Eastern Otomanguean

The Eastern Otomanguean group includes the Mixtec, Zapotec, Popoloca and Amuzgo, peoples of southern Mexico whose tonal languages belong to the Oto-Manguean family, the most diverse in Mesoamerica. The Mixtec, who call their land Ñuu Savi, held the kingdom of Tilantongo in the Oaxaca highlands, and the Zapotec the valleys around Monte Albán and Zaachila. Popoloca is spoken near Tehuacán in Puebla.

The Aztecs defeated the Mixtecs in 1458 and the last Zapotec war ended at Guiengola between 1497 and 1502. In 1521 both peoples submitted to Cortés, and epidemics then devastated the region.