Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Zapotec civilization began as a collection of three separate societies in the Y-shaped Central Valleys of Oaxaca by the late 6th century BC. This indigenous civilization flourished in the Valley of Oaxaca in Mesoamerica and later established its greatest city, Monte Albán, on a mountain peak overlooking the three valleys.
The Zapotec people called themselves Be'ena'a, which translates to The Cloud People. This self-designation contrasts with the exonym Zapotec derived from Nahuatl speakers who called them tzapotēcah, meaning inhabitants of the place of sapote.
There are 7 distinct Zapotec languages and over 100 dialects spoken in parts of the Northern Sierra, the Central Valleys, the Southern Sierra, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, and along parts of the Pacific Coast. Due to decades of out-migration, Zapotec is also spoken in parts of Mexico City and Los Angeles, California.
The native population declined from 1.5 million in 1520 to 150,000 people in 1650 due to a series of devastating epidemics. Nineteen major epidemics including smallpox, chicken pox, diphtheria, influenza, scarlet fever, measles, typhoid, mumps, and cocoliztli wreaked havoc on the native population before the first century had ended.
Building J, known as The Conquest Slab, was constructed during the Monte Alban 2 phase roughly 100 BC to 200 AD to record the provinces controlled by the Zapotec. This arrowhead-shaped structure displays more than 40 carved stones with hieroglyphic writing that serve as a stone ledger of the empire's reach from Quiotepec in the North to Ocelotepec and Chiltepec in the South.
The culture that flourished in the Valley of Oaxaca from 700 BC to 1521 AD continued to live on through the language and traditions of the modern Zapotec peoples. Following the Spanish conquest, the Zapotec territory became part of the Marquessate of the Valley of Oaxaca under the control of Hernan Cortéz, and the Zapotecs submitted to his rule on the 25th of November 1521.