed his face, as he was considered a descendant of the Sun god.

Mythology

The Muisca mythology is well documented. Many of the writers who contributed to the ''Chronicles of the West Indies'' were based in Bogotá. They recorded many of the myths as they were interested in the traditions and culture of the conquered people. The Muisca territory became the seat of the colonial administration for the

(Spanish: ''Nuevo Reino de Granada'').

El Dorado

The origin of the legend of ''El Dorado'' (Spanish for "The Golden") in the early 16th century may originate with the

. In 1539, Sebastián de Belalcázar's treasurer, Gonzalo de la Peña, wrote that the expedition left Popayán towards Bogotá "in search of a land called El Dorado".Trupp, T. L.
The Origin of the Legend of El Dorado
/ref> This marks the earliest recorded use of the phrase, occurring just before his meeting with Jiménez de Quesada and the Muisca. In 1550, over ten years after the conquest, Jiménez de Quesada described the continued quest for El Dorado: "All the reports ... which set everyone's feet marching from the North Sea so excitedly ... later appeared to be the same thing, namely this kingdom of New Granada." Other Spanish references speak of El Dorado not as a golden land, but rather to chief whose body was anointed in gold powder as part of a ritual. The ''zipa'' offered gold and other treasures to the Guatavita goddess. To do so, the ''zipa'' covered himself with gold dust and washed it off in the lake while tossing gold trinkets into the waters. This tradition was well known outside the Confederation, as far as the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

. Two small golden rafts were discovered in 1856 and 1969 that seem to confirm this ritual. Each was in the Muisca style of gold work, with a primary central chief surrounded by attendants. The first of these artifacts was destroyed in a fire, while the surviving raft can be seen in Bogotá's Museo del Oro (Museum of Gold). The Spaniards were attracted by stories of a "city of gold" that did not exist. Indigenous people sometimes got rid of the avaricious Spaniards in that way, pointing them in the direction of other peoples.

Lake Guatavita Lake Guatavita (Spanish: ''Laguna Guatavita'') is located in the Cordillera Oriental of the Colombian Andes in the municipality of Sesquilé in the Almeidas Province, Cundinamarca department of Colombia, northeast of Bogotá, the capital of ...

was explored by conquistadors who were looking for gold offerings from the ''zipa'' to the goddess. The legend grew until the term became a metaphor for any place where great wealth may be found or made.

Architecture

The Muisca did not construct large stone structures. They didn't use the abundant rock to leave monumental ruins as has happened with other American cultures. Their houses were built with clay, canes, and wood. The houses had a conical form, most of them to the point that

, founder of

, gave the area the name ''Valle de los Alcázares'' ("Valley of the Palaces"). The houses had small doors and windows, and the dwellings of the higher rank citizens were different. The Muisca used little furniture as they would typically sit on the floor. TISQUESUSA1

The Spanish conquest

The conquest of the Muisca began with Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada's 1536 expedition up the

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, ...

into the Colombian highlands. There his men encountered the thriving expanse of rich villages spread across a lush plateau. The conquistadors proceeded to loot the Muisca's temples and capture their leaders, holding them for ransom to extract their whereabouts of their gold. Rivalries between the ''

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 ''Zaque'' was the ruler of the ...

'' and the ''

'' were taken advantage of by the Spaniards as they conquered the heart of what would be Colombia. The presence of the Spaniards gave hope to both sovereigns that, were they to make one Confederation, they could prevail in a war against the Spaniards. But the Spaniards prevailed. The reaction of the chief leaders and the people did little to change the destiny of the Confederations. The Spanish executed the last Muisca sovereigns,

Sagipa Sagipa or Zaquesazipa (died 1539, Bosa, New Kingdom of Granada) was the fifth and last ruler (''psihipqua'') of Muyquytá, currently known as Bogota, as of 1537. He was the brother of his predecessor Bogotá but the traditional faction of the Mu ...

and Aquiminzaque, in 1539 and 1540 respectively. In 1539, two other expeditions converged on the territory of the Muisca, led by

Sebastián de Belalcázar Sebastián Moyano y Cabrera, best known as Sebastián de Belalcázar (; c. 1490 – April 28, 1551) was a Spanish conquistador. Belalcázar, also written as Benalcázar. He is known as the founder of important early virreinal cities in the northw ...

and Nicolás de Federman, who were also searching for lands rich in gold. Despite Jiménez's early arrival, each tried to lay claim to the region. The three leaders traveled back to Spain together to have the dispute adjudicated in court. In 1542

Gonzalo Suárez Rendón Gonzalo Suárez Rendón (1503, Málaga, Spain, Málaga, Spanish Empire, Castile – 1590 (or 1583), Tunja, New Kingdom of Granada) was a Spanish conquistador, crusader and conquistador, known as the founder of the capital of Boyacá Department, B ...

finally put down the last resistance. The territories of the Confederations were distributed as encomiendas among the soldiers of Belalcazar, Federmann, and Jiménez De Quesada. Later the Spanish Crown would elect Jiménez as the mayor of Bogotá, with the title ''adelantado de los cabildos de Santa Fe y Tunja''. Bogotá would later become the capital of the Spaniard's New Kingdom of Granada.

