Editing Croats (section)

===Arrival of the Slavs===
{{main|Origin hypotheses of the Croats|White Croatia|White Croats|Slavic migrations to Southeastern Europe}}

[[Early Slavs]], especially [[Sclaveni]] and [[Antae]], including the [[White Croats]], invaded and settled [[Southeastern Europe]] in the 6th and 7th century.{{sfn|Fine|1991|pp=26–41}}

====Early medieval archaeology====
Archaeological evidence shows population continuity in coastal [[Dalmatia]] and [[Istria]]. In contrast, much of the [[Dinaric Alps|Dinaric]] hinterland and appears to have been depopulated, as virtually all hilltop settlements, from [[Noricum]] to [[Dardania (Roman province)|Dardania]], were abandoned and few appear destroyed in the early 7th century. Although the dating of the earliest Slavic settlements was disputed, recent archaeological data established that the migration and settlement of the Slavs/Croats have been in late 6th and early 7th century.<ref name="Belos00">{{cite journal |last1=Belošević |first1=Janko |date=2000 |title=Razvoj i osnovne značajke starohrvatskih grobalja horizonta 7.-9. stoljeća na povijesnim prostorima Hrvata |url=https://morepress.unizd.hr/journals/index.php/pov/article/view/2231 |language=hr |journal=Radovi |volume=39 |issue=26 |pages=71–97 |doi=10.15291/radovipov.2231 |doi-access=free |access-date=3 July 2022 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326033632/https://morepress.unizd.hr/journals/index.php/pov/article/view/2231 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Fabijanić |first=Tomislav |date=2013 |chapter=14C date from early Christian basilica gemina in Podvršje (Croatia) in the context of Slavic settlement on the eastern Adriatic coast |title=The early Slavic settlement of Central Europe in the light of new dating evidence |location=Wroclaw |publisher=Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences |pages=251–260 |isbn=978-83-63760-10-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bekić |first1=Luka |date=2012 |chapter=Keramika praškog tipa u Hrvatskoj |title=Dani Stjepana Gunjače 2, Zbornik radova sa Znanstvenog skupa "Dani Sjepana Gunjače 2": Hrvatska srednjovjekovna povijesno-arheološka baština, Međunarodne teme |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348572968 |location=Split |publisher=Muzej hrvatskih arheoloških spomenika |pages=21–35 |isbn=978-953-6803-36-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Bekić |first1=Luka |date=2016 |title=Rani srednji vijek između Panonije i Jadrana: ranoslavenski keramički i ostali arheološki nalazi od 6. do 8. stoljeća |trans-title=Early medieval between Pannonia and the Adriatic: early Slavic ceramic and other archaeological finds from the sixth to eighth century |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348500715 |location=Pula |publisher=Arheološki muzej Istre |language=hr, en |pages=101, 119, 123, 138–140, 157–162, 173–174, 177–179 |isbn=978-953-8082-01-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bilogrivić |first1=Goran |date=2018 |title=Urne, Slaveni i Hrvati. O paljevinskim grobovima i doseobi u 7. stoljeću |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/220231 |language=hr |journal=Zbornik Odsjeka za Povijesne Znanosti Zavoda za Povijesne i Društvene Znanosti Hrvatske Akademije Znanosti i Umjetnosti |volume=36 |pages=1–17 |doi=10.21857/ydkx2crd19 |s2cid=189548041 |access-date=3 July 2022 |archive-date=12 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221212004535/https://hrcak.srce.hr/220231 |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Croat ethnogenesis====
[[File:Distribution of Croatian ethnonym in the Middle Ages.jpg|thumb|255px|left|The range of Slavic ceramics of the [[Penkovka culture|Prague-Penkovka culture]] marked in black, all known ethnonyms of Croats are within this area. Presumable migration routes of Croats are indicated by arrows, per V.V. Sedov (1979).]]
