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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, 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, and Nikolaus Federmann and Sebastián de Belalcázar who entered the Colombian interior from the northwest and south respectively.

Conquistadors in Colombia

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
Christopher Columbus	Genovese	1502–1504	Kuna (1)	1506
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
Vasco Núñez de Balboa	Extremaduran	1513–19	Kuna (3)	1519
Pedro Arias Dávila	Castilian	1513–19	Kuna (3)	1531
Pascual de Andagoya	Basque	1515–29	Kuna (4), Inca	1548
Diego de Almagro	Castilian	1515–29	Kuna (4) Inca	1538
Bartolomé Ruiz	Castilian	1515–29	Kuna (4)	1532
Sebastián de Belalcázar	Castilian	1514–39	Paez Pijao (1) Sutagao (1) Muisca	1551
Jorge Robledo	Castilian	1514–46	Paez Pijao (1) Nutabe	1546
Juan de Ampudia	Castilian	1514–41	Paez, Pijao (1), Nutabe	1541
Pedro de Añasco	Castilian	1514–41	Paez, Pijao (1)
Baltasar Maldonado	Castilian	1534–52	Inca, Paez, Pijao (1), Quimbaya, Pantágora, Muisca, Choque, Inga, Kamëntsá	1552
Rodrigo de Bastidas	Castilian	1524–25	Tairona	1527
Juan de Céspedes	Castilian	1525–43	Tairona, Chimila (1, 2) Muisca Panche (1), Sutagao (1)	1573 or 1576
Ambrosius Ehinger	Bavarian	1529–33	Tairona, Wayuu Chimila (1), Motilon (1), Chitarero (1)	1533
Pedro de Heredia	Castilian	1532–38	Zenú	1554
Alonso de Heredia	Castilian	1532–38	Zenú
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
Miguel Holguín y Figueroa	Extremaduran	1535–39	Motilon (2), Chitarero (1), U'wa, Lache (1), Muisca	1576>
Luis Lanchero	Castilian	1533–39 1541–1559	Muzo	1562
Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada	Granadian	1536–39 1569–72	Tairona, Chimila (2) zipa zaque Panche Pijao (2)	1579
Juan Maldonado	Castilian	1536–39 1569–72	Tairona, Chimila (2), Muisca, Panche, Pijao (2)
Pedro Ruíz Corredor	Castilian	1533–1601	Tairona, Chimila (2), Muisca, Inca	1601+
Juan de Albarracín	Castilian	1536–1539	Tairona, Chimila (2), Muisca, Panche
Juan Tafur	Castilian	1518–1541	Tairona, Chimila (1,2), Muisca, Panche
Martín Yañéz Tafur	Castilian	1520–1544	Zenú, Kuna, Panche
Antonio Díaz de Cardoso	Portuguese	1526–41	Tairona, Chimila (2), Muisca, Panche
Gonzalo García Zorro	Extremaduran	1536–1544	Tairona, Chimila (2), Muisca, Panche	1566
Gonzalo Macías	Extremaduran	1536–39 1569–71	Tairona, Chimila (2), Muisca, Panche, Pijao (2)	1571~
Hernán Pérez de Quesada	Granadian	1536–39 1540–42	Tairona, Chimila (2) Muisca, Panche Lache (2), Chitarero (3) Achagua, Guayupe, Choque, Inga, Kamëntsá	1544
Gonzalo Suárez Rendón	Castilian	1536–39	Tairona, Chimila (2) zipa, Panche zaque	1590
Juan del Junco	Asturian	1536–41	Tairona, Chimila (2) Muisca	15??
Martín Galeano	Extremaduran	1536–39 1540–45	Tairona, Chimila (2) Muisca, Panche Muzo	1554~
Lázaro Fonte	Castilian	1536–39 1540–42	Tairona, Chimila (2) Muisca, Panche Lache (2), Guayupe	1542
Juan de Sanct Martín	Castilian	1536–39 1540–45	Tairona, Chimila (2) Muisca, Panche Guane Achagua
Hernán Venegas Carrillo	Castilian	1536–47	Tairona, Chimila (2), Panche	1583
Ortún Velázquez de Velasco	Castilian	1536–39	Tairona, Chimila (2), Muisca, Panche, Chitarero (2)	1584
Bartolomé Camacho Zambrano	Extremaduran	1536–39	Tairona, Chimila (2), Muisca, Panche
Pedro Fernández de Valenzuela	Castilian	1536–39	Tairona, Chimila (2), Muisca, Panche
640+ conquistadors ~80%	mostly Castilian	April 1536 - April 1537	Diseases, jaguars, crocodiles, climate, various indigenous warfare	1536 1537
Gaspar de Rodas	Extremaduran	1539–81	Paez Pijao Nutabe	1607
Juan Maldonado	Castilian	1543–72	Chitarero (4)	1572
Pedro de Ursúa	Navarran	1545–61	Panche Muzo Chitarero (5) Tairona	1561
Juan Taborda	Extremaduran	1545–69	Nutabe	1569
Juan Freyle	Castilian		Panche Muzo Chitarero (5) Tairona

