Muisca Confederation
| Muisca Confederation | |||||
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 Muisca Confederation
on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense Zaque rule in yellow Zipa rule in green Independent territories in red |
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| Capital | Hunza & Bacatá (~1450–1540) |
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| Languages | Muysccubun | ||||
| Religion | Muisca religion | ||||
| Political structure | Confederation | ||||
| zaque & zipa | |||||
| • | ~1450-1470 | zaque Hunzahúa zipa Meicuchuca |
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| • | 1470–1490 | zaque Saguamanchica zipa Michuá |
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| • | 1490–1537 1490–1514 |
zaque Quemuenchatocha zipa Nemequene |
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| • | 1514–1537 | zipa Tisquesusa | |||
| • | 1537-1540 1537-1539 |
zaque Aquiminzaque zipa Sagipa |
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| Historical era | Pre-Columbian | ||||
| • | Established | ~1450 | |||
| • | Spanish conquest led by De Quesada | 5 April 1536 | |||
| • | Battle of Tocarema | 20 August 1537 | |||
| • | Decapitation of Aquiminzaque | 1540 | |||
| Area | 46,972 km² (18,136 sq mi) | ||||
| Population | |||||
| • | est. | 2,000,000 | |||
| Density | 42.6 /km² (110.3 /sq mi) | ||||
| Today part of |  Colombia |
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The Muisca Confederation was a rather loose confederation of different Muisca rulers (zaques, zipas, iraca and tundama) in the central Andean highlands of present-day Colombia before the Spanish conquest of northern South America. The area, presently called Altiplano Cundiboyacense, comprised the current departments of Boyacá, Cundinamarca and minor parts of Santander with a total surface area of almost 47,000 km² and a population between 300,000 and two million people.[1][2]
According to some Muisca scholars the Muisca Confederation was one of the best-organized confederations of tribes on the South American continent.[3] Modern anthropologists, such as Jorge Gamboa Mendoza, attribute the present-day knowledge about the confederation and its organization more to a reflection by Spanish chroniclers who predominantly wrote about it a century or more after the Muisca were conquered and proposed the idea of a loose collection of different people with slightly different languages and backgrounds.[4]
Contents
Muisca Confederation[edit]
The Muisca Confederation existed for approximately ninety years of two main ruling states which were in constant conflict with each other; the zacazgo in the north and the zipazgo in the south. Underneath the zipas and zaques the caciques were the main ruling parties. The two factions fought various battles of which the Battle of Chocontá was one of the first described by Western scholars.[5]
The Muisca had a rich culture and economy due to the natural resources which they mined; gold and emeralds were their main trading precious minerals.[6]
Current municipalities part of the Muisca Confederation[edit]
As per the map located on the right and this map,[7] the Muisca Confederation was divided into the zacazgo ruled from Hunza, the zipazgo based in Bacatá, known today as Bogotá, the current capital of Colombia and the cacicazgos of Sugamuxi and Tundama. The present-day name of the capitals is shown in parenthesis, the territories ordered from north to south
Tundama - capital Tundama[edit]
Iraca - capital Sugamuxi[edit]
Zaque - capital Hunza[edit]
Zipa - capital Bacatá[edit]
Independent caciques[edit]
Neighbouring indigenous groups[edit]
The neighbouring indigenous groups of the Muisca Confederation were clock-wise, starting north:
Sacred sites[edit]
The sacred sites of the Muisca Confederation were based in the Muisca religion and mythology. The Muisca were a highly religious people with their own beliefs on the origin of the Earth and life and human sacrifices were no exception to please the gods for good harvests and prosperity.