Much uncertainty revolves around the exact circumstances of their appearance given the scarcity of literary sources during the 7th and 8th century [[Middle Ages]]. Traditionally, scholarship has placed the arrival of the [[White Croats]] from [[White Croatia|Great/White Croatia]] in Eastern Europe in the early 7th century, primarily on the basis of the later [[Byzantine]] document ''[[De Administrando Imperio]]''. As such, the arrival of the Croats was seen as part of main wave or a second wave of Slavic migrations, which took over Dalmatia from [[Avar Khaganate|Avar hegemony]]. However, as early as the 1970s, scholars questioned the reliability of [[Constantine VII|Porphyrogenitus]]' work, written as it was in the 10th century. Rather than being an accurate historical account, ''De Administrando Imperio'' more accurately reflects the political situation during the 10th century. It mainly served as Byzantine propaganda praising Emperor [[Heraclius]] for repopulating the [[Balkans]] (previously devastated by the [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]], [[Sclaveni]] and [[Antes (people)|Antes]]) with Croats, who were seen by the Byzantines as tributary peoples living on what had always been 'Roman land'.<ref>{{Harvard citation text|Curta|2006|p=138}}</ref>

Scholars have hypothesized the name Croat (''Hrvat'') may be [[Iranian languages|Iranian]], thus suggesting that the Croatians were possibly a [[Sarmatians|Sarmatian]] tribe from the [[Pontus (region)|Pontic]] region who were part of a larger movement at the same time that the Slavs were moving toward the [[Adriatic Sea|Adriatic]]. The major basis for this connection was the perceived similarity between ''Hrvat'' and [[Tanais Tablets|inscriptions]] from the [[Tanais]] dated to the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, mentioning the name {{transliteration|grc|Khoro(u)athos}}. Similar arguments have been made for an alleged [[Goths|Gothic]]-Croat link. Whilst there is possible evidence of population continuity between Gothic and Croatian times in parts of Dalmatia, the idea of a Gothic origin of Croats was more rooted in 20th century [[Ustaše]] political aspirations than historical reality.<ref>{{harvtxt|Dzino|2010|p=20}}</ref>

====Other polities in Dalmatia and Pannonia====
[[File:Oton Ivekovic, Dolazak Hrvata na Jadran.jpg|thumb|right|255px|Arrival of the Croats to the [[Adriatic Sea]] by [[Oton Iveković]]]]
Other, distinct polities and ethno-political groups existed around the Croat duchy. These included the [[Guduscani|Guduscans]] (based in Liburnia), [[Pagania]] (between the Cetina and [[Neretva]] River), [[Zachlumia]] (between Neretva and [[Dubrovnik]]), [[Bosnia (early medieval)|Bosnia]], and [[Principality of Serbia (early medieval)|Serbia]] in other eastern parts of ex-Roman province of "Dalmatia".<ref>{{cite book |last=Budak |first=Neven |author-link=Neven Budak |date=2008 |chapter=Identities in Early Medieval Dalmatia (7th – 11th c.) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4dUWAQAAIAAJ |title=Franks, Northmen and Slavs: Identities and State Formation in Early Medieval Europe |editor=Ildar H. Garipzanov |editor2=[[Patrick J. Geary]] |editor3=[[Przemysław Urbańczyk]] |location=Turnhout |publisher=Brepols |pages=223–241 |isbn=9782503526157 |access-date=13 July 2022 |archive-date=10 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810101105/https://books.google.com/books?id=4dUWAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> Also prominent in the territory of future Croatia was the polity of Prince [[Ljudevit (Lower Pannonia)|Ljudevit]] who ruled the territories between the [[Drava]] and [[Sava]] rivers ("[[Slavs in Lower Pannonia|Pannonia Inferior]]"), centred from his fort at [[Sisak]]. Although Duke Liutevid and his people are commonly seen as a "Pannonian Croats", he is, due to the lack of "evidence that they had a sense of Croat identity" referred to as ''dux Pannoniae Inferioris'', or simply a Slav, by contemporary sources.<ref>{{harvtxt|Dzino|2010|p=186}}</ref><ref>{{harvtxt|Wolfram|2002}} Liudewit is considered the first Croatian prince. Constantine Porphyrogenitus has Dalmatia and parts of Slavonia populated by Croatians. But this author wrote more than a hundred years after the Frankish Royal annals which never mention the name of the Croatians although a great many Slavic tribal names are mentioned in the text. Therefore, if one applies the methods of an ethnogenetic interpretation, the Croatian Liudewit seems to be an anachronism.