Muisca Confederation in the 1460s

Timeline

1. 1461–1465Bacatá and Hunza · Colombian HighlandsThe Muisca Confederation was divided between two religious-political rulers—the zipa in the south (based at Bacatá) and the zaque in the north (based at Hunza)—each commanding several hereditary chiefs and maintaining confederate order through ceremonial election and kinship succession.
2. 1463–1468Nemocón salt mines and Muzo emerald mines · Colombian HighlandsThe chiefdoms paid salt blocks, emeralds, and gold goods (tujos) to the zipa and zaque; highland internal markets and ceremonial exchange depended on these resources, and the confederation's economy in the 1460s remained highly reliant on tribute redistribution.
3. 1465–1470Borders of the chiefdoms of the Sabana highlands · Colombian HighlandsSome sixty Muisca chiefdoms frequently engaged in armed conflict in the 1460s over farmland, salt routes, and tribute distribution; the zipa and zaque maintained the confederation's outward unity through mediation and military campaigns, laying the groundwork for the political landscape before the later Spanish conquest.