[4] In its beginnings, Duitama corresponded to a Muisca village ruled by the cacique Tundama, a word that changed for Duitama, absolute and powerful lord that he had as bosses tributaries to the Onzaga, Soatá, Chitagoto, Susacón or Cabita, Icabuco, Lupachoque, Sátiva, Tutazá and Cerinza caciques.

The Tundama ruled over the villages of Onzaga, Soatá, Chitagoto, Susacón, Icabuco, Lupachoque, Sátiva, Tutazá and Cerinza.

In 1536, Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada set foot from the Caribbean coastal city of Santa Marta towards the inner highlands of then unexplored Colombia with an army of 800 men.

One of his men proposed to surrender to the soldiers armed with superior weapons, and Tundama cut off his ears and left hand.

During the colonial period of the newly established state New Kingdom of Granada, Duitama was converted to catholicism by friars of Santo Domingo, arriving in 1556.

[2] Modern Duitama was not founded until 1819, before Simón Bolívar liberated the later state of Gran Colombia from the Spanish rule.

[2] Duitama was an agricultural community that grew after the installation of the train station in 1923 and the connection with the Colombian capital via highway.