Lake Guatavita, Guatavita, was the location where the new zipa would be inaugurated. It became known with the Spanish conquerors as the site of El Dorado where the new zipa was covered in gold dust and installed as the new ruler of the southern Muisca.[18]
In the legends of the Muisca, mankind originated in Lake Iguaque, Monquirá, when the goddess Bachué came out from the lake with a boy in her arms. When the boy grew, they populated the Earth. They are considered the ancestors of the human race. Finally, they disappeared unto the lake in the shape of snakes.[19]
According to Muisca myths, the Tequendama Falls, outside Soacha, was the site where the first zipa Meicuchuca lost his beautiful lover who turned in a snake and disappeared in the waters of the Bogotá River.[20][21]
El Infiernito, close to the present town of Villa de Leyva was a sacred site where the Muisca erected structures based on astronomical parameters.[22][23]
Other sacred sites[edit]
- Sun Temple, Sogamoso
- Hunzahúa Well, Tunja
- Goranchacha Temple, Ramiriquí
- Cojines del Zaque, Tunja
- Moon Temple, Chía
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Lake Guatavita; site of El Dorado
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Lake Iguaque
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Tequendama Falls
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El Infiernito; astronomical site
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Sun Temple, Sugamuxi
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Cojines del Zaque
.JPG)
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ (Spanish) Muisca Confederation area almost 47,000 km2, page 12 - accessed 21-04-2016
- ^ (Spanish) Muisca Confederation had 300,000 to 2,000,000 inhabitants - accessed 21-04-2016
- ^ (Spanish) Muisca culture - Historia Universal - accessed 21-04-2016
- ^ Gamboa Mendoza, 2016
- ^ (Spanish) Umaña, A.C. 1996 - Poesía tradicional Indígena Costarricense - Universidad de Costa Rica - accessed 21-04-2016
- ^ (Spanish) Muisca history; natural resources - Pueblos Originarios - accessed 21-04-2016
- ^ (Spanish) The Muisca - Pueblos Originarios - accessed 02-05-2016
- ^ (Spanish) Reconstruction of the Guane people - El Espectador
- ^ (Spanish) Las Tribus Indígenas en Colombia
- ^ Chibcha-speaking U'wa
- ^ Achagua in Encyclopaedia Britannica
- ^ (Spanish) Official website Miraflores
- ^ (Spanish) Description Guayupe
- ^ (Spanish) Indios Sutagaos
- ^ The lost Panches
- ^ (Spanish) El vocabulario Muzo-Colima de la relación de Juan Suárez de Cepeda (1582)
- ^ (Spanish) Apuntes para el análisis de la situación de la lengua Carare
- ^ (Spanish) Legend of El Dorado on the shores of Lake Guatavita - Casa Cultural Colombiana - accessed 21-04-2016
- ^ (Spanish) Birth of mankind from Lake Iguaque - Cultura, Recreación y Deporte - accessed 21-04-2016
- ^ (Spanish) Legend of the lover of Meicuchuca turning into a snake in the Tequendama Fallas - Pueblos Originarios - accessed 21-04-2016
- ^ Ocampo López, 2013, Ch.18, p.99
- ^ (Spanish) El Infiernito; astronomical site - Pueblos Originarios - accessed 21-04-2016
- ^ Rey, 2007
Bibliography[edit]
- Gamboa Mendoza, Jorge (21 April 2016). "Los muiscas, grupos indígenas del Nuevo Reino de Granada. Una nueva propuesta sobre su organizacíon socio-política y su evolucíon en el siglo XVI" [The Muisca, indigenous groups of the New Kingdom of Granada. A new proposal on their social-political organization and their evolution in the 16th century] (video) (in Spanish). Museo del Oro. Retrieved 2016-05-09.
- Ocampo López, Javier (2013). Mitos y leyendas indígenas de Colombia [Indigenous myths and legends of Colombia] (in Spanish). Bogotá, Colombia: Plaza & Janes Editores Colombia S.A. pp. 1–219. ISBN 978-958-14-1416-1.
- Rey, Gloria Helena (30 November 2007). "Colombia: the Chibcha culture forgotton but still alive" (link). IPS. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
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