Last Muisca sovereigns

Under the colonial regime

Terra Firma et Novum Regnum Granatense et Popayan - CBT 6621102

When the Muisca structure disappeared under the Spanish Conquest, the territory of the Confederations of the ''zaque'' and ''zipa'' were included in a new political division within the Spanish colonies in America. The territory of the Muisca, located in a fertile plain of the Colombian Andes that contributed to make one of the most advanced South American civilizations, became part of the colonial region named Nuevo Reino de Granada. Much information about the Muisca culture was gathered by the Spanish administration and by authors such as

Pedro de Aguado Friar Pedro de Aguado (1513 or 1538 – late 16th or early 17th century) was a Spanish Franciscan friar who spent around 15 years in the New Kingdom of Granada, preaching to the indigenous people. During this time he published a work written by ...

and

. The viceregal era contributed to the importance of Bogotá, and people from the area would play an important role in the fights for independence and republican consolidation.

Independent Colombia

20th century

After independence in 1810, the new state dissolved many of the Indigenous reservations. The one in

was dissolved in 1940. The one in

Sesquilé Sesquilé is a town and municipality in Almeidas Province in the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. Sesquilé in the Chibcha language of the Muisca means "hot water".

was reduced to 10% of its original size. Tenjo was reduced to 54% of its original size after 1934, and the Indigenous lands in Suba, a northern region in modern-day Bogotá, which had been recognized and protected by the crown, were taken away by the republican governments following a strategy of suppression of the native culture and ethnic presence in the country's largest urban centres. The Reservation of

was re-established on land bought by the community in 1916, and then recognized by the 1991 constitution; the recognition was withdrawn in 1998 by the state and restored in 2006. In 1948 the state forbade the production of

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 ...

, a corn-based alcoholic drink. This was a blow to the culture and economy of the Muisca. The ban remained until 1991. Since then, the "Festival of the chicha, maize, life, and joy" is celebrated every year in Barrio La Perseverancia, a neighborhood in Bogotá where most of the chicha is produced.

21st century

Since 1989, there has been a process of reconstruction of the Indigenous councils by the surviving members of the Muisca culture. Muisca Councils currently working are Suba,

Bosa Bosa is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Oristano (until May 2005 it was in the province of Nuoro), part of the Sardinia region of Italy. Bosa is situated about two-thirds of the way up the west coast of Sardinia, on a small hill, about ...

, Chía, and

Sesquilé Sesquilé is a town and municipality in Almeidas Province in the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. Sesquilé in the Chibcha language of the Muisca means "hot water".

. The councils had an Assembly in Bosa on 20–22 September 2002, called the ''First General Congress of the Muisca People''. In that congress, they founded the Cabildo Mayor del Pueblo Muisca, affiliated to the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC). They proposed linguistic and cultural recuperation, defense of the territories nowadays occupied by others, and proposed urban and tourist plans. They support the communities of

Ráquira Ráquira, is a municipality and town in Boyacá Department, Colombia, part of the subregion of the Ricaurte Province. Ráquira is situated on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense and the urban center at an altitude of . It borders Tinjacá and Sutamarc ...

, and Tenjo in their efforts to recover their organizational and human rights. The Muisca people of Suba opposed the drying up of the Tibabuyes

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

and wanted to recover the Juan Amarillo wetland. They defended the natural reserves like ''La Conejera'', part of the Suba Hills that is considered by the Shelter's Council to be communal land. ''Suati'' Magazine (''The Song of the Sun'') is a publication of poetry, literature, and essays about Muisca culture. The community of

made important achievements in its project of natural medicine in association with the Paul VI Hospital and the District Secretary of Health of Bogotá. The community of

has reintroduced the growing of

quinua Quinua is a small town in Quinua District in the province of Huamanga, in Peru's central highland department of Ayacucho, from the city of Huamanga (Ayacucho), at an altitude of , which today serves as the administrative capital of the distri ...

, and regularly barter their products at market. Toward the end of 2006 there was a report on the Muisca population: * Three Muisca councils:

, Chía, and

Sesquilé Sesquilé is a town and municipality in Almeidas Province in the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia. Sesquilé in the Chibcha language of the Muisca means "hot water".

, with a population of 2,318 persons * in the

Capital District A capital district, capital region, or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politic ...

5,186 people are registered as belonging to the Muisca ethnic group * in the localities of Suba and

, 1,573 people are registered * the report does not include the number of people of the Muisca ethnic group in the entire territory of the ancient Muisca Confederation or outside that territory. It does not include Muisca Creole persons, it is to say, those of mixed Muisca ancestry.

