 | This article needs to beupdated. The reason given is:Muiscas did not have a single political unit; see (reliable) sources provided on talk page. Aside from the introductory paragraph, fairly correct, and some other aspects, many parts of the page currently (30/08/2025) are (at least) flawed. If improvements are made, they should not be with any type of internet article/page/blog, even news sources, nor pre-1970s works in general, as reliable, serious academic research exists and contradicts popular sentiments around the Muiscas, and certain ideas (currency, political unity) on this page are (consensually) rejected by Academia, while others (cultural/religious unity, nature of power, existence and naming of "markets") are debated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(August 2025) |
Muysca | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Total population | |
| 2 million (estimate)[1] (Pre-spanish and early conquest era) | |
| 2005 | 14,051[2] (2005 census) |
| 2018 | 11,265[3] (2018 census) |
| Regions with significant populations | |
Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia | |
| Languages | |
| Muysccubun (Chibcha),Colombian Spanish | |
| Religion | |
| Muisca religion,Catholicism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Guane,Lache,U'wa,Tegua,Guayupe,Sutagao,Panche,Muzo | |
TheMuisca (also called theChibcha) were apre-Columbian culture andcolonial communities of theAltiplano Cundiboyacense before theSpanish colonization of the Americas, whose customs lasted up the beginning of the19th century andColombian independence,[4] and areindigenous peoples in Colombia in a process of cultural re-definition and revitalization.[5] The Muisca spoke Muysccubun, a language of theChibchan language family, also calledMuysca andMosca,[6] which is part of an important revival effort.[7] The first known contact withEuropeans in the region was in 1537 during theSpanish conquest of New Granada.
InNew Spain, Spanish clerics and civil officials had a major impact on the Muisca, attempting toChristianize and incorporate them into theSpanish Empire as subjects.[8][9]
Postconquest Muisca culture underwent significant changes due to the establishment of theNew Kingdom of Granada. Sources for the Muisca are far less abundant than for theAztec Empire ofMesoamerica or theInca Empire 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 theAztecs andIncas".[10][11] Recent scholarship on the Muisca by archeologists, anthropologists, and historians is revising the understanding of the Muiscas' prehispanic and colonial era past.
Subgroupings were identified chiefly by their allegiances to three greatMuisca rulers: thehoa inHunza, ruling a territory roughly covering modern southern and northeasternBoyacá and southernSantander; thepsihipqua inMuyquytá and encompassing most of modernCundinamarca, the westernLlanos; and theiraca, religious ruler ofSuamox and modern northeastern Boyacá and southwestern Santander.
The territory of the Muisca spanned an area of around 25,000 km2 (9,700 sq mi) from the north of Boyacá to theSumapaz Páramo and from the summits to the western portion of theEastern Ranges. Their territory bordered the lands of thePanche in the west, theMuzo in the northwest, theGuane in the north, theLache in the northeast, theAchagua in the east, and theSutagao 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. Theireconomy was based onagriculture,salt mining,trading,metalworking, andmanufacturing.
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 includingCota,Chía,Tenjo,Suba,Engativá,Tocancipá,Gachancipá, andUbaté.[12] A census by the Ministry of Interior Affairs in 2005 reports a total of 14,051 Muisca people in Colombia.[2]
Much of the historical knowledge about the Muisca comes fromthe testimony of conquisadores and colonists:Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada; Spanish poet, soldier, andCatholic priestJuan de Castellanos (16th century);BishopLucas Fernández de Piedrahita; and theFranciscanPedro Simón (17th century).
More recently,Javier Ocampo López andGonzalo Correal Urrego have contributed notable scholarship.
Knowledge of events up until 1450 is mainly derived from mythological contexts. Thanks to theChronicles of the West Indies, we have descriptions of the final period of Muisca's history before the Spanish arrival.
Excavations in the Altiplano Cundiboyacense (the highlands ofCundinamarca andBoyacá departments) show evidence of human activity since theArchaic Period at the beginning of theHolocene. Colombia has one of the most ancient archaeological sites of the Americas:El Abra, 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 anEl Abra Culture: InTibitó, tools and other lithic artifacts date to 9740 BCE; on the Bogotá savanna, especially atTequendama Falls, 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.
Scholars agree that the group identified as Muisca migrated to the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in theFormative stage (between 1000 BCE and 500 CE), as shown by evidence found atAguazuque andSoacha. 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. InZipacón, 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 ofChibcha, was very similar to those peoples of theSierra Nevada de Santa Marta (Kogi, Ijka,Wiwa, andKankuamo) and theSierra Nevada del Cocuy (U'wa).
