﻿902 
  SOUTH 
  AMERICAN 
  INDIANS 
  [B. 
  A. 
  E. 
  Bull. 
  143 
  

  

  have 
  been 
  unknown 
  to 
  the 
  Chibcha; 
  at 
  any 
  rate 
  there 
  were 
  no 
  standards 
  

   of 
  weight. 
  

  

  Debts 
  or 
  deferred 
  payments 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  increased 
  one-half 
  each 
  

   moon, 
  or 
  a 
  hundredfold 
  in 
  a 
  year! 
  — 
  which 
  argues 
  a 
  credit 
  system 
  of 
  

   some 
  rudeness; 
  or 
  an 
  inaccurate 
  understanding 
  of 
  it. 
  

  

  POLITICAL 
  INSTITUTIONS, 
  RULERS, 
  AND 
  NOBILITY 
  

  

  There 
  was 
  little 
  permanence 
  in 
  the 
  larger 
  Chibcha 
  states 
  or 
  "king- 
  

   doms" 
  like 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Zipa 
  and 
  Zaque. 
  Each 
  district 
  had 
  its 
  lord, 
  

   who 
  might 
  rebel 
  against 
  his 
  overlord. 
  A 
  powerful 
  or 
  energetic 
  ruler 
  

   invaded 
  the 
  territories 
  of 
  his 
  neighbors, 
  one 
  at 
  a 
  time, 
  and 
  if 
  successful, 
  

   exacted 
  their 
  submission 
  and 
  tribute, 
  after 
  which 
  they 
  were 
  generally 
  

   left 
  as 
  vassals. 
  No 
  considerable 
  army 
  was 
  brought 
  together 
  by 
  any 
  

   ruler 
  to 
  oppose 
  the 
  Spaniards. 
  Each 
  awaited 
  his 
  turn. 
  Resistance 
  

   came 
  more 
  frequently 
  after 
  Spanish 
  occupation 
  than 
  before. 
  How 
  

   far 
  the 
  overlordship 
  of 
  the 
  Zipa 
  and 
  the 
  Zaque 
  extended 
  is 
  also 
  not 
  

   clear. 
  To 
  the 
  north 
  of 
  both 
  lived 
  Chibcha 
  who 
  may 
  have 
  paid 
  them 
  

   prudent 
  deference, 
  but 
  seem 
  not 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  subdued 
  or 
  even 
  invaded: 
  

   those 
  of 
  Guane, 
  for 
  instance. 
  The 
  Iraca 
  at 
  Sogamoso 
  was 
  independent 
  

   of 
  both 
  Zipa 
  and 
  Zaque. 
  In 
  his 
  selection, 
  the 
  neighboring 
  Tundama 
  

   at 
  times 
  had 
  a 
  voice. 
  But 
  the 
  Tundama's 
  residence 
  was 
  also 
  not 
  far 
  

   from 
  the 
  Zaque's 
  Hunsa-Tunja. 
  If 
  the 
  Tundama 
  was 
  genuinely 
  

   independent, 
  the 
  Zaque's 
  proper 
  dominion 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  rather 
  

   restricted, 
  in 
  spite 
  of 
  his 
  overlordship 
  extending 
  down 
  the 
  Garagoa 
  

   Valley. 
  One 
  divergent 
  account 
  makes 
  Guatavita 
  supreme 
  in 
  the 
  

   South, 
  with 
  the 
  Bacata 
  (Zipa) 
  his 
  "lieutenant 
  and 
  captain 
  general/' 
  

   who 
  revolted 
  only 
  just 
  before 
  the 
  arrival 
  of 
  the 
  Spaniards. 
  Similarly, 
  

   Ramiriqui, 
  not 
  Hunsa, 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  the 
  original 
  seat 
  of 
  the 
  

   Zaque. 
  

  

  The 
  political 
  condition 
  was 
  evidently 
  similar 
  to 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  Valley 
  

   of 
  Mexico, 
  or 
  for 
  that 
  matter 
  among 
  the 
  Maya; 
  with 
  this 
  difference, 
  

   that 
  in 
  Mexico 
  large 
  religious 
  structures 
  provided 
  a 
  nucleus 
  for 
  a 
  

   physical 
  town 
  which 
  embodied 
  or 
  represented 
  a 
  cultivated 
  district 
  

   more 
  effectively 
  than 
  among 
  the 
  Chibcha. 
  Otherwise, 
  the 
  rivalries 
  and 
  

   alliances 
  of 
  Tenochtitlan, 
  Tlatelulco, 
  Texcoco, 
  Tlacopan, 
  Atzcopot- 
  

   zalco, 
  Chalco, 
  Tlascala, 
  seem 
  very 
  similar 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  Bacata, 
  Ubaque, 
  

   Guatavita, 
  Hunsa, 
  Sugamuxi, 
  etc. 
  We 
  must 
  assume 
  that 
  dominance 
  

   fluctuated 
  and 
  refluctuated, 
  without 
  the 
  total 
  picture 
  changing 
  much. 
  

  

  What 
  is 
  clear 
  is 
  that 
  in 
  both 
  regions 
  there 
  were 
  noble 
  and 
  powerful 
  

   families 
  of 
  sefiores 
  or 
  lords, 
  of 
  whom 
  the 
  greater 
  ruled 
  the 
  lesser, 
  as 
  

   these 
  ruled 
  their 
  districts. 
  It 
  is 
  specifically 
  said 
  that 
  town 
  chiefs 
  were 
  

   absolute 
  at 
  home, 
  though 
  vassals 
  of 
  their 
  overlords. 
  These 
  overlords 
  

   were 
  shown 
  every 
  respect 
  which 
  native 
  imagination 
  could 
  conceive. 
  

   Even 
  chiefs 
  never 
  looked 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  face, 
  but 
  turned 
  their 
  "shoulders" 
  

   away 
  or 
  bent 
  far 
  down 
  in 
  their 
  presence. 
  The 
  Spanish 
  soldiery 
  were 
  

  

  