Huitzquilic

Huitzquilic was a chiefdom in the interior of present-day Jalisco, on the site of the later San Martín de Hidalgo. Its Nahuatl name meant place of thistles; the settlement arose after 1337.

Around 1480 Coca, Purépecha and Tepenahuales peoples settled there. Their chief Huitzingarit acknowledged Amecatl of Ameca as overlord. When Spaniards arrived in 1540, Huitzingarit submitted peacefully, was baptised Martín Santiago and became captain of his people, receiving part of the ceded land. The Spanish laid out a town near his seat, later called San Martín de la Cal.