List of conquistadors in Colombia

Spanish Empire
(1500)

This is a list of conquistadors who were active in the conquest of terrains that presently belong to Colombia. The nationalities listed refer to the state the conquistador was born into; Granada and Castile are currently part of Spain, but were separate states at the time of birth of the early conquistadors. Important conquistadors and explorers were Alonso de Ojeda, who landed first at Colombian soil and founded the first settlement Santa Cruz,^[1] Rodrigo de Bastidas, who founded the oldest still remaining city Santa Marta, Pedro de Heredia, who founded the important city of Cartagena in 1533, Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, who was the leader of the first and main expedition into the Andes (1536–1538), with his brother second in command and many other conquistadors, 80% of whom who didn't survive,^[2]^[3] and Nikolaus Federmann and Sebastián de Belalcázar who entered the Colombian interior from the northwest and south respectively.

Pre-Columbian cultures

Chibchan Nations

150px

SW cultures

Pre-Columbian peoples, civilisations and cultures of four language groups; Arawakan, Carib, Chibcha, and the isolated Páez language, existed in Colombia with after the Muisca, the Tairona, Calima, Quimbaya and Zenú as important ones

Conquistadors in Colombia

Exploration & conquest of Colombia

Alonso de Ojeda (1499–1502 & 1509–10)
Francisco Pizarro (1509–10)

Pedro de Heredia (1532–1538)
Alonso de Cáceres

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada (1536–1539)
Hernán Pérez de Quesada
Martín Galeano
Ortún Velázquez de Velasco
Juan de San Martín
Gonzalo Suárez Rendón
Juan del Junco
Bartolomé Camacho Zambrano
Antonio de Lebrija
Lázaro Fonte
Gonzalo Macías
Juan Maldonado
Juan de Céspedes
Hernán Pérez de Quesada (1539–1541)
Martín Galeano
Lázaro Fonte
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada (1569–1572)
Gonzalo Macías
Juan Maldonado

Legend:
• Leader – minor captain
Notes:
• >1539 expeditions in Llanos Orientales not shown
• expedition Pedro de Ursúa not shown

Map of exploration routes of
Alonso de Ojeda (1499–1502 & 1509–10)
Francisco Pizarro (1509–10)

4th voyage of Christopher Columbus, who touched upon later named after him Colombian, now Panamanian lands where he encountered the Kuna people
(1502–04)

Map of exploration routes of
Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1513)
Francisco Pizarro
Martín Fernández de Enciso

File:Ruta Belalcazar 200.png

Map of exploration routes of
Sebastián de Belalcázar (1514–1539)
Jorge Robledo
Gaspar de Rodas
Juan de Ampudia
Baltasar Maldonado

File:AGHRC (1890) - Carta I - Rutas de los conquistadores de Colombia.jpg

Routes of conquest in Colombia with the former Muisca Confederation in the heart of Colombia in orange
by Agustín Codazzi, 1890

