The history of Colombia is an interesting, sadding and complex story.

Pre-Columbus Colombia:
Colombia is the only overland gateway to South America and is assumed to have been the route pioneered by the continent’s first human inhabitants, who migrated from North and Central America. Some tribes, such as the Inca, headed further south and built major civilizations, while smaller groups settled in what is now Colombia and eventually reached a high level of development. These people are little known internationally because they left few enduring monuments.

There are three main archeological sites in Colombia. They are San Agustín, Tierradentro and Ciudad Perdida. Some communities left behind artifacts – mainly gold and pottery – some of which are now in museums across the country. This art reveals a high degree of skill, and the goldwork is the continent’s best, both in techniques and artistic design.

In contrast to the Aztecs or Incas, who dominated vast regions, a dozen independent Colombian groups occupied relatively small areas scattered throughout the Andean region and along the Pacific and Atlantic (Caribbean) coasts. Despite trading, these cultures developed largely independently. Among the most outstanding were the Calima, Muisca, Nariño, Quimbaya, San Agustín, Sinú, Tayrona, Tierradentro, Tolima and Tumaco.

Spanish conquest:
Colombia is named after Christopher Columbus, even though he never set foot on Colombian soil. It was Alonso de Ojeda, one of Columbus’ companions on his second voyage, who was the first European to set foot on the land in 1499. He briefly explored the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and was astonished by the wealth of the local Indians.

Their gold and their stories about fabulous treasures inland gave birth to the myth of El Dorado, a mysterious kingdom abundant in gold. In its most extreme interpretation, El Dorado was believed to be a land of gold mountains littered with emeralds.

From the moment the Spaniards arrived, their obsession with El Dorado became the principal force driving them into the interior. They did not find El Dorado, but their search resulted in rapid colonization. The legend of El Dorado became linked to the Muiscas and their famous Laguna de Guatavita. There, the expectations of the Spaniards were to some degree confirmed by the rituals of the Indians, who threw gold offerings into the sacred waters, though very little has been found despite numerous efforts; see Laguna de Guatavita.
Attracted by the presumed riches of the Indians, the shores of present-day Colombia became the target of numerous expeditions by the Spaniards. Several short-lived settlements were founded along the coast, but it was not until 1525 that Rodrigo de Bastidas laid the first stones of Santa Marta, the earliest surviving town. In 1533, Pedro de Heredia founded Cartagena, which soon became the principal center of trade.
In 1536 a general advance toward the interior began independently from three different directions, under Jiménez de Quesada, Sebastián de Benalcázar (known in Colombia as Belalcázar) and Nikolaus Federmann. Although all three were drawn by the Indian treasures, none intended to reach Muisca territory, where they finally met.

Quesada set off from Santa Marta, pushed up the Valle del Magdalena, then climbed the Cordillera Oriental, arriving in Muisca territory early in 1537. At the time, the Muiscas were divided into two clans – the southern one ruled by the Zipa from Bacatá (present-day Bogotá), and the northern empire under the Zaque in Hunza (present-day Tunja). The two caciques quarreled over territory and the rivalry considerably helped Quesada conquer the Muiscas without undue difficulty. In August 1538 he founded Santa Fe de Bogotá on the site of Bacatá.
Belalcázar deserted from Francisco Pizarro’s army, which was conquering the Inca empire, and mounted an expedition from Ecuador. He subdued the southern part of Colombia, founding Popayán and Cali along the way, and reached Bogotá in 1539. Federmann started from the Venezuelan coast and, after successfully crossing Los Llanos and the Andes, arrived in Bogotá shortly after Belalcázar. Thus, in a short period of time, a large part of the colony was conquered and a number of towns were founded.

The three groups then battled for supremacy, and it was not until 1550 that King Carlos V of Spain established a court of justice in Bogotá and brought the colony under the control of the Viceroyalty of Peru.
The colonial period:
In 1564 the Crown established a new system, the Presidencia del Nuevo Reino de Granada, which had dual military and civil power and greater autonomy. Authority was in the hands of the governor, appointed by the King of Spain. The Nuevo Reino at that time comprised present-day Panama and all of Colombia, except what is today Nariño, Cauca and Valle del Cauca, which were under the jurisdiction of the Presidencia de Quito (present-day Ecuador).

The population of the colony, initially consisting of indigenous communities and the Spanish invaders, diversified with the arrival of Blacks, brought from Africa to serve as the workforce.

Cartagena was granted the privilege of being the exclusive slave-trading port in which Blacks were sold as slaves and distributed throughout the colony. Most of them were set to work in mines and plantations, mainly on the Caribbean and Pacific coasts. During the 16th and 17th centuries the Spaniards shipped in so many Africans that they eventually surpassed the indigenous population in number.
The demographic picture became more complex when the three racial groups began to mix, producing various fusions, including mestizos (people of European-Indian blood), mulatos (of European-African ancestry) and zambos (African-Indian). However, throughout the whole of the colonial period, power was almost exclusively in the hands of the Spaniards.
With the growth of the Spanish empire in the New World, a new territorial division was created in 1717, and Bogotá became the capital of its own viceroyalty, the Virreinato de la Nueva Granada. It comprised the territories of what are today Colombia, Panama, Ecuador and Venezuela.

Independence Wars:
As the Spanish domination of the continent increased, so too did the discontent of the inhabitants. Slavery and the monopoly of commerce, taxes and duties – among other factors – slowly gave rise to protests. The first open rebellion against colonial rule was the Revolución Comunera in Socorro in 1781, which broke out against tax rises levied by the Crown, before taking on more pro-independence overtones. When Napoleon put his own brother on the Spanish throne in 1808, the colonies refused to recognize the new monarch. One by one, Colombian towns declared their independence. Unfortunately, political divisions and infighting appeared almost immediately.
In 1812 Simón Bolívar, who was to become the hero of the independence struggle, appeared on the scene. He won six battles against Spanish troops, but was defeated by the next year. Spain recovered its throne from Napoleon and then set about reconquering its colonies. The ‘pacifying’ Spanish troops reconquered the interior and full colonial rule was reestablished by 1817.
Bolívar retreated to Jamaica after the defeat and took up arms again. He went back to Venezuela, and after assembling an army of horsemen from Los Llanos, strengthened by a British legion, he marched over the Andes into Colombia, claiming victory after victory. The last and most decisive battle took place at Boyacá on August 7, 1819. Three days later he arrived triumphantly in Bogotá. Colombia’s independence was won.