Our region was inhabited as far back as prehistoric times, with traces of human settlements dating to approximately 3,000 BCE. However, it is almost certain that humans lived in this area much earlier, though no artifacts or direct evidence have been found from that period. This lack of evidence stems from the fact that early humans did not produce goods, even in the simplest forms, and their lives were entirely dependent on nature, resembling animals with no significant signs of organized communities.
During the height of development for Greek city-states in the southern Balkans and the foundational period of the Roman Empire on the Italian Peninsula, the 6th century BCE saw the first recorded inhabitants in our narrower and broader region (mainly east of the Tisza River and south of the Mureș River). These were tribes of pre-Illyrian, Celtic, Thracian, and Dacian origin. Among the most notable tribes of this period were the Agathyrsi, believed to be ancestors of the Dacians and Thracians (or closely related to them), with some Scythian influence.
Research confirms that the Agathyrsi wore gold jewelry, and all their property, including women, was communal. Warriors possessed only a cup, a sword, and a battle axe as personal belongings. They were fond of body tattoos and makeup. The Agathyrsi frequently raided these areas, crossing even the Danube River to the south. However, by the 4th–3rd centuries BCE, they largely retreated toward the Black Sea, and by the 2nd century BCE, they had disappeared from history.
Research by historian Jankulov suggests that the Agathyrsi wore pointed caps, which later inspired traditional fur hats in our region. This implies that as the Agathyrsi retreated toward the northern shores of the Black Sea, they may have interacted with some of our distant ancestors in their original homeland—later identified as the South Slavs.
While there are no direct proofs, evidence regarding the extent of the Roman province of Dacia suggests that our region formed its westernmost part. If we accept that our location was part of the Roman Empire, even briefly—from the early 2nd century CE to the late 3rd century CE—then it is almost certain that its inhabitants were primarily Roman legionaries, and its settlements consisted of Roman military camps.
By the late 4th and early 5th centuries, under pressure from northern barbarian tribes, the Romans had largely abandoned this area. During this time, the Huns, a nomadic warrior people, passed through our region during their campaign against the divided Roman Empire. The Huns came swiftly, stayed briefly, and returned to Central Asia, where they soon vanished from history.
Our distant ancestors, the South Slavs, emerged from the shared Slavic ethnic group, beginning their differentiation by the late 4th century CE during the Great Migration Period. Gradually, they moved south from their ancestral homeland, either independently or in alliances with other tribes of the time, such as the Gepids, Sarmatians, some Huns, Iazyges, and others. However, they were most closely tied to the nomadic Avars, either as their allies or partially subordinate to them.
The main body of South Slavs first arrived in the Vojvodina area, particularly in the Tisza River basin, which includes our region. The earliest written and most reliable accounts of the South Slavs come from Byzantine historians, military leaders, and other prominent figures of the Byzantine Empire. Notably, the South Slavs have survived to this day, while all other tribes either disappeared into the Slavic population or permanently left the region.
Here are a few examples that highlight the predominance of the Slavic population compared to other tribes:
- Byzantine Emperor Theodosius sent an envoy in 448 CE to meet Attila the Hun in Pannonia. During the visit, the envoy was served mead, a distinctly Slavic drink, suggesting that Slavic tribes were already numerous in this area.
- In the late 6th century, the Byzantine general Priscus achieved a significant victory over tribes in the Tisza River basin. He conducted a census of the captured prisoners, recording 8,000 Slavs, 4,000 Gepids, 3,000 Avars, and 220 members of various other tribes.
- Fredegar's chronicles mention that during the 7th and 8th centuries, many South Slavs and Avars lived together in Pannonia, with the Slavs under Avar rule. The Avars regularly wintered with the Slavs, living with their women. The children born from these unions later rebelled against Avar rule, contributing to the collapse of the Avar state in 799 CE. Although remnants of the Avars persisted until the late 10th century, they eventually assimilated into the South Slavic population. Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus provides significant details about this process of Avar disappearance and the growing dominance of the Slavic population in his 10th-century work On the Governance of the Empire.
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