Battle of Chocontá

The Battle of Chocontá was one of the battles in the ongoing conflicts between the northern and southern Muisca in the Muisca Confederation of Pre-Columbian central Colombia. The battle was fought around 1490 in the vicinity of Chocontá. An army of 50,000 southern Muisca guecha warriors, led by ruler (zipa) Saguamanchica attacked 60,000 northern Muisca troops commanded by zaque Michuá who was supported by the cacique of Guatavita.

Background
In the decades before the Spanish conquistadors arrived in the central highlands of Colombia (1537), the area was ruled by two main parties; the zacazgo of the northern Muisca and the zipazgo of the southern Muisca. While the two factions were joined in a confederation, they fought numerous wars to conquer terrain and access to the vast rich resources of the area, mainly gold, copper and emeralds.

The northern Muisca inhabited the area of the current department of Boyacá while the southern Muisca lived in the present day Cundinamarca Department. The capital of the zaque was Hunza, today known as Tunja, and the zipa resided in Bacatá, the later Colombian capital Bogotá.

Battle
The southern guecha warriors of Saguamanchica gathered around Chocontá to face the army of Michuá. The battle was fought over the course of three hours and was very bloody. Both leaders fell in the battle won by zipazgo of the southern Muisca. Quemuenchatocha became the new zaque of Hunza and the zipa of Bacatá was succeeded by Nemequene.

The battle was one of the first Muisca acts of war documented by the bishop and chronicler Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita.