Chicha

The Chicha, or Checha, were an Andean people of the south-western altiplano, centred on Tupiza in Bolivia's Potosí department, with lands reaching into Jujuy and Salta in Argentina. Towns such as Chilcayoj and Talina stood along the Inca road through Collasuyo; local groups fused into one ethnic identity in the fertile valleys.

The Inca Túpac Yupanqui conquered them around 1478, dispersing many as mitimaes: some went north to repopulate conquered Quito in Ecuador, others to the Calchaquí valleys and Quebrada de Humahuaca against the Chiriguano, and others to Loa and Atacama in Chile. The resettlements began the mixing that later produced the Kolla conglomerate.

Diego de Almagro's expedition crossed Chicha territory in 1536, when Tupiza was called their capital; a Spanish report of 1566 still listed their roadside towns, though Quechua had made deep inroads under Inca rule.