Maldonado accompanied De Belalcázar on his journey from Popayán (founded on January 13, 1537), toward the Bogotá savanna in the Eastern Ranges where the conquistadors encountered two other expeditions: an eastern expedition led by Nikolaus Federmann, and the main expedition of conquest under the command of Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada. Immediately after Bogotá was established (August 6, 1538), the soldiers participated in the Battle of Tocarema in late August to over-power the Panche who lived to the west of the Altiplano Cundiboyacense. During this time, Maldonado was involved in the conquest of the Central Ranges, and sent east by Jorge Robledo to the Muisca Confederation on the Cundiboyacense .