</ref> A closer reading of the ''DAI'' suggests that Constantine VII's consideration about the ethnic origin and identity of the population of Lower Pannonia, [[Pagania]], [[Zachlumia]] and other principalities is based on tenth century political rule and does not indicate ethnicity,<ref>{{cite book|author1=Dvornik, F.|author2=Jenkins, R. J. H.|author3=Lewis, B.|author4=Moravcsik, Gy.|author5=Obolensky, D.|author6=Runciman, S.|editor=P. J. H. Jenkins|title=De Administrando Imperio: Volume II. Commentary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DWVxvgAACAAJ|year=1962|publisher=University of London: The Athlone Press|pages=139, 142|ref={{harvid|Dvornik|1962}}|access-date=13 July 2022|archive-date=27 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927201655/https://books.google.com/books?id=DWVxvgAACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Curta|2006|p=210}}<ref name="Budak1994">{{Cite book|last=Budak|first=Neven|author-link=Neven Budak|title=Prva stoljeća Hrvatske|year=1994|location=Zagreb|publisher=Hrvatska sveučilišna naklada|url=http://inet1.ffst.hr/_download/repository/Budak_1994.pdf|pages=58–61|isbn=953-169-032-4|access-date=13 July 2022|archive-date=4 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504192532/http://inet1.ffst.hr/_download/repository/Budak_1994.pdf}}</ref><ref name="Gracanin2008">{{citation |last=Gračanin |first=Hrvoje |date=2008 |title=Od Hrvata pak koji su stigli u Dalmaciju odvojio se jedan dio i zavladao Ilirikom i Panonijom: Razmatranja uz DAI c. 30, 75-78 |url=https://hrcak.srce.hr/36767?lang=hr |journal=Povijest U Nastavi |volume=VI |issue=11 |pages=67–76 |language=hr |access-date=13 July 2022 |archive-date=19 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219202016/https://hrcak.srce.hr/36767?lang=hr |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Harvard citation text|Budak|2018|pp=51, 111, 177, 181–182}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Živković|first=Tibor|author-link=Tibor Živković|title=Portreti srpskih vladara (IX—XII vek)|year=2006|publisher=Zavod za udžbenike|location=Belgrade|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-KTAAAACAAJ|isbn=86-17-13754-1|pages=60–61}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Živković|first=Tibor|year=2012|title=Неретљани – пример разматрања идентитета у раном средњем веку|trans-title=Arentani – an Example of Identity Examination in the Early Middle Ages|journal=Istorijski časopis|volume=61|pages=12–13}}</ref> and although both Croats and Serbs could have been a small military elite which managed to organize other already settled and more numerous Slavs,{{sfn|Dvornik|1962|p=139, 142}}{{sfn|Fine|1991|p=37, 57}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Heather|first=Peter|author-link=Peter Heather|title=Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y5poAgAAQBAJ|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-974163-2|pages=404–408, 424–425, 444}}</ref> it is possible that Narentines, Zachlumians and others also arrived as Croats or with Croatian tribal alliance.{{sfn|Dvornik|1962|p=138–139|ps=:Even if we reject Gruber's theory, supported by Manojlović (ibid., XLIX), that Zachlumje actually became a part of Croatia, it should be emphasized that the Zachlumians had a closer bond of interest with the Croats than with the Serbs, since they seem to have migrated to their new home not, as C. says (33/8-9), with the Serbs, but with the Croats; see below, on 33/18-19 ... This emendation throws new light on the origin of the Zachlumian dynasty and of the Zachlumi themselves. C.'s informant derived what he says about the country of Michael's ancestors from a native source, probably from a member of the prince's family; and the information is reliable. If this is so, we must regard the dynasty of Zachlumje and at any rate part of its people as neither Croat nor Serb. It seems more probable that Michael's ancestor, together with his tribe, joined the Croats when they moved south; and settled on the Adriatic coast and the Narenta, leaving the Croats to push on into Dalmatia proper. It is true that our text says that the Zachlumi 'have been Serbs since the time of that prince who claimed the protection of the emperor Heraclius' (33/9-10); but it does not say that