Panche

The Panche, also called the Tolima, were a warlike people of the western slopes of the Eastern Andes, between the Muisca plateau and the Magdalena River. Numbering around 30,000 at the conquest, they formed a loose confederation of independent chiefdoms.

The Muisca's western enemies, they raided the plateau with clubs and poisoned arrows. Chroniclers described them, with some exaggeration, as cannibals; they practised cranial deformation.

In 1538 the Panche faced the invading Spaniards of Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and their Muisca rivals, who fought alongside the Spaniards. On 20 August 1538 the Panche were routed at the Battle of Tocarema, where the Muisca ruler Sagipa fought beside Spanish captains. The defeat did not end their resistance, and further campaigns under Hernán Venegas Carrillo were needed before the chiefdoms were subdued. Disease and colonial settlement greatly reduced the survivors.