See also

• First wave of European colonization
• European colonization of the Americas

• Spanish conquest of Guatemala, Petén
• Maya, Chiapas, Yucatán
• Aztec, Honduras

• Spanish conquest of the Muisca

• Epítome de la conquista del Nuevo Reino de Granada
• El Carnero

• Spanish conquest of the Chibchan Nations
• Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire

Notes

1. 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
2. Executed by the Governor of New Granada
3. Not the same as Juan Maldonado, who was only 11 in 1536
4. Murdered on expedition by some of his men

References

1. ^ (in Spanish) Personajes de la Conquista a América – Banco de la República
2. ^ (in Spanish) List of conquistadors of the expedition led by Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada – Banco de la República
3. ^ (in Spanish) Conquista rápida y saqueo cuantioso de Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada
4. (in Spanish) Alonso de Ojeda – Banco de la República
5. Catholic Encyclopedia – Martín Fernández de Enciso
6. (in Spanish) Murder of the son of La Gaitana by Pedro de Añasco
7. (in Spanish) Baltasar Maldonado – Soledad Acosta Samper – Banco de la República
8. Rodríguez Freyle, 1979 (1638), p.88
9. Rodríguez Freyle, 1979 (1638), p.93
10. Rodríguez Freyle, 1979 (1638), p.94
11. (in Spanish) Juan de Céspedes – Banco de la República
12. (in Spanish) Biography Juan de Céspedes – Banco de la República
13. Rodríguez Freyle, 1979 (1638), p.69
14. Rodríguez Freyle, 1979 (1638), p.153
15. (in Spanish) Luis Lanchero – Banco de la República
16. Rodríguez Freyle, 1979 (1638), p.56
17. (in Spanish) Pedro Ruiz Corredor – Soledad Acosta Samper – Banco de la República
18. (in Spanish) Juan Tafur – Banco de la República – Soledad Acosta de Samper
19. (in Spanish) Martín Yañéz Tafur – Banco de la República – Soledad Acosta Samper
20. (in Spanish) Antonio Díaz de Cardoso – Banco de la República – Soledad Acosta Samper
21. Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.173
22. Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.84
23. Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.61
24. Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.144
25. (in Spanish) Hernán Venegas Carrillo – Banco de la República
26. Rodríguez Freyle, 1638, p.xii
27. (in Spanish) Gaspar de Rodas – Banco de la República
28. Jaramillo Mejía, William (1996), Antioquia bajo los Austrias, Volume 1, Instituto Colombiano de Cultura Hispánica, p. 1-1034, ISBN 978-958-9004-40-1, retrieved 2017-03-08
29. (in Spanish) Biography Juan Rodríguez Freyle – Banco de la República
30. (in Spanish) El Carnero – semilla de nuestro periodismo – El Tiempo

Bibliography

• Rodríguez Freyle, Juan; Achury Valenzuela, Darío (1979) , 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 (PDF) (in Spanish), Fundacion Biblioteca Ayacuch, pp. 1–598, retrieved 2016-11-21

Further reading

• Epítome de la conquista del Nuevo Reino de Granada, 1979 , pp. 81–97, retrieved 2016-11-24
• Jiménez de Quesada, Gonzalo (1576), Memoria de los descubridores, que entraron conmigo a descubrir y conquistar el Reino de Granada (in Spanish), retrieved 2016-07-08
• De Castellanos, Juan (1857) , Elegías de varones ilustres de Indias (in Spanish), pp. 1–567, retrieved 2016-07-08
• Simón, Pedro (1892) , Noticias historiales de las conquistas de Tierra Firme en las Indias occidentales (1882–92) vol.1–5 (in Spanish), retrieved 2016-07-08
• Fernández de Piedrahita, Lucas (1688), Historia general de las conquistas del Nuevo Reino de Granada (in Spanish), retrieved 2016-07-08
• Acosta, Joaquín (1848), Compendio histórico del descubrimiento y colonización de la Nueva Granada en el siglo décimo sexto – Historical overview of discovery and colonization of New Granada in the sixteenth century, Paris: Beau Press, pp. 1–460, OCLC 23030434, retrieved 2016-07-08

v t e Spanish colonization of the Americas
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v t e Muisca
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