Name leader in bold	Nationality	Years active	Indigenous people encountered bold is conquered ~~conquest failed~~	Year of death	Image	Notes
Alonso de Ojeda	Castilian	1499–1502 1509–10	~~Wayuu~~ Kuna (2)	1515		^[4]
Christopher Columbus	Genovese	1502–1504	Kuna (1)	1506		^{[note 1]}
Francisco Pizarro	Extremaduran	1509–10 1513 1515–29	Kuna (2, 3, 4) Inca	1541
Martín Fernández de Enciso	Castilian	1509–10 1513–17	Kuna (2, 3)	1528		^[5]
Vasco Núñez de Balboa	Extremaduran	1513–19	Kuna (3)	1519
Pedro Arias Dávila	Castilian	1513–19	Kuna (3)	1531		^[1]
Pascual de Andagoya	Basque	1515–29	Kuna (4), Inca	1548		^[1]
Diego de Almagro	Castilian	1515–29	Kuna (4) Inca	1538	Error creating thumbnail: File missing
Bartolomé Ruiz	Castilian	1515–29	Kuna (4)	1532	100px
Sebastián de Belalcázar	Castilian	1514–39	Paez Pijao (1) Sutagao (1) Muisca	1551	100px	^[1]^[3]
Jorge Robledo	Castilian	1514–46	Paez Pijao (1) Nutabe	1546		^[1]^{[note 2]}
Juan de Ampudia	Castilian	1514–41	Paez, Pijao (1), Nutabe	1541
Pedro de Añasco	Castilian	1514–41	Paez, Pijao (1)			^[6]
Baltasar Maldonado	Castilian	1534–52	Inca, Paez, Pijao (1), Quimbaya, Pantágora, Muisca, Choque, Inga, Kamëntsá	1552		^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]
Rodrigo de Bastidas	Castilian	1524–25	Tairona	1527	100px	^[1]
Juan de Céspedes	Castilian	1525–43	Tairona, Chimila (1, 2) Muisca Panche (1), Sutagao (1)	1573 or 1576		^[2]^[3]^[11]^[12]^[13]
Ambrosius Ehinger	Bavarian	1529–33	Tairona, ~~Wayuu~~ Chimila (1), Motilon (1), Chitarero (1)	1533		^[1]
Pedro de Heredia	Castilian	1532–38	Zenú	1554	100px	^[1]
Alonso de Heredia	Castilian	1532–38	Zenú			^[1]
Alonso de Cáceres	Extremaduran	1532–38	Zenú
Georg von Speyer	Palatinatian	1535–38	Motilon (2) Chitarero (1)	1540
Nikolaus Federmann	Bavarian	1535–39	Motilon (2), Chitarero (1) U'wa, Lache (1) Muisca	1542		^[1]^[3]
Miguel Holguín y Figueroa	Extremaduran	1535–39	Motilon (2), Chitarero (1), U'wa, Lache (1), Muisca	1576>		^[2]^[14]
Luis Lanchero	Castilian	1533–39 1541–1559	Muzo	1562		^[15]^[16]
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada	Granadian	1536–39 1569–72	Tairona, Chimila (2) zipa zaque Panche Pijao (2)	1579		^[1]^[2]^[3]
Juan Maldonado	Castilian	1536–39 1569–72	Tairona, Chimila (2), Muisca, Panche, Pijao (2)			^[2]^{[note 3]}
Pedro Ruíz Corredor	Castilian	1533–1601	Tairona, Chimila (2), Muisca, Inca	1601+		^[2]^[17]
Juan de Albarracín	Castilian	1536–1539	Tairona, Chimila (2), Muisca, Panche			^[2]
Juan Tafur	Castilian	1518–1541	Tairona, Chimila (1,2), Muisca, Panche			^[2]^[18]
Martín Yañéz Tafur	Castilian	1520–1544	Zenú, Kuna, Panche			^[2]^[19]
Antonio Díaz de Cardoso	Portuguese	1526–41	Tairona, Chimila (2), Muisca, Panche			^[2]^[20]
Gonzalo García Zorro	Extremaduran	1536–1544	Tairona, Chimila (2), Muisca, Panche	1566		^[2]
Gonzalo Macías	Extremaduran	1536–39 1569–71	Tairona, Chimila (2), Muisca, Panche, Pijao (2)	1571~		^[2]^[21]
Hernán Pérez de Quesada	Granadian	1536–39 1540–42	Tairona, Chimila (2) Muisca, Panche Lache (2), Chitarero (3) Achagua, Guayupe, Choque, Inga, Kamëntsá	1544		^[2]^[3]
Gonzalo Suárez Rendón	Castilian	1536–39	Tairona, Chimila (2) zipa, Panche zaque	1590		^[2]^[3]^[22]
Juan del Junco	Asturian	1536–41	Tairona, Chimila (2) Muisca	15??		^[2]^[23]
Martín Galeano	Extremaduran	1536–39 1540–45	Tairona, Chimila (2) Muisca, Panche Muzo	1554~		^[2]^[3]^[24]
Lázaro Fonte	Castilian	1536–39 1540–42	Tairona, Chimila (2) Muisca, Panche Lache (2), Guayupe	1542		^[2]^[3]
Juan de Sanct Martín	Castilian	1536–39 1540–45	Tairona, Chimila (2) Muisca, Panche Guane Achagua			^[2]^[3]
Hernán Venegas Carrillo	Castilian	1536–47	Tairona, Chimila (2), Panche	1583		^[2]^[25]
Ortún Velázquez de Velasco	Castilian	1536–39	Tairona, Chimila (2), Muisca, Panche, Chitarero (2)	1584		^[2]^[26]
Bartolomé Camacho Zambrano	Extremaduran	1536–39	Tairona, Chimila (2), Muisca, Panche			^[2]
Pedro Fernández de Valenzuela	Castilian	1536–39	Tairona, Chimila (2), Muisca, Panche			^[2]
640+ conquistadors ~80%	mostly Castilian	April 1536 - April 1537	Diseases, jaguars, crocodiles, climate, various indigenous warfare	1536 1537		^[2]^[3]
Gaspar de Rodas	Extremaduran	1539–81	Paez Pijao Nutabe	1607		^[27]
Juan Maldonado	Castilian	1543–72	Chitarero (4)	1572
Pedro de Ursúa	Navarran	1545–61	Panche ~~Muzo~~ Chitarero (5) Tairona	1561	100px	^{[note 4]}
Juan Taborda	Extremaduran	1545–69	Nutabe	1569		^[28]
Juan Freyle	Castilian		Panche ~~Muzo~~ Chitarero (5) Tairona			^[29]^[30]