ZipaSaguamanchica (ruled 1470 to 1490) was in a constant war against aggressive tribes such as theSutagao, and especially thePanche, who would also make difficulties for his successors,Nemequene andTisquesusa.Kalina Caribs were also a permanent threat as rivals of thezaque ofHunza, especially for the possession of thesalt mines ofZipaquirá,Nemocón andTausa.
The Muisca people were organized in aconfederation 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 anempire, because it did not dominate other ethnic groups or peoples. It is hard to compare the Muisca Confederation with other American civilizations, such as theAztec or theInca empires as it was more similar to a confederation of states, such as theAchaean League. The Muisca Confederation was one of the biggest and best-organized confederations of tribes on the South American continent.[13]
Every tribe within the confederation was ruled by a chief or acacique. 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 thezipa orzaque.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 thezipa, had its capital at Bacatá (nowBogotá). This southern polity included most of the Muisca population and held greater economic power.
The northern territory was ruled by thezaque, and had its capital in Hunza, known today asTunja. 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,Hunza,Duitama, andSogamoso. The chiefdom was composed by localities.[14] The tribes were divided intoCapitanías (ruled by a capitan). There were two kinds:Great Capitania (sybyn) andMinor Capitania (uta). The status ofCapitan was inherited by maternal lineage.[14]
Muisca legislation wascustomary law; that is, their rule of law was determined by long-extant customs with the approval of thezip orzaque. 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.
Chibcha, also known asmuysca,mosca, ormuysca cubun, belongs to theChibchan languages. At the height of its expanse, the language was spoken across several regions ofCentral America and the north ofSouth America. TheTairona culture and theU'wa, related to the Muisca culture, speak similar languages, which encouraged trade. The Muisca used a form ofhieroglyphs for numbers.
Many Chibcha words were absorbed or "loaned" into Colombian Spanish:
The Muisca had an economy and society considered to have been one of the most powerful of the AmericanPost-Classic stage, 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:
The Muisca traded their goods at local and regional markets with a system ofbarter. Items traded ranged from basic necessities to luxury goods. The abundance of salt, emeralds, and coal brought these commodities tode factocurrency status.
Having developed an agrarian society, the people used terrace farming and irrigation in the highlands. Main products werefruits,coca,quinoa,yuca andpotatoes.
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."[17]
The Muisca were an agrarian and ceramic society of theAndes of the north ofSouth America. 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.
Pre-Columbian Muisca patterns appear in various seals of modern municipalities located on theAltiplano Cundiboyacense, for instanceSopó andGuatavita,Cundinamarca.[18][19] The remaining Muisca people in central Colombia also have their own seal.[20]
The Muisca culture had certain sports which were part of their rituals. Theturmequé game, also known astejo, has survived and became a popular sport of Colombia. Also important were matches ofwrestling. The winner received a finely woven cotton blanket from the chief and was qualified as aguecha warrior.
Recent scholarship on the Muisca contends thatLucas Fernández de Piedrahita's 1688Historia 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."[21]
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 includedhuman sacrifice, 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 forsacrifice, 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.
The cult of the Muisca centered on two main deities;Sué for the Sun andChía for the Moon. They developed a vigesimal (based on 20)calendar and knew exactly the timing of thesummer solstice (June 21), which they considered the Day ofSué, the Sun god. The Sué temple was inSogamoso, the sacred city of the Sun and the seat of theIraca (priest). The Muisca name of the city,Suamox orSugamuxi, means "City of the Sun". On thesolstice, thezaque went to Suamox for a major festival where ritual offerings were made. It was the only day of the year when thezaque showed his face, as he was considered a descendant of the Sun god.[22]
The Muisca mythology is well documented. Many of the writers who contributed to theChronicles 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 theNew Kingdom of Granada (Spanish:Nuevo Reino de Granada).
The origin of the legend ofEl Dorado (Spanish for "The Golden") in the early 16th century may originate with theMuisca Confederation. 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".[23] 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. Thezipa offered gold and other treasures to the Guatavita goddess. To do so, thezipa 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 theCaribbean Sea. Two small golden rafts were discovered in 1856 and 1969 that seem to confirm this ritual.[23] 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 was explored by conquistadors who were looking for gold offerings from thezipa to the goddess. The legend grew until the term became a metaphor for any place where great wealth may be found or made.
