Was an indigenous tribe who occupied the Central Mountain range of the andes between the snowed of Huila and Quindio and specially in TOLIMA , they didn´t live in towns.
By the end of century XVI, they prepared a general revolt giving assaults by the nights to the populations by means of ignited arrows. They placed in ambush later to the Spaniards equipping itself in the impenetrable forests; they never let themselves see during the day.
The Yulima priestess, who ran a religious sanctuary pijao in the neighborhoods of Machín volcano, was assaulted by the Spaniards and taken prisoner, being lead chained until Ibagué, in whose main seat she incinerated herself to him lives by the conquerors and while she agonized received blessings of a priest so that its soul flew soon to the sky.
In 1602 the pijaos, directed by Calarcá, initiated a general war against the European. Spanish cities of this region of New Granada like Cartago, Buga, Ibagué, Neiva and La plata, lived by that time a period on terror. When they attacked cities, they ignited bonfires in decided signal to summon the soldiers. Supposedly the pijaos were anthropophagous and marked the ways with bones of the enemies. The pijaos finally were defeated in 1608 when the Spaniards gained the collaboration of a known indigenous leader like Don Balthasar and in addition, advanced a devastated earth war, in which they burned the cultures of the pijaos. A sad end for this colombian tribe proud of their culture and their race.