Notes

↑ Although the country Colombia is named after Columbus, he has never seen the present country of Colombia.
Panama, where he disembarked in 1503, was part of (Gran) Colombia until 1903
↑ Executed by the Governor of New Granada
↑ Not the same as Juan Maldonado, who was only 11 in 1536
↑ Murdered on expedition by some of his men

References

↑ ^1.00 ^1.01 ^1.02 ^1.03 ^1.04 ^1.05 ^1.06 ^1.07 ^1.08 ^1.09 ^1.10 Script error: No such module "In lang". Personajes de la Conquista a América – Banco de la República
↑ ^2.00 ^2.01 ^2.02 ^2.03 ^2.04 ^2.05 ^2.06 ^2.07 ^2.08 ^2.09 ^2.10 ^2.11 ^2.12 ^2.13 ^2.14 ^2.15 ^2.16 ^2.17 ^2.18 ^2.19 ^2.20 ^2.21 ^2.22 Script error: No such module "In lang". List of conquistadors of the expedition led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada – Banco de la República
↑ ^3.00 ^3.01 ^3.02 ^3.03 ^3.04 ^3.05 ^3.06 ^3.07 ^3.08 ^3.09 ^3.10 Script error: No such module "In lang". Conquista rápida y saqueo cuantioso de Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
↑ Script error: No such module "In lang". Alonso de Ojeda – Banco de la República
↑ Catholic Encyclopedia – Martín Fernández de Enciso
↑ Script error: No such module "In lang". Murder of the son of La Gaitana by Pedro de Añasco
↑ Script error: No such module "In lang". Baltasar Maldonado – Soledad Acosta Samper – Banco de la República
↑ Rodríguez Freyle, 1979 (1638), p.88
↑ Rodríguez Freyle, 1979 (1638), p.93
↑ Rodríguez Freyle, 1979 (1638), p.94
↑ Script error: No such module "In lang". Juan de Céspedes – Banco de la República
↑ Script error: No such module "In lang". Biography Juan de Céspedes – Banco de la República
↑ Rodríguez Freyle, 1979 (1638), p.69
↑ Rodríguez Freyle, 1979 (1638), p.153
↑ Script error: No such module "In lang". Luis Lanchero – Banco de la República
↑ Rodríguez Freyle, 1979 (1638), p.56
↑ Script error: No such module "In lang". Pedro Ruiz Corredor – Soledad Acosta Samper – Banco de la República
↑ Script error: No such module "In lang". Juan Tafur – Banco de la República – Soledad Acosta de Samper
↑ Script error: No such module "In lang". Martín Yañéz Tafur – Banco de la República – Soledad Acosta Samper
↑ Script error: No such module "In lang". Antonio Díaz de Cardoso – Banco de la República – Soledad Acosta Samper
↑ Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.173
↑ Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.84
↑ Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.61
↑ Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.144
↑ Script error: No such module "In lang". Hernán Venegas Carrillo – Banco de la República
↑ Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.xii
↑ Script error: No such module "In lang". Gaspar de Rodas – Banco de la República
↑ Jaramillo Mejía, William. 1996. Antioquia bajo los Austrias, Volume 1. Accessed 2017-03-08.
↑ Script error: No such module "In lang". Biography Juan Rodríguez Freyle – Banco de la República
↑ Script error: No such module "In lang". El Carnero – semilla de nuestro periodismo – El Tiempo