Sources on the Muisca and scholarly research

Writings on the Muisca have a long tradition, dating from the conquest era with Spanish chronicles, colonial-era Spanish religious and civil administrative records, the findings of modern archeologists and anthropologists, and revised interpretations by scholars in recent years. Unlike the Indigenous peoples of

, the Muisca did not have a system of writing before the Spanish invasion in the sixteenth century and during the colonial era, so that the understanding of Muisca history and culture has largely been based non-native sources. A Spanish document named “Epítome de la Conquista Del Nueva Rieno de Granada” (Summary of the Conquest of the New Kingdom of Granada) provides what is considered the most complete description of Muisca culture. The author is unknown but is believed to be Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. Spanish cleric

authored a major work the New Kingdom of Granada, the ''Historia general de las conquistas de; Nuevo Reyno de Granada, a la S.C.R.M. de D. Carlos Segundo'', 1688, which has shaped colonial era and, until recently, modern understandings of the Muisca. This work creates an image of the Precolombian Muisca, with powerful political structures and a unified religion and priestly hierarchy. Recent scholarship has re-examined early published writings and sought new sources in a variety of archives to posit a different understanding of the Muisca. The Muisca have been integral to the formation of national identity in Colombia, with Colombian scholar Carl Henrik Langebaek describing them as "the official 'tribe' of the Colombian nation" and "a local version of the

and

". The interpretation of the sixt,eenth-century Spanish invasion has received new attention which departs from a Eurocentric, triumphalist narrative. Since independence in the early nineteenth century, investigations into Muisca culture as part of national identity formation began. In 1849 president

Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera Tomás Cipriano Ignacio Maria de Mosquera y Figueroa Arboleda Salazar, Prieto de Tovar, Vergara, Silva, Hurtado de Mendoza, Urrutia y Guzmán (September 26, 1798 – October 7, 1878) was a Colombian general, political figure, and slaveholder ...

invited Italian cartographer

Agustín Codazzi Giovanni Battista Agostino Codazzi (; 12 July 1793 – 7 February 1859), alternatively known in Latin America as Juan Bautista Agustín Codazzi (), was an Italo-Venezuelan soldier, scientist, geographer, cartographer, and governor of ...

, who led the Geography Commission with Manuel Ancízar and did descriptive studies of the national territory and an inventory of the archaeological sites. The result of the expedition was published in Bogotá in 1889 as ''Peregrinación Alfa''. Argüello García pointed out that the goal of that expedition in the context of the new nation was to underline the pre-Hispanic societies and in that sense, they centered on the Muisca culture as the main model. A similar tendency can be found in the works of Ezequiel Uricoechea. An objection to that point of view came from Vicente Restrepo: his work ''Los chibchas antes de la conquista española'' showed them as barbarians. Miguel Triana, in his work ''La Civilización Chibcha'' suggested that the rock art symbols were writing. Wenceslao Cabrera Ortíz was the one who concluded that the Muisca were migrants to the highlands; in 1969 he published on this and reported about excavations at the

archaeological site. Those publications opened a new era in the studies of the pre-Hispanic cultures in Colombia.Argüello G., Pedro María
History of the Investigation of the Rock Art in Colombia
/ref> Recent archaeological work has also concentrated on the creation and composition of Muisca goldwork, with this data being made available for wider research.

Named after the Muisca and their culture

Several (

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

)

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

and

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

found in Colombia in the area of the Muisca have been named after the people. Two

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

es on

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

's moon Io have been named after the Muisca religion and mythology.

Timeline of inhabitation of the Muisca area

References

Bibliography

* * * Université de Montréal. *

External links

The Art of Pre-Columbian Gold: The Jan Mitchell Collection
– The Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition catalog – available online as PDF * Muisca Indigenous Heritage – development cooperation story of the Wikibook

Development Cooperation Handbook
Muisca: "Chibchan Indians"
–

Online Books Page The Online Books Page is an index of e-text books available on the Internet. It is edited by John Mark Ockerbloom and is hosted by the library of the University of Pennsylvania. The Online Books Page lists over 2 million books and has several fe ...

Books on the Muisca
– Ibero-American Institute –

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

*
Nicely animated video about the Muisca and their religious origin
*
Animated video about the Spanish conquest of the Muisca – Tisquesusa, Quemuenchatocha and Aquiminzaque
* * {{Authority control Pre-Columbian cultures Indigenous culture of the Americas Ethnic groups in Colombia Indigenous peoples in Colombia Prehistory of Colombia Articles containing video clips

History of the Muisca

Archeology

Muisca era

Wars

Political and administrative organization

Language

Economy

Culture

Heraldry

Sports

Religion

Deities

Astronomy

Mythology

El Dorado

Architecture

The Spanish conquest

Last Muisca sovereigns

Under the colonial regime

Independent Colombia

20th century

21st century

Sources on the Muisca and scholarly research

Named after the Muisca and their culture

Timeline of inhabitation of the Muisca area

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading

External links