The Muisca did not construct large stone structures. They did not 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 thatGonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, founder ofBogotá, gave the area the nameValle 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.
The conquest of the Muisca began withGonzalo Jiménez de Quesada's 1536 expedition up theMagdalena River 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.[23]
Rivalries between thezaque and thezipa 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. However, 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 andAquiminzaque, in 1539 and 1540, respectively.
In 1539, two other expeditions converged on the territory of the Muisca, led bySebastián de Belalcázar andNicolás 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 finally put down the last resistance. The territories of the Confederations were distributed asencomiendas among the soldiers of Belalcazar, Federmann, and Jiménez De Quesada. Later the Spanish Crown would elect Jiménez as the mayor of Bogotá, with the titleadelantado de los cabildos de Santa Fe y Tunja. Bogotá would later become the capital of the Spaniard's New Kingdom of Granada.[23]
When the Muisca structure disappeared under the Spanish Conquest, the territory of the Confederations of thezaque andzipa 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 namedNuevo Reino de Granada. Much information about the Muisca culture was gathered by the Spanish administration and by authors such asPedro de Aguado andLucas Fernández de Piedrahita. 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.
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After independence in 1810, the new state dissolved many of the Indigenous reservations. The one inTocancipá was dissolved in 1940.[24] The one inSesquilé was reduced to 10% of its original size.Tenjo was reduced to 54% of its original size after 1934, and the Indigenous lands inSuba, 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 ofCota 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 ofchicha, a corn-based alcoholic drink.[25] 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.
Rediscovery of the Muisca indigenous heritage
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTzY9kTw5ufmn65JEvyaJ80Bp75zEQizL El redescubrimiento de la tradición indígenaSince 1989, there has been a process of reconstruction of the Indigenous councils by the surviving members of the Muisca culture. Muisca Councils currently working areSuba,Bosa,Cota,Chía, andSesquilé. The councils had an Assembly in Bosa on 20–22 September 2002, called theFirst General Congress of the Muisca People. In that congress, they founded theCabildo Mayor del Pueblo Muisca, affiliated to theNational Indigenous Organization of Colombia (ONIC).[26] They proposed linguistic and cultural recuperation, defense of the territories nowadays occupied by others, and proposed urban and tourist plans. They support the communities ofUbaté,Tocancipá,Soacha,Ráquira, andTenjo in their efforts to recover their organizational and human rights.
The Muisca people of Suba opposed the drying up of theTibabuyeswetland and wanted to recover theJuan Amarillo wetland. They defended the natural reserves likeLa 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 ofBosa 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 ofCota has reintroduced the growing ofquinua, and regularly barter their products at market.
Toward the end of 2006 there was a report on the Muisca population:
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 ofMesoamerica, the Muisca did not have a system of writing before the Spanish invasion in the 16th 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.[23]
Spanish clericLucas Fernández de Piedrahita authored a major work the New Kingdom of Granada, theHistoria 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 thePrecolombian Muisca, with powerful political structures and a unified religion and priestly hierarchy.[27] 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,[28] with Colombian scholarCarl Henrik Langebaek describing them as "the official 'tribe' of the Colombian nation" and "a local version of theAztecs andIncas".[29][30][31][32] The interpretation of the sixt,eenth-century Spanish invasion has received new attention which departs from a Eurocentric, triumphalist narrative.[33][34][35][36]
Since independence in the early nineteenth century, investigations into Muisca culture as part of national identity formation began. In 1849 presidentTomás Cipriano de Mosquera invited Italian cartographerAgustín Codazzi, 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 asPeregrinación Alfa.[37] 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 ofEzequiel Uricoechea.[38] An objection to that point of view came from Vicente Restrepo: his workLos chibchas antes de la conquista española[39] showed them as barbarians.
Miguel Triana, in his workLa Civilización Chibcha[40] 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[41] and reported about excavations at theEl Abra archaeological site. Those publications opened a new era in the studies of the pre-Hispanic cultures in Colombia.[42]
Recent archaeological work has also concentrated on the creation and composition of Muisca goldwork, with this data being made available for wider research.[43]
Several (fossil)flora andfauna found in Colombia in the area of the Muisca have been named after the people. Twovolcanoes onJupiter's moonIo have been named after the Muisca religion and mythology.
| Timeline of inhabitation of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense, Colombia | |
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