Bibliography

Rodríguez Freyle, Juan, and Darío Achury Valenzuela. 1979 (1859) (1638). El Carnero – Conquista i descubrimiento del nuevo reino de Granada de las Indias Occidentales del mar oceano, i fundacion de la ciudad de Santa Fe de Bogota, 1–598. Fundacion Biblioteca Ayacuch. Accessed 2016-11-21.

v t e Pre-Columbian civilizations and cultures
Americas	Paleo-Indians · Genetic history · Archaeology of the Americas · Indigenous peoples of the Americas
North America	North American pre-Columbian cultures – Caddoan Mississippian – Chichimeca – Hopewell tradition – Coles Creek – Fremont – Marksville – Mississippian – Mogollon – Plaquemine – Plum Bayou – Poverty Point – Troyville – Weeden Island
Mesoamerica	Mesoamerican pre-Columbian chronology – Capacha – Cholula – Coclé – Epi-Olmec – Huastec – Izapa – Mezcala – Mixtec – Olmec – Pipil – Quelepa – Shaft tomb tradition – Teuchitlan – Purépecha – Teotihuacan – Tlatilco – Tlaxcaltec – Toltec – Totonac – Veracruz – Xochipala – Zapotec
South America	South American Indigenous people – Pre-Columbian chronology – Cañaris – Chachapoya – Chancay – Chavín – Chimú – El Abra – Hydraulic culture of mounds (Bolivia) – Las Vegas – Lima – La Tolita (Tumaco) – Manteño-Guancavilca – Mapuche – Moche – Mollo – Muisca (Chibchas) – Nariño – Nazca – Norte Chico – Quimbaya – San Agustín – Shuar – Sican – Taíno – Tairona – Tiwanaku – Tierradentro – Valdivia – Wari
	Aztec	Maya civilization	Inca Empire – Andean civilizations
Language	Nahuatl	Mayan languages	Quechua
Writing	Aztec writing	Maya script	Quipu
Religion	Aztec religion	Maya religion	Inca religion
Mythology	Aztec mythology	Maya mythology	Inca mythology
Calendar	Aztec calendar	Maya calendar
Society	Aztec society	Maya society	Inca society
Infrastructure	Chinampas	Maya architecture	Inca architecture (road system) Incan agriculture
History	Aztec history		Inca history Neo-Inca State
People	Moctezuma I Moctezuma II Cuitláhuac Cuauhtémoc	K'inich Janaab' Pakal Uaxaclajuun Ub'aah K'awiil Jasaw Chan K'awiil I	Manco Cápac Pachacuti Atahualpa Manco Inca Yupanqui Túpac Amaru II
Conquest	Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire (Hernán Cortés)	Spanish conquest of the Maya Spanish conquest of Yucatán (Francisco de Montejo) Spanish conquest of Guatemala (Pedro de Alvarado)	Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire (Francisco Pizarro)
See also
Portal:Indigenous peoples of North America – Portal:Mesoamerica – Columbian Exchange – Mesoamerican writing systems – Native American cuisine – Native American pottery – Population history of indigenous peoples of the Americas – Pre‑Columbian art – Painting in the Americas before European colonization

v t e Muisca people
History	Prehistory Herrera Period Muisca Confederation Spanish conquest
Topics	Muisca agriculture Muisca architecture Muisca art Cuisine Muisca dance Economy of the Muisca Language Muisca script Numerals Music Mythology Sites Muisca warfare
Society	Women in Muisca society Religion Sacrifice
Calendar	Muisca astronomy Muisca lunar cult
Scholars	Acosta Arango De Castellanos Correal Duquesne De Piedrahita Gamboa Groot Humboldt Izquierdo De Lugo Ocampo De Quesada Restrepo Silva Célis Simón Triana Uricoechea Zerda
Deities	Chiminigagua Bachué Chía Sué Bochica Huitaca Chibchacum Cuchavira Nencatacoa Chaquén
Northern rulers	Zaques of Hunza Hunzahúa Michuá Quemuenchatocha Aquiminzaque Iraca of Sugamuxi Nompanim Sugamuxi Tundama of Tundama
Southern rulers	Zipas of Bacatá Meicuchuca Saguamanchica Nemequene Tisquesusa Sagipa

List of conquistadors in Colombia

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Conquistadors in Colombia

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References

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