Tundama

Tundama or Saymoso (15th century – late December 1539 in Duitama) was a cacique of the Muisca Confederation, a loose confederation of different rulers of the Muisca who inhabited the central highlands (Altiplano Cundiboyacense) of the Colombian Andes. The city of Tundama, currently known as Duitama and part of the Tundama Province, Boyacá, were named after the cacique. Tundama ruled over the northernmost territories of the Muisca, submitted last by the Spanish conquistadores.

Tundama was killed late December 1539 with a large hammer by Spanish conquistador Baltasar Maldonado. His successor, Don Juan was killed shortly after, ending the reign of the Muisca in the New Kingdom of Granada, the name for present-day Colombia and a part of Venezuela in the Spanish Empire.

Knowledge about Tundama has been compiled by scholar Lucas Fernández de Piedrahita.^[1]