Medieval Croatian state: Encyclopedia II - Medieval Croatian state - Migration of the Croats

Medieval Croatian state - Migration of the Croats

No contemporary written records about the migration have been preserved, especially not about the events as a whole and from the area itself. Instead, historians rely on records written several centuries after the facts, and even those records may be based on oral tradition.

The most commonly accepted facts about the origin of the Croats are that they originate from Slavic tribes that lived in and around today's Poland or western Ukraine. Many modern scholars believe that the early Croat people, as well as the Serb people and other early Slavic groups, were agricultural populations that were ruled by the nomadic Iranian-speaking Alans. It is unclear whether the Alans contributed much more than a ruling caste or a class of warriors; the evidence on their contribution is mainly philological and etymological.

The book De Administrando Imperio, written in the 10th century, is the most referenced source on the migration of Slavic peoples into southeastern Europe. It states that they migrated first around or before year 600 from the region that is now (roughly) Galicia and areas of the Pannonian plain, led by the Turkic Avars, to the province of Dalmatia ruled by the Roman Empire. The second wave of migration, possibly around year 620, included the Croats and Serbs, who were invited by the Emperor Heraclius to counter the Avar threat on the Byzantine Empire. These two Slavic groups which are today nations were one of several in Dalmatia, including the people of Zahumlje, Narenta/Pagania, Travunia, Dioclea etc.

De Administrando Imperio also mentions an alternate version of the events, where the Croats weren't actually invited by Heraclius, but instead defeated the Avars and settled on their own accord after migrating from an area near today's Silesia. This record is supported by the writings of one Thomas the archdeacon, Historia Salonitana from the 13th century.

However, the record of archdeacon Thomas, as well as the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja from the 12th century, state that the Croats did not arrive the same way that the Byzantine texts say. Instead, these works claim that the Croats were a group of Slavs that remained after the Goths (under a leader referred to as "Totila") had occupied and pillaged the Roman province of Dalmatia. The Chronicle of Dioclea, on the other hand, speaks of a Gothic invasion (under a leader referred to as "Svevlad", followed by his descendants "Selimir" and "Ostroilo") after which the Slavs merely took over.

Regardless of the different interpretations, the Croat tribes eventually settled in the area between the Drava river and the Adriatic sea, the western Roman provinces Pannonia and Dalmatia; western Balkans in modern usage. The Croat tribes had been organized into two dukedoms; the Pannonian duchy in the north and the Dalmatian duchy in the south.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Migration of the Croats", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki