chiefdom · South America

Zacazgo of Hunza

1300 CE – 1537 CE (approx.) · capital Hunza

The northern Muisca realm of the zaque, ruled from Hunza, the site of modern Tunja, and long the rival of the zipa of Bacatá.

Origins

Hunza, now Tunja in Boyacá, became the seat of the zaque, ruler of the northern Muisca territories, in the centuries before the Spanish conquest. Muisca tradition named Hunzahúa as its first ruler and claimed the zaques descended from him.

Rule and society

The zaque ruled through lesser chiefs and received tribute in gold, cloth and goods. Succession passed from a ruler to his sister's son. Hunza was a centre of trade in salt, emeralds, cotton and gold. The zaques fought repeated wars with the zipas of the Zipazgo of Bacatá, including a battle in which the zipa Saguamanchica and the zaque Michuá were both killed around 1490.

Decline and legacy

In 1537 Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada seized Hunza and captured the aged zaque Quemuenchatocha. His successor Aquiminzaque was executed in 1540. The Spanish founded Tunja on the site in 1539, and it became a major town of the New Kingdom of Granada.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.

Connections (2)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Zacazgo of Hunza. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/zacazgo-of-hunza
MLA
“Zacazgo of Hunza.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/zacazgo-of-hunza. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Zacazgo of Hunza.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/zacazgo-of-hunza.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Zacazgo of Hunza’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/zacazgo-of-hunza (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