Michael's family were Serbs, only that they 'came from the unbaptized who dwell on the river Visla, and are called (reading Litziki) "Poles'". Michael's own hostility to Serbia (cf. 32/86-90) suggests that his family was in fact not Serb; and that the Serbs had direct control only over Trebinje (see on 32/30). C.'s general claim that the Zachlumians were Serbs is, therefore, inaccurate; and indeed his later statements that the Terbouniotes (34/4—5), and even the Narentans (36/5-7), were Serbs and came with the Serbs, seem to conflict with what he has said earlier (32/18-20) on the Serb migration, which reached the new Serbia from the direction of Belgrade. He probably saw that in his time all these tribes were in the Serb sphere of influence, and therefore called them Serbs, thus ante-dating by three centuries the state of affairs in his own day. But in fact, as has been shown in the case of the Zachlumians, these tribes were not properly speaking Serbs, and seem to have migrated not with the Serbs but with the Croats. The Serbs at an early date succeeded in extending their sovereignty over the Terbouniotes and, under prince Peter, for a short time over the Narentans (see on 32/67). The Diocleans, whom C. does not claim as Serbs, were too near to the Byzantine thema of Dyrrhachion for the Serbs to attempt their subjugation before C.'s time}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Dvornik |first=Francis |author-link=Francis Dvornik |date=1970 |title=Byzantine Missions Among the Slavs: SS. Constantine-Cyril and Methodius |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OwHZAAAAMAAJ |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |publisher=Rutgers University Press |page=26 |isbn=9780813506135 |quote=Constantine regards all Slavic tribes in ancient Praevalis and Epirus—the Zachlumians, Tribunians, Diodetians, Narentans— as Serbs. This is not exact. Even these tribes were liberated from the Avars by the Croats who lived among them. Only later, thanks to the expansion of the Serbs, did they recognize their supremacy and come to be called Serbians. |access-date=21 July 2022 |archive-date=27 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230927201657/https://books.google.com/books?id=OwHZAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Živković|2006|pp=60–61|ps=:Constantine Porphyrogenitus explicitly calls the inhabitants of Zahumlje Serbs who have settled there since the time of Emperor Heraclius, but we cannot be certain that the Travunians, Zachlumians and Narentines in the migration period to the Balkans really were Serbs or Croats or Slavic tribes which in alliance with Serbs or Croats arrived in the Balkans}}

The Croats became the dominant local power in northern Dalmatia, absorbing Liburnia and expanding their name by conquest and prestige. In the south, while having periods of independence, the Naretines merged with Croats later under control of Croatian Kings.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://enciklopedija.lzmk.hr/clanak.aspx?id=27481|title=Neretljani|encyclopedia=Hrvatski obiteljski leksikon|language=hr|access-date=12 December 2017|archive-date=13 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213011404/http://enciklopedija.lzmk.hr/clanak.aspx?id=27481|url-status=live}}</ref> With such expansion, Croatia became the dominant power and absorbed other polities between Frankish, [[First Bulgarian Empire|Bulgarian]] and Byzantine empire. Although the [[Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja]] has been dismissed as an unreliable record, the mentioned "Red Croatia" suggests that Croatian clans and families might have settled as far south as [[Duklja]]/[[Zeta (crown land)|Zeta]].<ref>{{Harvard citation text|Fine|2005|p=6203}}</ref> According to Martin Dimnik writing for ''[[The New Cambridge Medieval History]]'', "at the beginning of the eleventh century the Croats lived in two more or less clearly defined regions" of the "Croatian lands" which "were now divided into three districts" including Slavonia/Pannonian Croatia (between rivers Sava and Drava) on one side and Croatia/Dalmatian littoral (between [[Gulf of Kvarner]] and rivers Vrbas and Neretva) and Bosnia (around [[Bosna (river)|river Bosna]]) on other side, and that "Croats, along with Serbs, also lived in Bosnia which at times came under the control of Croatian kings".<ref name="TNCMH" />{{rp|266–276}}