Muisca rulers

When the Spanish arrived in the central Colombia highlands, the region was organized into the Muisca Confederation, which had two rulers; the Zipa, was the ruler of the southern part called Bacatá, what is now known as Bogotá. The Zaque was the ruler of the northern area in Hunza, known today as Tunja.

Zipa and Zaque were the titles given to these rulers of the ancient confederation. Neither exercised absolute power, not rigid or strict control over those whom they owed their power, so that they can be considered kings. However, these positions of power were of great honor and were surrounded by a rather elaborate ceremony. The position of the Zipa was such that not even the members of the nobility dare to look him in the face, and it is said if the Zipa needed to spit, someone would hold out a piece of rich cloth for him to spit on, because it would be sacrilegious for anything so precious as his saliva to touch the ground. Whoever held the cloth (all the while carefully looking the other way) then carried it off to be reverently disposed of.