The ethnonym "Croat" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *Xъrvati, which itself is believed to be derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ker- or *kerw-, meaning "to cut, to clear."
Meaning:
The term "Croat" was originally used to refer to a group of people who cleared forests and cultivated the land, similar to the meaning of the word "Slav," which also derives from a root meaning "to cut."
Origin:
Scythian Theory:
Some scholars propose that the Croats originated as a branch of the Sarmatian tribe known as the Scythians, who migrated westward from Central Asia during the 1st millennium BC.
Iranian Theory:
Others suggest that the Croats may have descended from a group of Iranian nomads who settled in the Carpathian Basin.
Slavic Theory:
The most widely accepted theory is that the Croats are a Slavic people who migrated from the Slavic homeland (present-day Poland and Ukraine) during the 6th-7th centuries AD.
Pre-Historic Period:
The first known record of the Croats appears in the 6th century historical work "De Bello Gothico" by the Byzantine historian Procopius.
Procopius described them as a Slavic tribe living in the Carpathian Basin, in the area of present-day Slovakia and Western Ukraine.
Migration to Dalmatia:
In the 7th century, a group of Croats migrated southward across the Danube and settled in the Roman province of Dalmatia (present-day Croatia).
They founded two duchies, known as White Croatia and Red Croatia, located in what is now northwestern and southern Croatia, respectively.
Establishment of the Croatian Kingdom:
In the 9th century, the Croatian duchies united under the rule of King Tomislav.
Tomislav established the first Croatian kingdom, which reached its territorial peak in the 10th and 11th centuries.
Modern Usage:
Today, the term "Croat" refers to the people of Croatia, an independent nation in Southeastern Europe.
The Croatian language, along with the Serbian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin languages, forms the South Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family.
