The first ethnic group to settle in the Mezquital Valley in Hidalgo state were a group of Otomies, who called themselves Hñahñus. They named this area Ntsʼu̱tkʼani, which means place of verdolagas or pigweed. They were well established here by the time the Toltecs arrived to establish the city of Tollan. These Otomies would be subjugated by the Toltecs then later by the Aztec Empire. Both these peoples spoke Nahuatl and renamed the area Itzmiquilpan (later spelled Ixmiquilpan), which means "place where the verdolagas cut like flint knives." Under the Aztecs, these Otomies were not just a tributary people but also provided soldiers as allies in the Aztecs' many wars. This gave them a certain amount of autonomy within the Aztec Empire. This notion of autonomy would continue into the Colonial period when communities such as Orizabita and San Juanico called themselves "republics."