Tarapoto was founded August 20, 1782 by the Spanish bishop
Baltazar Jaime MartÃnez de Compagnon y Bujanda. Its beginnings date back to the
explorations of the Pocras and Chancas (old cultures of the Ayacucho region)
who, when being conquered by the Inca Empire, headed a revolution led by the
commander Ancohallo; a revolt that, when defeated, forced their tribal members
to escape from terrible Inca vengeance. Eventually settling down in the valleys
of the Mayo and Cumbaza rivers in what is now the San Martin department, they possibly
formed the town of Lamas, before establishing a satellite in the
